Study Guide

Superintendent
Sample Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand how to facilitate the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a district vision of success for all students that is shared and supported by the school community.

1. Although overall student achievement in a district is considered by most stakeholders to be at acceptable levels, some important educational issues have arisen in recent years, and efforts to address them have been sporadic and largely unsuccessful. As one way to reenergize stakeholders and guide future district efforts, the superintendent will lead the development of a new vision for the district. To begin the process of developing a new vision, the superintendent will lead a series of meetings with district stakeholders. At the first meeting, after providing attendees with a brief introduction, the superintendent will give them an open-ended prompt to focus their thinking and generate discussion. Which of the following prompts would be most appropriate and effective for the superintendent to use as a first step in the vision development process?

  1. In an ideal school district, I believe that students should complete their education prepared to __________.
  2. Our school district's most important strengths and needs at this time include __________.
  3. In my view, a well-designed district vision should help students and staff in district schools __________.
  4. I would characterize the teaching and learning that currently occurs in this district as __________.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. A district vision provides a sense of direction for stakeholders by defining an agreed-upon purpose for education in the district and confirming common goals for student learning and growth. Therefore, of the response options provided, it would be most appropriate for a superintendent to initiate development of a new district vision by asking stakeholders to share their thoughts about what students should know and be able to do as a result of a public school education in an ideal school district. Discussion of this prompt would offer stakeholders an opportunity to think deeply about what their own district's priorities should be in terms of preparing students for a full and rewarding future and would help them reach a common understanding about desired directions for growth.

Competency 0001
Understand how to facilitate the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a district vision of success for all students that is shared and supported by the school community.

2. The vision-aligned goals defined for a district include expanding the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. After providing all classrooms with Internet access, the district recently made a large purchase of laptop computers. Every classroom in the district now has a minimum of ten laptops available for student use. The district also purchased licenses to many online resources for teachers to use with their students. The district administrative team would like to collect data to measure usage of the new technology across the district. Which of the following sources of data is likely to provide the most reliable and accurate information for this purpose?

  1. teacher survey data on technology use in each classroom
  2. data from classroom walkthroughs conducted by school principals
  3. log-in data from each classroom to the district's network
  4. data from student questionnaires on their classroom computer use
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Although district staff could use various methods for tracking Internet use in classrooms, many of these methods would rely on information obtained from individuals whose memories about Internet usage during a particular period could be faulty or who could have reasons for providing inflated or deflated estimates. Of the information sources identified in the response options, log-in data from each classroom would best help ensure reliable, accurate, comprehensive, and unbiased data collection because information obtained in this way would be the most direct and least subject to individual error or manipulation.

Competency 0001
Understand how to facilitate the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a district vision of success for all students that is shared and supported by the school community.

3. Two years ago, a school district developed and implemented a plan to improve elementary students' ability to solve multi-step word problems in mathematics. The plan focused on providing professional development and new instructional materials to all teachers in grades K–5. A preliminary review of recent data from an end-of-year mathematics assessment indicates that average student scores in the targeted area have changed little since the improvement plan was implemented. The district administrative team wants to gain a deeper understanding of the plan's impact on student growth. The team can best do this by first analyzing data on:

  1. demographic trends in the district's elementary schools.
  2. the performance of different subgroups of students.
  3. relationships between teacher experience and student performance.
  4. the validity and reliability of the assessment used.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. In the situation described, reviewing changes in average student test scores would provide only very limited information about the effectiveness of the district's improvement plan in promoting student growth in the targeted area. In particular, the fact that there has been little change in average student scores could obscure important differences that may exist in outcomes for different students and groups of students. To make better sense of the data and increase its usefulness for ongoing improvement efforts, the team should next determine whether subgroup differences in performance exist. This information would help team members determine whether some groups benefitted more than others from the improvement plan, analyze relationships between student diversity and student mastery of particular knowledge and skills, and facilitate educational planning to address students' educational needs.

Competency 0002
Understand how to create and sustain a positive culture of learning and learning environments that promote excellence and equity for all students.

4. A new superintendent spends a good deal of time talking to teachers and staff at schools throughout the district. Which of the following sentiments expressed by many of these individuals would most strongly suggest that district schools are striving to provide an equitable climate that maximizes learning for all students?

  1. "I can see that our students' varied lives in the home and community often have a defining influence on their learning and achievement in school."
  2. "I try to show empathy and kindness toward all of my students and to be tolerant of the learning differences I find among them."
  3. "I hold every student to high academic and behavioral standards and do my best to help each student achieve those standards."
  4. "I ensure that all of my students, regardless of their background, receive the same instruction from me and are treated in the same way."
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. In schools characterized by an equitable climate that maximizes learning for all students, teachers and staff must go well beyond merely showing empathy and understanding toward their students and/or using a "one size fits all" model to provide instruction. Instead, teachers and staff in such a school must define the same high standards of learning and behavior for all students all of the time and must be diligent in adapting learning environments and instruction to help students with widely varying strengths and needs meet the standards.

Competency 0002
Understand how to create and sustain a positive culture of learning and learning environments that promote excellence and equity for all students.

5. A superintendent is attending a meeting at a district school with a group of teachers and other school staff. The purpose of the meeting is to review a disappointing set of standardized assessment results and begin outlining possible steps for improving student achievement in the areas assessed. Which of the following participant behaviors observed by the superintendent during the meeting most clearly suggests a problem with the school culture?

  1. focusing on demographic and other external factors as the primary explanation for instances of poor student performance
  2. exhibiting difficulty reaching consensus on the most effective and appropriate strategies to use to enhance student achievement
  3. spending a significant amount of time discussing how the test results differ for students with diverse backgrounds and needs
  4. allowing one or two highly experienced opinion leaders to guide the group's thinking when drawing conclusions or making decisions
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Education professionals create a positive school culture in part by holding high expectations for every student and by energetically pursuing every avenue for ensuring all students' academic and behavioral excellence. In pointing to demographic and other external factors as the primary explanation for student performance problems, educators are essentially giving up on their students and refusing to take responsibility for their own lack of effectiveness. In a school with a positive culture, teachers and other staff would be expected to use disappointing assessment results to evaluate their own performance, identify critical needs for professional growth, and use whatever strategies are required to move forward in promoting student success.

Competency 0002
Understand how to create and sustain a positive culture of learning and learning environments that promote excellence and equity for all students.

6. In a district with a diverse student population, a review of discipline statistics indicates that students from certain ethnic backgrounds tend to receive more severe punishment than other students for similar offenses. The school board has responded by informing the superintendent that she will be expected to take whatever steps are necessary to remedy this situation. As the superintendent thinks about how to proceed, she should consider which of the following actions to be the most important precondition for success in reforming the district's disciplinary practices?

  1. clarifying which specific schools and which staff members within schools have most often exhibited problems with inequitable discipline
  2. reviewing the current student handbook to identify those disciplinary measures that appear to be most in need of significant revision
  3. quantifying the long- and short-term effects of current ethnic disparities in discipline on various aspects of students' school performance
  4. engaging a broadly representative group of students and families to bring varied perspectives to efforts regarding current discipline issues
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Correct Response: D. Educators can best address disparities in school discipline by focusing on prevention, including the development of school cultures and climates that embrace diversity and are welcoming to all students. By actively engaging a broadly representative group of students and families in the process of establishing school discipline strategies and practices, educators can gain a deeper understanding of students' backgrounds and needs. They can also gain insight into any personal biases that may be causing them to misinterpret the communication or behaviors of students whose cultures differ from their own. In this way, students and families can help develop schoolwide or districtwide discipline plans that are responsive to the specific characteristics and needs of diverse populations and are thus more likely to be effective in dealing knowledgeably and equitably with disciplinary challenges.

Competency 0003
Understand how to promote effective instructional programs that apply research-supported best practices in instruction and assessment to foster academic success for all students.

7. In its efforts to improve student learning and achievement, a low-performing district will be adopting a new program of interim assessments that will be implemented at specified times during the school year in multiple grades and subject areas. The superintendent is working with a team of district and building leaders to review a number of commercially available interim assessment programs and select one that will best meet district needs. In proceeding with this work, the superintendent should guide the team to place the highest priority on selecting a program that:

  1. advances students' understanding through the types of assessment tasks included.
  2. provides differentiated test questions for students in the system who are achieving at a range of levels.
  3. is closely aligned to the state curriculum that students are expected to master.
  4. can report information about the district's performance compared to that of other districts across the state.
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Correct Response: C. The purpose of interim assessments is to help teachers and others at the school and district level understand what students know and what concepts/skills they must focus on to ensure grade-level performance as defined by relevant learning standards. By selecting interim assessments that are closely aligned to the state curriculum that students are expected to master, district leaders can help ensure that the assessments will be useful in identifying student learning needs in relation to the mandated curriculum and determining where instruction must be adjusted to address identified needs.

Competency 0003
Understand how to promote effective instructional programs that apply research-supported best practices in instruction and assessment to foster academic success for all students.

8. The superintendent of a district with a growing number of English language learners is aware that many general education teachers in district schools would benefit from additional training on best instructional practices for meeting the needs of these learners. In reviewing preliminary plans proposed for such training in the district's middle school, the superintendent should expect to see most emphasis placed on which of the following instructional practices?

  1. implementing cooperative learning to support English language learners' concept and language development
  2. using peer-tutoring programs that meet needs and enhance learning for English language learners
  3. developing alternative learning goals and activities for English language learners at varied levels of English proficiency
  4. modifying the cognitive complexity of curricular concepts and skills for English language learners
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Although cooperative learning benefits all students, research shows that opportunities to engage in cooperative learning activities are especially beneficial for students who are English language learners. Such activities encourage intensive interaction between English language learners and their native English speaking peers. When working in small teams, English language learners expand their vocabulary and learn to communicate with more confidence. They also benefit from having multiple opportunities to access and process new content and to observe how their peers learn and solve problems.

Competency 0003
Understand how to promote effective instructional programs that apply research-supported best practices in instruction and assessment to foster academic success for all students.

9. To enhance support for struggling students and reduce special education referrals, a superintendent will lead efforts to overhaul the district's current Response to Intervention (RtI) program, which is widely viewed as overly burdensome and ineffective. The superintendent begins by holding meetings with teachers and other stakeholders to discuss and gain support for a new RtI initiative. Then he oversees the development of policies to guide the use of RtI in district schools and the creation of plans for providing staff with retraining on RtI principles and procedures. Which of the following additional superintendent actions will likely be most important in providing the leadership required for success with this initiative?

  1. working collaboratively with stakeholders to incorporate key RtI concepts into existing school and district school visions
  2. conducting a pilot program in one or two classrooms in each school before implementing the new RtI program in all classrooms
  3. ensuring that school budgets allocate adequate funds for the human and other resources required for the new RtI program
  4. defining expected changes in student performance that can be used to facilitate teacher accountability in implementing RtI
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Correct Response: C. The Response to Intervention (RtI) model emphasizes the use of tiered instruction, in which the instruction each student receives depends on the student's particular learning strengths and/or difficulties as indicated through intensive ongoing assessment. RtI typically includes three tiers of instruction, with most students receiving Tier 1 instruction and students who are struggling receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 instruction, usually delivered in small groups by educators other than the general education teacher. Given the teaching and assessment requirements of RtI, one key to effective implementation is ensuring the availability of the right mix of general education teachers, remedial education teachers, special education teachers, intervention specialists, and paraprofessionals, as well as adequate time for these individuals to collaborate and share information about student progress and needs. Besides having adequate access to human resources and adequate time for collaboration, RtI also requires access to instructional materials that can meet an array of identified student needs.

Competency 0004
Understand how to ensure the creation of professional development opportunities and comprehensive professional growth plans that are aligned to the district's comprehensive school improvement plan, support school improvement, and promote learning for all students.

10. Over the last few years, a school district has placed an emphasis on creating professional learning communities in all district schools. The superintendent can best gauge the success of this initiative by using which of the following approaches?

  1. analyzing the types of supervisory models and techniques used to promote improved teacher performance in each school
  2. determining the extent to which teachers use collaboration and inquiry to increase their teaching effectiveness
  3. evaluating changes in teachers' mastery of instructional content and use of research-based instructional strategies
  4. assessing improvements in teachers' self-evaluation skills and ability to engage in self-directed professional development planning
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Although professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools can take a variety of forms, all PLCs share certain characteristics. These include a culture of staff collaboration focused on school improvement, a sharing of expertise and support among educators, an ongoing exploration of ways to improve student learning and respond to problems in learning, and a focus on results to judge teaching effectiveness. Therefore, of the response options provided, determining the extent to which teachers are using collaboration and inquiry to increase their teaching effectiveness would best help a superintendent gauge the extent to which PLCs are being implemented in his or her district.

Competency 0004
Understand how to ensure the creation of professional development opportunities and comprehensive professional growth plans that are aligned to the district's comprehensive school improvement plan, support school improvement, and promote learning for all students.

11. A district has established a standard process for evaluating principal performance. Before the district superintendent meets with a principal to conduct an end-of-year evaluation, the principal is asked to complete and submit the form below.

Principal Evaluation Self-Inventory
1.  List areas you believe have been your particular strengths this past year:
 
2.  List areas that are your priorities for improvement during the coming school year:
 
3.  Identify the professional goals you wish to achieve during the coming school year:
 
4.  Identify actions the district administration could take to facilitate your own and your school's effectiveness:
 

Which of the following is likely to be the most significant benefit of using this form as described?

  1. deepening the superintendent's understanding of factors that are driving a principal's actions and performance
  2. prompting a principal to play an active and reflective role in the performance evaluation process
  3. offering the superintendent insight into a principal's focus on defined school and district goals and priorities
  4. facilitating the alignment of principal and superintendent perceptions regarding a principal's performance
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Correct Response: B. Use of a form like the one shown can be expected to have multiple benefits for both the superintendent evaluator and the principals who are being evaluated. In the context of an annual evaluation, key benefits would include encouraging principals to spend time thinking about their own professional practice, considering their own progress and development, and developing awareness of their own professional learning needs. In this way, principals have an opportunity to become active, reflective participants in an evaluation process in which their input is valued, and not merely passive recipients of the superintendent's evaluative judgments.

Competency 0004
Understand how to ensure the creation of professional development opportunities and comprehensive professional growth plans that are aligned to the district's comprehensive school improvement plan, support school improvement, and promote learning for all students.

12. A superintendent will be identifying a set of goals as part of a professional growth plan for a principal who is nearing the completion of his first year in the district. Which of the following factors should likely play the most important role in this process?

  1. local availability of alternative types of professional development resources
  2. principal's self-assessment of performance relative to defined standards
  3. activities included in the current district professional development plan
  4. results of a staff survey recently conducted in the principal's school
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Correct Response: D. A superintendent can and should use many types of information to determine appropriate goals to emphasize in a new principal's professional growth plan. One particularly useful kind of information involves feedback from those stakeholders, including school staff, with whom the principal regularly interacts. Daily interaction with the principal gives school staff opportunities to see him or her at work in a variety of contexts and to develop useful insights into the principal's behaviors, strengths, and needs as a professional. Such information would be especially helpful to a superintendent who must identify priorities for the new principal's growth that will best promote a positive and productive school environment.

Competency 0005
Understand organizational and operational management, including relevant structures, policies, and procedures, and their use in ensuring safe, efficient, and effective learning environments and supporting the district's vision and goals.

13. A school district in which approximately one-quarter of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunches has been pursuing the goal of eliminating a substantial achievement gap for this student group. Despite numerous efforts that have been initiated in schools and districtwide over the last five years, little or no change has occurred in the size and scope of the achievement gap. Given the lack of improvement, the parents/guardians of students from low-income families and others in the community have become highly critical of the district's actions to date and are demanding that additional measures be taken. Which of the following is likely to be the superintendent's best initial response to this organizational issue?

  1. sharing high-quality research with concerned stakeholders on the many challenges inherent in efforts to remedy significant achievement gaps
  2. surveying critics of the district's efforts on their views about specific changes the district should make to successfully address the achievement gap
  3. leading district stakeholders in defining a more realistic goal, such as reducing the achievement gap by a specified percentage rather than eliminating it
  4. arranging to contract with a highly credentialed external expert on achievement gaps to analyze current practices and make recommendations for change
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Correct Response: D. Effective district leadership often requires collaboration with others inside the district, and sometimes with individuals outside the district, to solve problems and respond to issues affecting the school community. In the situation described, the district has already spent many years trying and failing to eliminate a persistent achievement gap involving a particular student population. In light of the district's lack of success to date and a call for immediate action by stakeholders, the use of an external expert in the specific area of concern is likely to provide a fresh and impartial view of the existing situation, along with a new set of recommendations that can serve to refocus and reenergize stakeholders to achieve the specified goal.

Competency 0005
Understand organizational and operational management, including relevant structures, policies, and procedures, and their use in ensuring safe, efficient, and effective learning environments and supporting the district's vision and goals.

14. A superintendent is aware that incidents involving student fighting, harassment, and intimidation have been on the rise in district schools. Which of the following actions considered by the superintendent would likely be most effective in addressing these school safety concerns?

  1. soliciting parent/guardian cooperation in reinforcing relevant values and behaviors at home
  2. communicating directly to students regarding the causes and consequences of increased negative student interactions in their own school
  3. expanding staff presence in hallways, cafeterias, and other common areas of each school
  4. redefining disciplinary measures to be used in cases of aggressive student behavior, especially for those with a history of such behavior
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Student fighting and other forms of aggression are most likely to occur when students arrive at school in the morning, when they are dismissed at the end of the day, when they are in the hallways between classes, and when they are in other common areas such as the cafeteria at lunchtime. Assigning an adequate number of well-trained school staff to be present in the common areas of a school at these times can reduce the frequency of aggressive student behaviors by ensuring the availability of adults who can watch students closely outside of class and identify and stop minor conflicts before they erupt into more significant problems.

Competency 0005
Understand organizational and operational management, including relevant structures, policies, and procedures, and their use in ensuring safe, efficient, and effective learning environments and supporting the district's vision and goals.

15. A superintendent will be heading up efforts to develop a grant application with a group of staff members who are located both in the central office and in schools around the district. Initially, the superintendent intended to work on the grant application document with other group members by sharing the document with them as email attachments. Now the superintendent has decided to develop the application using online collaboration software instead. Which of the following is likely to be the most important benefit of switching to the latter approach?

  1. helping the superintendent ensure the creation of a final document that avoids redundancies and is consistent in style, organization, and content
  2. enabling the participants to keep track of ongoing revisions made to the document while retaining any prior versions that have been created
  3. facilitating the superintendent's ability to monitor adherence to the grant agency's requirements throughout the application development process
  4. allowing multiple participants to work on the document online at the same time and respond to potential changes as they are suggested
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. Online collaboration software provides participants with many of the benefits of working together in the same physical space without the cost and disruption of having to travel to a different location. In the situation described, the superintendent's original plan to use email attachments to create the grant application would have been relatively inefficient because participants would not have been able to interact and communicate with one another in real time as the document evolved. Online collaboration software would help streamline communication by enabling those involved to share and refine their ideas more readily and would facilitate the overall process of coordinating the efforts of multiple individuals working from different locations whose input is needed to accomplish the task.

Competency 0006
Understand human, fiscal, and material resource management that is effective, legal, equitable, and aligned and supports attainment of the district's vision and goals.

16. A school district's system of teacher evaluation includes an emphasis on "professional impact." In judging this aspect of a teacher's performance, the supervisor would most appropriately include which of the following types of information?

  1. student and parent/guardian survey summaries
  2. differentiated lesson and/or unit plans
  3. student learning objectives and expectations
  4. professional research documentation
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Increasingly, systems of teacher evaluation in Missouri and elsewhere are designed to focus not only on what teachers do and how they do it, but, perhaps even more importantly, on the effects of their actions on students and learning. Of the response options provided, only the use of survey information from students and parents/guardians would allow supervisors to explore ways in which teacher actions are affecting the learning and development of their students as well as the involvement of parents/guardians in their children's education.

Competency 0006
Understand human, fiscal, and material resource management that is effective, legal, equitable, and aligned and supports attainment of the district's vision and goals.

17. As a result of budget cuts, a district has faced growing challenges in assigning teachers in ways that best promote achievement of district goals. After taking steps to learn more about how this issue is playing out in the district's secondary schools, the superintendent should focus most attention on remedying which of the following situations?

  1. The district must often make teaching assignments that fail to reflect the performance of teachers' classes on state assessments.
  2. The district has inadvertently assigned teachers to courses in subject areas that they are not considered highly qualified to teach.
  3. Teaching assignments for faculty in some departments can show little continuity from one year to the next.
  4. Teaching assignments frequently fail to accommodate and reflect each teacher's expressed preferences.
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Correct Response: B. Of the response options provided, only option C would violate a state requirement. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, "the requirement that teachers be highly qualified applies to all public elementary or secondary school teachers employed by a local educational agency who teach a core academic subject." Therefore, in the situation described, the superintendent should give highest priority to addressing the assignment of teachers to teach courses in core subject areas they are not considered highly qualified to teach.

Competency 0006
Understand human, fiscal, and material resource management that is effective, legal, equitable, and aligned and supports attainment of the district's vision and goals.

18. A recently hired superintendent will be leading the development of next year's district budget. The superintendent is informed that key goals for the process must be to create a budget that benefits all students and that places sufficient emphasis on major areas of need. Which of the following approaches used early in the budget development process would best help the superintendent ensure that these goals will be met?

  1. identifying programs and services that have received the least funding in recent budgets and striving to increase funding allocations in those areas
  2. calculating minimum changes in average per-pupil spending for each school that would be required to maintain current levels of educational quality
  3. using information about the cost-effectiveness of each educational program to make decisions about future program funding
  4. soliciting input from school building leaders across the district regarding their views about funding priorities in their own school
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Correct Response: D. To develop a district budget that benefits all students and adequately addresses major areas of need, a recently hired superintendent would first have to determine the true needs of students and staff across district schools. The superintendent can best do this by communicating with knowledgeable individuals in each school, such as principals and other school building leaders, who can provide accurate information and deep insight regarding those areas in which the current school budget is able to meet school needs and those areas of the budget most in need of expansion. Use of this strategy can help ensure that limited budgetary resources will be used as efficiently as possible by targeting areas of true need as defined by those who are closest to what is actually going on in each school.

Competency 0007
Understand how to communicate and collaborate with parents/guardians and other district stakeholders, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to support and positively affect learning.

19. A superintendent attends a meeting of parents/guardians in a district school. The superintendent should be most concerned about, and make it a priority to address, comments from meeting attendees indicating that:

  1. they are sometimes unable to participate in schoolwide and classroom volunteer activities due to conflicts with work and home obligations.
  2. their children's teachers often fail to seek their ideas and feedback on the curricular goals that guide classroom instruction.
  3. they sometimes find it impossible to support their children in completing homework tasks because they lack relevant content knowledge.
  4. their children's teachers are often difficult to reach in a timely manner when they have concerns that they wish to discuss.
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Correct Response: D. An important goal of schools and districts should be to develop and maintain effective partnerships with parents/guardians, since such partnerships can play an important role in supporting and enhancing student learning. When parents/guardians are unable to reach their children's teachers in a timely manner to discuss concerns they have, the teachers may miss important information they could be using to help ensure effective teaching and learning for every student. In addition, lack of teacher responsiveness to efforts by parents/guardians to reach out to them sends a very negative message to the parents/guardians regarding teachers' respect for them and responsiveness toward their children.

Competency 0007
Understand how to communicate and collaborate with parents/guardians and other district stakeholders, respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources to support and positively affect learning.

20. A superintendent who uses a district website, a monthly newsletter, and occasional columns in the local newspaper to communicate with stakeholders about district issues is likely to find the introduction of a blog most beneficial in addressing which of the following goals?

  1. increasing opportunities for two-way dialogue with the community
  2. expanding the scope of district-related information reaching the community
  3. broadening outreach to diverse cultural elements in the community
  4. facilitating collaborative efforts between district schools and the community
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Correct Response: A. A district website, a district newsletter, and columns in a local newspaper can all be effective ways for a superintendent to communicate district-related information to the community, but none of these techniques allows for two-way communication between the superintendent and his or her audience. A blog would allow readers in the community to communicate back to the superintendent through the comment section attached to each post. In the situation described, the superintendent's introduction of a blog is likely to be most beneficial in increasing opportunities for two-way dialogue with the community on current issues of interest. The ability to provide feedback to a district leader can help empower community stakeholders, while access to such feedback can help a superintendent stay informed about public opinion on critical issues of the day.

Competency 0008
Understand the personal and professional responsibilities of superintendents, including legal and ethical principles and practices.

21. After learning about an article that is to appear in an upcoming issue of the high school's student newspaper, a school board member requests that the superintendent do whatever she can to keep the article from being published. In responding, the superintendent should be aware that she is legally justified in following through on this request only if the article in question:

  1. fails to adequately distinguish between objective information and the writer's personal views.
  2. poses a substantial risk of disrupting learning in the school.
  3. is likely to be considered inappropriate or offensive by a significant segment of the local community.
  4. contains faulty or inaccurate reasoning related to the topic of the piece.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Courts have held that students have a First Amendment right to free expression in school newspapers as long as the material they publish does not pose a significant threat of disrupting the learning environment, interfering with the educational process, or creating harmful conditions in the school. Therefore, of the response options provided, the superintendent would be legally justified in prohibiting publication of the article in question only if the article can be shown to pose a substantial risk of disrupting learning in the school.

Competency 0008
Understand the personal and professional responsibilities of superintendents, including legal and ethical principles and practices.

22. A district has been investigating a series of racial harassment incidents that occurred in district schools in recent months. These incidents involved, for example, racist graffiti written on school walls, demeaning notes sent to a teacher of color, and racist comments on social media posts. A full investigation of each incident results in the identification of several student perpetrators. At this point, the superintendent has a legal responsibility to:

  1. oversee the development and implementation of a districtwide plan for addressing issues of racial harassment.
  2. submit a detailed written report to appropriate state and federal entities about the incidents, the investigation, and the results.
  3. exhibit respect and tolerance for the free speech rights of those with diverse views about racial and other equity issues.
  4. avoid publicly disclosing the names of those involved in the incidents and the disciplinary measures taken against them.
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Correct Response: D. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is the most important source of regulations regarding the disclosure of information contained in students' educational records. In the situation described, information about disciplinary measures taken against particular students would be considered part of the students' educational records and would therefore be subject to FERPA privacy protections. Thus the superintendent, along with all other district staff, must avoid publicly disclosing the names of the student perpetrators and any disciplinary measures taken against them.

Competency 0008
Understand the personal and professional responsibilities of superintendents, including legal and ethical principles and practices.

23. A superintendent who has been reviewing various types of information about the district's special education program should make it his or her highest priority to address which of the following issues identified through the review?

  1. Some district schools lack the resources needed to provide students with some of the services specified in their Individualized Education Program.
  2. Formal procedures are not in place for objectively evaluating the quality of each major service provided to students with an Individualized Education Program.
  3. Students in different schools who are diagnosed with similar disabilities frequently have Individualized Education Programs that differ substantially.
  4. A pre-referral process to document accommodations and modifications that have been implemented prior to special education has not been fully completed.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. Special education programs must adhere to federal and state law regarding the education of students with disabilities. According to the law, each student with an identified disability must be provided with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This is a written document that specifies, among other things, the types of related service providers who will work with the student and strategies that will be used to help ensure that the student is able to achieve his or her educational goals. The services described in a student's IEP are considered legally binding. Therefore, of the response options provided, the superintendent should give highest priority to addressing the lack of resources needed to provide some district students with the services specified in their IEPs.

Competency 0009
Understand the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts of education and how to respond to and influence these contexts to achieve the district's vision and goals and promote learning for all students.

24. In a district that has been experiencing severe budget cuts and declining student enrollments, district decision makers have determined that the only way to maintain adequate services for all students will be to close one of the district's four elementary schools. This news causes great concern among many stakeholders, particularly elementary school staff and families who could be directly affected. The situation is highly emotional for many in the district, and individuals and groups associated with each elementary school have started engaging in strong advocacy aimed at keeping their own school open. The superintendent would like to take steps to promote a process that is as smooth and harmonious as possible moving forward. Which of the following actions by the superintendent is likely to be most effective in helping achieve this aim?

  1. recommending that school board discussions about closing a school be conducted in closed sessions to avoid unnecessary upset and the spread of misinformation
  2. inviting the strongest advocates for each elementary school to play key roles in decision making about which school to close
  3. creating many opportunities to communicate with stakeholders about other districts that have had to close schools and have emerged stronger as a result
  4. working with district leaders and others to generate a set of clearly defined criteria that will be used to determine which school to close
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Correct Response: D. Educational leaders are responsible for making decisions that are both effective and equitable. In the situation described, stakeholders have many legitimate concerns and conflicting views about the best decision for the district to make. In moving forward, the superintendent's goal should be to put in place decision-making procedures that are viewed as transparent, objective, and fair to all parties. Of the response options provided, collaboratively developing a set of clearly defined criteria that will be used to determine which school to close would best help ensure the use of such procedures and would thereby best promote a process that is as smooth and harmonious as possible in a difficult situation.

Competency 0009
Understand the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts of education and how to respond to and influence these contexts to achieve the district's vision and goals and promote learning for all students.

Two recently elected members of a school board have been arguing for a substantial reduction or elimination of funding for arts programs across the district. These members say that in view of severe budget constraints and the continuing poor performance of district schools, the district needs to focus on "the basics" and forget about "extras" such as the arts. The superintendent, who is a strong believer in the important role of the arts in promoting all students' learning and achievement, is concerned that these two board members may gain enough support on the board to have a serious detrimental effect on the district's arts programs.

25. In the situation described, the superintendent can most appropriately provide advocacy for continued funding of arts education by taking which of the following actions?

  1. reaching out to board members who are more supportive of arts education in the district to develop strategies for maintaining current arts programs
  2. providing the board with research showing how increased or decreased availability of arts education has affected similar districts
  3. writing an article or letter to publish in the local newspaper emphasizing the benefits of a strong and vibrant arts education program for students and schools
  4. seeking to mobilize internal and external stakeholders who support arts education in the district to speak out against potential cuts
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Correct Response: B. It would be both inappropriate and politically unwise for the superintendent to try to subvert the will of the new school board members by appealing to others to take a different stand on the issue of district funding for arts education. A more appropriate advocacy approach, and one that would be far less likely to damage superintendent-board relationships, would involve educating the board by sharing high-quality research on how arts education can enhance student achievement and how reduced access to arts education can have a negative effect.

26. A group of parents/guardians who are distressed about possible board action regarding the district's arts programs requests a meeting with the superintendent to discuss their concerns. During the meeting, some participants focus on their strong support for the arts in general, while others talk about the various ways that access to arts education has enhanced their children's school experience. The superintendent's most important goal for this meeting should be to:

  1. communicate agreement with the group's position on arts programs in the district and a commitment to taking whatever actions may be needed to avoid major cuts to those programs.
  2. educate the group on current district budget issues and the many ways that those issues could play out as the school board's current arts debate continues.
  3. acknowledge the group's concerns and promise that every effort will be made to provide opportunities for input from those with varied perspectives on the district's arts programs.
  4. promote the group's understanding and insight regarding local and societal factors and personal motivations driving those on the other side of the arts debate.
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Correct Response: C. Given the diversity of views that currently exists regarding the district's arts programs, the superintendent needs to maintain a relatively neutral position in the meeting with parents/guardians while still exhibiting responsiveness and respect for their concerns. The superintendent can best do this by letting the group know that he or she hears their concerns and will ensure that stakeholders with differing ideas and priorities will be heard as possible decision making on arts funding proceeds.

Competency 0009
Understand the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts of education and how to respond to and influence these contexts to achieve the district's vision and goals and promote learning for all students.

27. A school district has been experiencing a substantial increase in the number of students living in poverty. In view of the large achievement gap between students who are economically disadvantaged and other students in the district, local advocates are raising concerns about the school system's ability to respond effectively to the needs of this student population. The superintendent is eager to put in place strategies to address these concerns. Which of the following strategies for classroom teachers would be most appropriate to include in this effort?

  1. Assign work requiring computers and Internet access only when it will be possible to provide the time and materials for such work to be completed during class.
  2. Support students in mastering the foundational knowledge in a content area before moving on to activities requiring the application of higher-level or creative thinking skills.
  3. Make frequent opportunities in the classroom to provide students with explicit instruction on the personal values associated with long-term economic success.
  4. Reduce the amount of homework students are expected to complete each day while regularly providing in-class options for completing homework assignments.
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Correct Response: A. To promote achievement for all students, educational leaders must understand the implications of student differences for teaching and learning. In the situation described, the superintendent should be aware that students living in poverty may have very limited access to computers and the Internet in their homes and community. For this reason, assignments that require a computer and Internet access can present a significant hardship for students who are economically disadvantaged if teachers expect these assignments to be completed as homework. This potential inequity can best be addressed by ensuring that all students have the time and the resources they need to complete assigned computer work in class.