The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) -- in partnership with the Texas Tech University (TTU) College of Education and 12 high-need school districts in Texas and Louisiana -- sought to change principal preparation to produce highly effective administrators to lead high-need schools. The result of the partnership was the Leadership Instruction for Teachers (LIFT) program, an innovative 15-month principal preparation and residency program that impacted 42 schools and 35,000 students. The LIFT program was funded in part through a federal Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant awarded in 2015. The LIFT program placed principal candidates as interim assistant principals in high-need schools for a yearlong residency -- more closely aligning coursework to their job-embedded clinical experience -- under the mentorship of an experienced school leader. These strategies produced significant results over the four-year grant period.