Instructional Leadership Act of 2012 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to states, local educational agencies (LEAs), nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, or partnerships or consortia which include at least one of those entities to develop and implement innovative programs and sites to train school principals in instructional leadership skills.
Requires the Secretary to award additional competitive grants to states or partnerships or consortia which include states for pilot programs that evaluate and promote the incorporation of instructional leadership standards into state principal certification or licensure.
Directs the Secretary to establish a definition of "an effective principal" that is based on reports from this Act's grantees and emphasizes instructional leadership standards.
Requires the Secretary to award competitive grants to states and high-need LEAs or partnerships between such LEAs and certain educational entities to develop state-of-the-art principal induction programs that provide new principals a minimum of three years of extensive, high-quality, comprehensive induction into the field of school administration.