Indiana to revamp its certification exam for principals

This from the Hechinger Report: 

Indiana is poised to dramatically overhaul the way it determines whether educators are qualified to become principals.

This from Jim Borgman

Starting in the fall of 2013, Indiana will abandon its mostly multiple-choice test for the administrator license required to become a principal or vice principal.

Instead, the new test will feature “real practical, applicable scenarios—case-study kinds of things—that actually show that you know what you’re talking about,” said Marg Mast, director of educator effectiveness and leadership in Indiana’s state department of education.

Several states are discussing the idea of creating a new principal certification test, but Indiana is the only one currently doing so, according to Ben Fenton, co-founder and chief strategy and knowledge officer of New Leaders, a New York City-based nonprofit group that trains principals in 12 urban areas across the country.


The change is coming at a time when the job demands of school leaders are shifting dramatically and when Indiana—like many states—has increased the number of teacher observations that administrators must conduct each year as well as the amount of feedback they must provide.

Starting this fall, all teachers in Indiana will be observed at least four times a year by school administrators.

“That has really shone the spotlight on principal preparation,” Mast said, “and whether people have the capacity to do the work we’re asking them to do.” ...