The Russian educational scene has experienced major changes where the role of a principal in this new educational realm has been altered as well. In this way, these new perceptions and expectations set by the government required a higher level of accountability, where the responsibility for students' outcomes lays on a principal. By giving the relative freedom of action to principals, their way of managing schools have been influenced by regional policies. The higher level of accountability distanced principals from being “teacher of teachers” and converted them into managers (Kasprzhak et al, 2019; Kasprzhak & Bysik, 2014). While the volume of recent research in Russia on professional development programs for principals is substantial (Sidenko 2011; Kuznetsova 2011), the majority of the studies were done in the context of the Federal State Educational Standards for Basic General Education roll-out. Several researchers have done broader analyses of principal training programs, but within the limits of a single region (Korostelev 2011), or in a broader theoretical attempt to design a model for professional development (Lutsenko 2005). In 2014-2015 empirical study the Seven System Leadership Study (7SLS) attempted to correlate the training of school principals with their leadership practices (Bysik et al, 2015). The 7SLS compared principal preparation systems in seven countries, tracing their impact on the instruction and leadership style of their graduates. This paper, as we see from the study - despite attempts to reform educational system in the 2000s - the training programs for school principals we see in Russia today remain focused on improving managerial skills rather than leadership ones.

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