Funded by the Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant program, the Ounce proposed to implement an evidence-based sequence of supports aligned to the Illinois ExceleRate program rating and improvement system that was designed to address the critical gap in preschool instructional practices for the highest risk children in Illinois. Lead Learn Excel (LLE) was designed to advance leader knowledge, skills, and dispositions by providing instructional leaders four complementary core components within a 4-6-week learning cycle: (1) training, (2) technical assistance (TA), (3) peer learning & support, and (4) resources & tools. The Center for Literacy was charged with conducting the external evaluation of LLE. The evaluation had three broad goals. First, the evaluation documented and examined the fidelity of LLE implementation. Second, the evaluation assessed the extent to which LLE achieved the intended outcome of advancing participating leaders’ mindsets, methods, and practices of instructional leadership. Specifically, the outcome study examined change in the leaders’ ability to transform their leadership behaviors focused on supporting instructional excellence. Third, the evaluation study was designed to examine whether LLE improved the capacity of leaders to support the instructional proficiency of preschool teachers. This report summarizes the findings from the external evaluation of Lead Learn Excel (LLE) through the first 15 months of implementation from October 28, 2014 through January 31, 2017. (author abstract)