Leading assessment for enhanced student outcomes

Abstract

This paper reports the leadership findings that emerged from the Alberta Student Assessment Study, a large-scale study employing a mixed-method design. Findings included the importance of assessment leadership, credibility of leaders, capacity to make hard decisions and ability to lead professional learning. An optimal assessment leadership profile emerged which includes values and assessment knowledge, mediated by personal qualities and accompanied by an interplay between procedural knowledge and professional skills. This informs leadership vision and actions leading to increased assessment literacy, more effective monitoring and reporting practice, enhanced instructional practice, enriched partnerships with parents and community members and positive student outcomes.

Keywords:

• leadership
• student assessment
• leadership profile
• leadership vision
• assessment literacy
• student outcomes

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the funding for this study that was provided by Alberta Education. Further, it is important to note the academic freedom granted to the research team by Alberta Education and the Faculties of Education at the University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge, and the University of Alberta.

Notes

Based on paper presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, 27 May 2012, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.