This paper addresses the changing face of the principalship--the role of leadership preparation and development programs in preparing women for positions of school leadership and the resulting changes in the conception of the work of school leadership. This increasing focus on preparing women for positions of school leadership highlights two concomitant issues. First, it illustrates how some preparation programs have purposefully leveraged design and delivery features to prepare more women for leadership roles--equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary for systemic school change. Second, this trend suggests that the changing face of school leadership is accompanied--and potentially driven--by a reconceptualization of the principal's role. This study of eight exemplary school leadership preparation and development programs in five states found that the programs prepared higher proportions of women as principals than represented in a national comparison group of principals. These programs also produced principals with stronger prior instructional experience and with stronger reported instructional leadership and school improvement practices. Scale Items and Factor Loadings are appended. (Contains 6 tables and 1 footnote.) [This paper was commissioned by The Wallace Foundation. For the main report, "Preparing School Leaders for a Changing World: Lessons from Exemplary Leadership Development Programs. School Leadership Study. Final Report," see ED533003.]