Her research interests centered on the idea that schools improve when they are learning organizations. Her research had a particular focus on the leadership shared by principals and teachers and the use of data in promoting school improvement. Her work examined the professional impact of social learning that occurs within teachers’ professional learning communities. Motivated by the emphasis on teacher evaluation, she explored ways in which processes are used for evaluation, such as observation in classrooms, and how that can also be used to build organizational learning capacity. With the advent of the Doctor of Educational Leadership program, Dr. Printy became increasingly invested in understanding the value of coherent educational systems and the role that district leaders play.