Margaret Terry Orr and Liz Hollingworth
This paper explores the school leadership career outcomes, timing and educator evaluation of those who complete the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the school leadership career outcomes, timing and educator evaluation of those who complete the Massachusetts Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL) in comparison with others who did not. It also compares outcomes for those with different PAL score completion requirements.
Design/methodology/approach
Using PAL assessment results and state employment data for years 2015 through 2019, the authors examined trends and timing in PAL completers' career advancement into an initial school leader position (assistant principal or principal), by assessment cohort (based on assessment year and passing (cut) score requirements) and with who never had to complete the assessment for licensure (non-PAL completers). Using regression analysis, the authors evaluated potential race/ethnicity and gender differences in advancement. Using chi-square tests of association, the authors compared non-PAL and PAL completers on their demographic attributes and on retention and promotion from assistant principal and on their educator evaluation scores. The authors also examined differences in advancement based on the cut score requirements and preparation pathways.
Findings
PAL completers made steady career advances over time and at faster rates than non-PAL completers. Further, PAL completers subject to higher cut score requirements advanced more quickly than those with lower or no score requirements. PAL completers' gender and race/ethnicity seemed to matter less in career advancement than was found in other studies. In 2019, almost half who advanced were employed in the same districts as they had been in 2014 and were more likely to be new leaders in urban districts. When compared with other career-related measures, PAL completers outperformed non-PAL completers who first became school leaders since 2014: they were more likely to be rated as exemplary on educator evaluation and more likely to be retained or promoted after two years in their first school leader position.
Originality/value
Until now little research has existed on the career effects of licensure assessments. Because it requires candidates to demonstrate proficiency in core areas of school leadership work, the PAL assessment appears to be a superior means of screening initial school leaders (based on rate of hiring) and of signaling future performance (based on subsequent educator evaluation ratings) than other assessment forms (such as the School Leader Licensure Assessment [SLLA] exam).
Details
Keywords
Margaret Terry Orr, Liz Hollingworth and Barbara Beaudin
The purpose of this paper is to compare two years of results for one state’s performance-based assessments for principal licensure Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL). This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to compare two years of results for one state’s performance-based assessments for principal licensure Performance Assessment for Leaders (PAL). This includes the field trial (2014–2015) and first year of statewide implementation (2015–2016) when passing score requirements and fees were added. Survey results on candidates’ career aspirations provide concurrent validation.
Design/methodology/approach
Two years of PAL submissions (n=569 candidates) were scored by trained, certified scorers. Task and total score results were compared by year, preparation pathway and gender. Online feedback survey results on career aspirations for (n=146 candidates) were compared by year.
Findings
The results show that PAL assessments measure independent dimensions of leadership, differentiate candidates on leadership knowledge and skills, and confirm PAL’s internal validity. Implementation year scores were higher than field trial scores, and preparation program candidates scored better than non-program candidates did. Candidate career aspirations were stronger in the implementation year than during the field trial.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to one state’s candidates, but findings are generalizable based on the wide range among candidates’ districts (demographically and economically).
Practical implications
The results are promising for the leadership preparation and assessment field, demonstrating the effectiveness of performance assessment for authentic evaluation of leadership candidates’ knowledge and skill and overall readiness for initial leadership work.
Originality/value
This is the first large scale performance assessment for aspiring leaders designed for state licensure decisions. It is being replicated in another state and shown promise for both formative and summative leadership assessment.
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Rose M. Ylimaki, Stephen Jacobson, Lauri Johnson, Hans W. Klar, Juan Nino, Margaret Terry Orr and Samantha Scribner
In this paper, the authors recap the history and evolution of ISSPP research in the USA with research teams that grew from one location in 2002 to seven teams at present. The…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the authors recap the history and evolution of ISSPP research in the USA with research teams that grew from one location in 2002 to seven teams at present. The authors also examine the unique context of public education in America by describing its governance, key policies and funding as well as increasing student diversity due to changing internal student demographics and global population migrations. In particular, the authors describe how decentralization in American public education that has led to long-standing systemic inequities in school resource allocations and subsequently to marked gaps in performance outcomes for children from poor communities, especially for those of color. These existing inequities were the reason the USA research team was the only national ISSPP team from the original network of eight countries that choose to study exclusively leadership in challenging, high needs schools that performed beyond expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors describe the common multi-case case study methodology (Merriam, 1988) and interview protocols employed in order to gather multiple perspectives on school success in high-needs communities and the principal's contribution to that success. Leithwood and Riehl's (2005) framework of core leadership practices for successful school leadership was used to analyze our data across all cases.
Findings
The authors present key findings from cases across the USA and synthesize common trends across these findings.
Research limitations/implications
The authors conclude the paper with a discussion of their overarching impressions from almost two decades of study, the importance of national and local context in examining school leadership and, lastly, suggestions for future research.
Originality/value
This article contributes to findings from the longest and largest international network on successful leadership.
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Ann O’Doherty and Margaret Terry Orr
Through the perspectives of a grant director and external evaluator, this chapter explores processes used and lessons learned to design and conduct ongoing evaluation of a…
Abstract
Through the perspectives of a grant director and external evaluator, this chapter explores processes used and lessons learned to design and conduct ongoing evaluation of a multisite university-based principalship program supported in part by a US Department of Education grant. Using frameworks developed by Guskey (2000) and Kirkpatrick (1998), the authors highlight the conceptual context of program evaluation and describe the process used to develop a comprehensive evaluation plan aligned to program goals. The chapter appendix includes a summary of Developing Evaluation Evidence (Orr, Young, & Rorrer, 2010), a free program evaluation planning resource available at ucea.org.
Josh Bendickson is a Ph.D. student at Louisiana State University in the E. J. Ourso College of Business. He teaches principles of management in the Rucks Department of Management…
Abstract
Josh Bendickson is a Ph.D. student at Louisiana State University in the E. J. Ourso College of Business. He teaches principles of management in the Rucks Department of Management and is also involved in the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute. His research interests include strategy, entrepreneurship, and management history.
Resilience is the ability to snap back after experiencing trauma, and is increasingly important for leaders in today’s complex, global world. Resilience can be learned, which is a…
Abstract
Resilience is the ability to snap back after experiencing trauma, and is increasingly important for leaders in today’s complex, global world. Resilience can be learned, which is a great news for leaders wanting to sustain through tough times. When adversity arises, resilience becomes the tool to help us grow stronger. Unfortunately, most organizations do not purposefully design themselves to foster a resilient workplace, leaving leaders to do this work on their own. By not investing in building resilience in employees, organizations are missing an important way to differentiate themselves from the competition. Workplaces that build resilience into their practices, culture, and development benefit from employees who sustain, even thrive, through complex change and market shifts.
This chapter explores how the habit of “stealing time” can build stronger, more resilient leaders, in adverse times. We will also discuss how reshaping our own mindset makes us stronger and ready to tackle daily challenges. Then we focus on spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental components of resilience. By increasing our resilience, we also gain a sense of cognitive freedom – a sense of empowered problem-solving and creativity – that can be a positive and contagious force throughout our teams and organizations. Finally, we focus on the organizational “streams” of resilience, which allow organizations to build greater resilience capacities at all levels. By using classic organizational design principles, we begin to see how we can help everyone live and work more fully and with more vigor.
The heady system of high‐pressure Continental air that drifted across the Atlantic and collided with the traditional cyclonic patterns of U.S. literary academe in the mid‐1960s…
Abstract
The heady system of high‐pressure Continental air that drifted across the Atlantic and collided with the traditional cyclonic patterns of U.S. literary academe in the mid‐1960s precipitated a “Theory Revolution” that has brought a couple of decades of stormy and stimulating weather to the campus. The collision has produced occasionally furious debate and resulted for higher education in the kind of public attention customarily reserved for athletic scandals; it has kept tenuring processes in turmoil and publish‐or‐perish mills working round the clock.
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.