Validation of an assessment centre process for the selection of school leaders in Chile

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to develop and validate an Assessment Centre (AC) tool for the evaluation and selection of school leaders, focusing on the identification of competencies that influence teaching and learning outcomes. International research supports the creation of Assessment Centres to select candidates for these roles, due to their superior predictive capacity over traditional methods. In this research, a model composed of four face-to-face instruments (an interview to assess competencies, a human resources exercise, a class observation exercise, and a strategic analysis exercise) was designed and validated which simulated the key tasks of a school principal. To establish the desired performance outcomes, three competencies and 15 indicators were selected, based on international and local standards. The analysis of performance results was obtained from a sample of 164 participants made up of teachers, school leaders and principals. The results suggest positive evidence for construct validity, concurrent criteria validity, and reliability between evaluators. Moreover, the data obtained from a sub-sample of principals, with three or more years of experience in their role, allowed for the association of their AC scores with the results of their school organisations, as measured by the National System for the Measurement of Educational Quality in the years 2013 and 2016.

KEYWORDS:

• Instructional leadership
• assessment centre
• school principal
• selection process
• leadership

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of Chile (Mineduc) under Grant FONIDE F711295; Ministry of Education of Chile (Mineduc), Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Fondo de Fomento al Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, under Grant FONDEF IDEA Project Code ID14I10139.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Paulo Volante http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6072-2203

Notes

1 Academic Coordinators in Chile are part of the leadership team at schools. They are the second highest authority after the principal, and are usually in charge of coordinating teaching and learning activities with teachers, monitoring curriculum, and are directly involved in translating instructional goals into practice with teachers.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministerio de Educación, Gobierno de Chile (Mineduc) under Grant FONIDE F711295; Ministry of Education of Chile (Mineduc), Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Fondo de Fomento al Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico, under Grant FONDEF IDEA Project Code ID14I10139.