Principal Licensure Exams as Barriers to Entry and Predictors of Job Performance: An Analysis of the School Leaders Licensure Assessment

• In Event: 66.054 - Principal Effectiveness and Leadership in an Era of Accountability

Abstract

Almost 20 states require passage of the School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) for principal licensure, yet we know little about its role in screening principal candidates. Merging longitudinal personnel and student data with score histories from approximately 8,000 Tennessee principal candidates taking the SLLA since 2003, we investigate how principal and school characteristics predict SLLA scores and passage rates and the degree to which scores correlate with policy-relevant outcomes, including supervisor and teacher ratings of principal performance and student achievement, once licensed candidates are hired as principals. We uncover two main results. First, nonwhite test-takers meet minimum score requirements at substantially lower rates than whites. Second, principals’ SLLA scores are largely uncorrelated with other performance measures. Implications are discussed.

Authors

• Jason A. Grissom, Vanderbilt University

• Hajime Mitani, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College

• Richard Blissett, Vanderbilt University - Peabody College