A year ago, top officials in the school leadership world were worried. It seemed to them that principals were being overlooked in national conversations about how to get educators ready for the Common Core State Standards. But that is changing. The past six months have seen a surge of activity to acquaint principals with the new standards and teach them how to lead their staff members through the profound changes that are required to turn the new expectations into classroom instruction. The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) jumped into the void by partnering with the College Board to offer a series of six webinars that walked principals through some of the issues they will face as they work with their teachers to implement the new standards. The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) is also beginning to offer common-core information to its members. The group hired a full-time staff member devoted to the standards, compiled a "checklist" aimed at helping principals take stock of what they must do to move ahead with the new standards, and set up a Web portal to house its new stock of common-core resources. The two national principals' groups have conducted recent joint trainings in Georgia and Michigan, supported by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the James B. Hunt Institute, a North Carolina nonprofit that supports the common standards. The groups hope to offer more such trainings in states that want them.