Journal of K-12 Educational Research 61 teacher empowerment to support students with disabilities. They described how ethical leadership, especially modeling high expectations and accountability, shaped campus norms and supportive inclusive decision-making. Implications The current study confirms that successful principals must be equipped with the skills to lead inclusive, safe, and legally compliant schools. Participants consistently ranked safety, shared vision, and ethical leadership as foundational competencies for supervising special education. These findings suggest that preparation programs must extend beyond generic leadership principles and offer targeted development around the unique complexities of special education. Among the important responsibilities of modern school principals, supervising special education programs has become increasingly complex in the wake of the pandemic. The rising number of students qualifying for special education services in Texas public schools presents a significant challenge for principals who must ensure that these students receive appropriate support and services (FitzGerald et al., 2023). During the pandemic, students with disabilities experienced disruptions in their specialized instruction and related services due to school closures and remote learning, resulting in additional learning losses and heightened social-emotional needs (Dey, 2022). Principals are now tasked with navigating federal and state regulations, overseeing the development and implementation of IEPs, and ensuring that staff are adequately trained to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings (Ruiz, 2022). These responsibilities demand not only a deep understanding of special education laws and evidence-based practices but also strong leadership strategies to guide staff to meet the diverse needs of learners with disabilities. The findings of the current study largely meet expectations set by the literature on effective leadership (Covey, 1992; Kouzes & Posner, 2017; Leithwood et al., 2008; Lynch, 13 Note. Numerals in Figure 2 represent the frequency of each code and key word in the 21 post-sort interview transcripts of the campus administrator participants. Research Question 4 (RQ4) To further explore the complexities of preparing future principals for the challenges of special education supervision, the researcher convened a focus group with district leaders directly involved in shaping and implementing the district’s principal preparation program, which the researcher has referred to as “LEAD.” The focus group data was used to answer RQ4. Research Question 4 (RQ4) How does a large, urban school district in North Texas develop future school principals to prepare them to face the current challenges of supervising special education? Figure 2 RQ3 Code Frequencies: Ethical Leadership & Collaborative School Culture
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