Reform of educational administrator preparation programs has received substantial attention from scholars over the past 15 years. Their works stress the importance of a strong knowledge base, problem-centered learning, and a renewed emphasis on affective development. A trend away from managerial, authoritarian leadership styles and toward empowering forms of leadership training linking theory and practice coincides with programmatic changes, including reduced emphasis on planning, facilities, buses, and budgets. Current principal candidates must be: skilled in school-based management; able to lead diverse student populations; sensitive to child development; effective instructional leaders;, capable of establishing a "community of learners"; and accomplished in reflective practices. The University of Southern Mississippi's Department of Educational Leadership initiated a major reform of its master's degree program to meet the state's revised standards, employing a cohort model emphasizing matriculation through group orientation. The new program features networks for present learning and future professional collaboration. The program directs professors to plan and deliver instructional programs as a team. Research indicates effective instructional leaders are people oriented, instructional resources for teachers, effective communicators, and highly visible. Students are required to formally interview three principals and share their comparative analysis of responses. This experience allows students to make the quantitative leap from theoretical constructs to real-world practice. (Contains 21 references.)(TEJ)