教育已成為確保全球化競爭優勢的重要基礎建設，而有效能的領導則是影響學校教育品質的關鍵因素。各國為強化中小學校長的專業能力與表現，自1990年代起已陸續發展全國性的中小學校長專業標準。其中，美國是最早規劃完整的教育領導者專業標準的國家。本文之主要目的在探討美國中小學校長專業標準及其應用情形，以提供國內教育行政決策參考。全文共分成三個部分，首先探討美國中小學校長專業標準的發展；其次，分析2015年最新發布的「教育領導者專業標準」之內容，並與2008年的「教育領導政策標準」做比較；最後，闡述該標準在美國的應用情形與對國內教育行政決策的啟示。

Education has been regarded as a crucial foundational construction for ensuring competitive advantage in the era of globalization. Effective education leadership can make a different in improving learning while school principals play a unique role in schools to synergy school-level factors that can infl uence student achievement. Since 1990s, enacting national standards for school leaders have become the trends in many western countries. America is the earliest country to develop the Standards for School Leaders. The paper aims to examine the professional standards for school principals and its applications in America, so as to provide references for policy makers. The paper was divided into three parts: fi rstly, to explore the development of professional standards for school principals in America; second, to analysis the newest 2015 Professional Standards for School Leaders and the similarities and differences comparing to the Policy Standards of ISLLC 2008. Finally, the applications of the Standards in America and their implications for educational policy-makers in Taiwan were discussed.