MATSITI School Leaders Forum, 16 October 2014www.matsiti.edu.au/events/leaders

20 years working with Australian principals with a focus on quality professional learning and

leadership development

PAI today

An independent company with:

• 9 directors • 100 employees / small offices in most capital cities• Other major initiatives include: • Kidsmatter, Mindmatters, Dare to Lead, palnet, L5

Framework, Work On

PAI is committed to…• working with principals to recognise the value of “many principals,

one profession”• respecting and acknowledging the varying contexts within which

principals work• consultation and working with principals to co-design and develop

Principal Certification• forging collaborative relationships• developing Principal Certification as a national response to

autonomous and accountable leadership practice• enabling principals to take responsibility for their own Standard• seeking to develop an empirical evidence base

#principalcertification

Why certification?The ability to develop a publicly credible certification system is a defining credential of a profession.

Recognition from expert peers is a powerful form of reward for professionals.

Promotion of widespread implementation of effective professional practices drives nationally consistent recognition of quality.

Certification is the way most professions drive continual improvement in their member’s practice; in their own and in the public interest.

“…if principals don’t own their

profession, then others will… we

need to be a part of shaping the future of

the profession…”

“Finding practical ways to thoughtfully and appropriately assess and develop leaders can have an important impact on the quality of leadership, and through that, on the quality of education in our schools.”

Goldring, E., Porter, A. C., Murphy, J., Elliott, S. N., & Cravens, X. (2007)Assessing learning-centered leadership: Connections to research, professional standards, and current practices. p1

…the fact that this is going to take

time to get it right is not an excuse…it is a reason to get

started…

Vision

Principal Certification affirms the importance of educational leadership and strengthens the unique role of principals to improve the quality of learning and teaching in schools.

What is certification?

Australian Principal Certification is formal endorsement that a member of the profession has attained a designated standard of accomplished practice in accordance with profession-developed requirements and the Australian Professional Standard for Principals (the Standard).

Australian Principal Certification is recognition of the Standard in action.

Principal certification demonstrates the professional commitment of principals to the Australian Principal Standard and to its operation in Australian schools. It affirms the significance of principals taking professional responsibility for the recognition and application of those who demonstrate the Australian Principal Standard.Principals Australia Institute (2013)

The Australian Principal StandardThe Standard is a public statement that sets out what principals are expected to know, understand and do. It is represented as an integrated model. The Standard aims to:

• define the role and unify the profession nationally

• describe professional practice in a common language

•make explicit the role of quality school leadership for the 21st century

Principal Certification Performance Management

Principal profession Ownership Employing authority

Attainment of the Standard

Professional learning and improvementPurpose

Employer requirements

Selection and appointment

Appraisal and review

Profession-defined Process Employer-defined

Assessment of evidence of learning and leading a school Assessment Appraisal of performance aligned to

employer requirements

Evaluation of impact

Conducted by peersEvaluation

Evaluation of performance

Conducted by employer

To the principal profession Accountability To the employer

Complementary…and different

What’s your purpose?

http://www.pai.edu.au/Video-gallery/#video2

Assessment & Evaluation Framework

An Assessment and Evaluation Framework, designed by and for principals will encourage demonstrated evidence of the Standard in action, and is consistent with principals as leaders of organisations, empowered to act autonomously and hold themselves accountable to the Principal Standard and to each other.

“Our ability to recognise and value quality professional work

depends on our ability to evaluate it. “

@Principal_Lead

APPLE criteriaA professional certification system needs to be valid and reliable, gain public credibility and be legally defensible. Assessments for certification purposes should reflect the APPLE criteria:

administratively feasible

professionally acceptable

publicly credible

legally defensibility; and

economically affordable.

Draft certification portfolio wheel

Structured portfolios should• be based on what principals normally do• reflect the wholeness and seamless nature of principals work, where several of

the professional practices are always at play• allow for evidence against several of the professional practices to be shown at

the same time.Dr Lawrence Ingvarson 2014

• be authentic and therefore, complex • be open-ended, allowing principals to show their own practice • provide ample opportunity and encouragement for analysis, reflection and the

exemplification of good practice• ensure that professional knowledge and values underlie all performances • assess a cluster of standards; and each standard should be assessed by more

than one task.Perlman 2008

Example portfolioLeading and managing change is one of the core responsibilities of a principal. Demonstrate how you made a significant contribution to the quality of teaching and learning in your school. Describe an initiative where you mobilised colleagues in your school to deal with an important need related to student learning opportunities and/or outcomes and in turn improved your professional practice and that of others.

Provide quantitative and qualitative evidence and describe the main stages, including the:

Discover: identification of a need or problem Deepen: close analysis of the need and how it informed your conceptualisation and

practical development of the initiativeDevelop: development of an innovative plan to meet that needDeliver: implementation and monitoring of the initiative, together with an insightful

interpretation of and reflection on its outcomes and documented evidence that the initiative led to improved professional practices and student

learning outcomes

“Education research shows that most school variables, considered separately, have at most small effects on learning. The real payoff comes when individual variables combine to reach critical mass. Creating the conditions under which that can occur is the job of the principal.”

Wallace Foundation. (2011)The school principal as leader: Guiding schools to better teaching and learning. P2

Australian Principal Certification …heralds one of the most exciting opportunities in recent time for us

to:

• shine the light on the work of the principal• acknowledge the specialised skills, knowledge and understanding

required of exemplary principals• elevate the status of the profession• work together to implement a process that will articulate and

recognise outstanding school leadership and it’s impact on teacher efficacy, student learning and achievement and whole school improvement

“join us…be a part of shaping the future of the profession…”

Contact

E: louisa.rennie@pai.edu.au

T: @LouisaJRennie

W: www.pai.edu.au/certification

E: principalcertification@pai.edu.au

T: @Principal_Lead