The pivotal role of the school leader as a factor in effective schools has been corroborated by findings of school effectiveness research over the last two decades. In most of the lists of key factors (or correlates) that school effectiveness research has compiled, 'leadership' plays an important part. Indeed the effectiveness lobby's original message that 'schools matter, schools do make a difference' has continued almost seamlessly into a sub-text that 'school leaders matter, school leaders also make a difference'. School improvement researchers have also demonstrated increasing recognition of the importance of school leaders for all stages of the school improvement process. The school leader is most often cited as the key figure in the individual school's development, either blocking or promoting change, acting as the internal change agent, overseeing the processes of growth and renewal. Moreover, the school leader's role has to be seen in relationship to the broad cultural and educational contexts in which the school is operating. Since schools are embedded in their communities and in the particular national educational system, and these in turn are embedded in the particular society, schools and their leaders have to cope with, to support or otherwise react to the social, economic and cultural changes and developments taking place. Schools, and consequently the expectations on school leaders, also change as a result of more subtle and indirect forces in society - social, political and economic changes - that are gathering pace across the world as the speed of international development increasingly reflects global factors. Moreover, direct changes in the educational system have a particularly strong impact on the school leader's role. These new conditions and demands certainly place new pressures on the leader, but the new tasks and challenges can also be viewed positively as bringing new opportunities.Therefore it is perhaps not surprising that more and more attention is being given to the role of school leaders in creating the conditions for an effective school. There is broad international agreement about the need for school leaders to have the capacities needed to improve teaching, learning, and pupils' development and achievement. To establish and modify appropriate training and development opportunities has become a major focus of professional development programs in many countries, as shown by an international comparative research project1 (Huber, 2004) about school leadership development.But moving another step forward, we ask: do training and development programs make all the difference? Can leadership competence be 'taught' to anyone? Can we 'make' good principals? How can we prevent spending a lot of money and energy to train the 'wrong' individuals? How much effort must be made to 'find', that is to recruit and select, suitable candidates for principalship?At first sight, there may appear to be an international consensus about the important role of selecting capable school leaders. On looking more carefully, however, it is apparent that a number of countries have engaged in this issue more rigorously than others. While in some countries school leaders are appointed mainly on the basis of their merits as classroom teachers, in others, the candidates have to undergo rigorous assessment procedures to demonstrate their potential for leadership tasks. An international study of school leadership selection and recruitment will survey the selection models for school leaders in various countries. It aims at describing international patterns in school leadership selection and making comparisons and recommendations based on its findings. The methods used comprise surveys, extensive documentation analysis, and additional country-specific investigations.As the symposium looks at the growing importance placed on activities to select and develop school leaders in several countries, we want to share our first findings and get the participants involved in discussing emerging issues. The core questions are: what seems to be the most effective selection procedures? What kinds of information about the candidate are needed? How might we re-frame future selection procedures? What criteria, dimensions, tools, procedures, methods etc. are needed? What are the key issues principals are facing which tell us how selection procedures need to be designed? What are the key elements or the key issues which have to be tackled by those who design and carry out selection procedures? What approach fits best, if it is possible to state this at all at this stage?