Principal Licensure Exams and Future Job Performance: Evidence From the School Leaders Licensure Assessment

Many states require prospective principals to pass a licensure exam to obtain an administrative license, but we know little about the potential effects of principal licensure exams on the pool of available principals or whether scores predict later job performance. We investigate the most commonly used exam, the School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA), using 10 years of data on Tennessee test takers. We uncover substantial differences in passage rates by test-taker characteristics. In particular, non-Whites are 12 percentage points less likely than otherwise similar White test takers to attain the required licensure score. Although candidates with higher scores are more likely to be hired as principals, we find little evidence that SLLA scores predict measures of principal job performance, including supervisors’ evaluation ratings or teachers’ assessments of school leadership from a statewide survey. Our results raise questions about whether conditioning administrative licensure on SLLA passage is consistent with principal workforce diversity goals.

Raising the Bar on Teacher Quality: Assessing the Impact of Increasing Licensure Exam Cut-Scores

State policy makers are constantly looking for ways to improve teacher quality. An oft tried method is to increase the rigor of licensure exams. This study utilizes state administrative data from Arkansas to determine whether raising the cut-scores on licensure exams would improve the quality of the teacher workforce. In addition, the study explores the trade-offs of such a policy decision. It is concluded that raising the required passing score on the Praxis II would increase the quality of the teacher workforce, as measured by value-added student achievement. This change, however, would be accompanied with an important trade-off as it would reduce the number of minority teachers and potentially lead to negative outcomes in disadvantaged schools.

“Since Feeling is First”: Exploring the Affective Dimension of Teacher Licensure Exams

<p class="normal">Teacher licensure exams directly shape the racial demographics of the teaching profession. This is particularly the case for “basic skills” exams that are program entrance requirements in the United States and expanding into other countries. This qualitative study explored an important yet overlooked dimension of these exams for test takers: emotional and affective states. Specifically, we were interested in the affective dimension of the test-taking event. Our findings reveal a number of positive and negative affective states that both African American and White preservice teachers experience during the exam and the processes of appraisal that produce these states. Our findings also highlight the importance of preparation activities prior the exam to help alleviate negative affective states during the exam. </p>