The Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) is a four-task evaluation system designed to improve the quality of initial school leaders in Massachusetts by evaluating candidate readiness using a rigorous, standard assessment system. By design, it is signalling leadership quality expectations to preparation programmes. Through two years of survey research with leadership preparation faculty (n = 12) and candidates (n = 53) who completed PAL, we explored faculty understanding the PAL assessment, assessment alignment task to programme content, candidate preparedness, and impact on programmes. Results show that faculty used PAL to improve their preparation programmes and provide high-quality learning experiences for candidates.