Candidates enrolled in the principal preparation program will demonstrate knowledge and skills on comprehensive examinations referenced to the standards set forth by SBEC for principal preparation.

Candidates will demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills on the principal preparation program comprehensive examination which addresses the Texas principal Competencies as determined by SBEC and course content.

The comprehensive examination and rubric were developed by principal preparation program faculty. The examination includes content from several courses (ASE 532- Administration and Organization of Public Schools, ASE 671-Role of  the Principal, ASE 572-Public School Law, ASE 678-Building Capacity for Teaching and Learning, ASE 679-Program Evaluation for School Improvement, ASE 586- Special Populations and Special Programs). The course content is paired to create 5 scenario- based questions to which students respond.

The rubric for the examination is based on a scale of 1-3 (1-failed "below expectations response, 2-passed "meets expectations", and 3-passed "target expectations").

Candidates who score 1-fail must retake the sections of the examination that they failed until they have passed to earn a minimum score of 2- passed.

100% of candidates will score 2 or 3 on the comprehensive examination during the first administration.

During 2010-2011 school year, two comprehensive examinations were administered.  The Fall 2010 exam was a scenario based essay exam.  The Spring 2011 exam was a scenario-based multiple choice exam. One hundred percent of the students scored a 2 or a 3 on the comprehensive exam. Analysis of the examinations, allowed the program area faculty to identify areas in need of improvement. Although 100% of the students passed the comprehensive exams...
1. students need to better understand the level of thinking needed to be successful on the test; 
2. the curriculum that is delivered to the students needs improvement in the areas of School Law, Special Populations and special programs, and role of the principal;  
3. currently, the new multiple-choice items have not been clearly linked to a program and/or TExES competency.

Comprehensive examinations will continue to be multiple-choice exams.  Starting in the Summer of 2011, there will be multiple forms of the exam.  Faculty will assess the exam and the alignment to the curriculum and to instruction.  To address students' need to understand better the level of thinking necessary for success on the comprehensive exam, we will create a review session to coincide with the internship seminars, and we will create a review document for students to study. Already, the faculty have created revised lists of topics for the Law, Special Populations, and Role of the principal courses.  Master syllabi have been created to help full time and part time faculty know what the students need to know to demonstrate appropriate levels of knowledge.  Faculty will work to identify the TExES and ELCC competencies measured by each set of scenarios/questions, and then those competencies will be listed with each question.

Certain knowledge and skills are requisite for becoming an effective public school principal.

Candidates will demonstrate knowledge and skills associated with being an effective principal as conceptualized in the Texas Administrative Code and SBEC.

As required by the Texas Education Code, 21.048, successful performance on educator certification examinations is required for the issuance of a Texas educator certificate. The TExES Principal test is criterion referenced. It is designed to measure the knowledge and skills delineated in the Principal test framework, which is based on the 9 Principal standards that are listed in the Texas Administrative Code Title 19, Part VII, Chapter 241.

The TExES Principal test is a selected-response, or multiple-choice, test designed to measure the requisite knowledge and skills that a beginning Texas principal must possess. This test includes both individual and stand-alone items that are arranged in clustered decision sets based on real-world situations faced by school principals and assistant principals in elementary, middle, or high school settings.

Committees of Texas educators and interested citizens guide the development of the TExES tests by participating in each stage of the test development process. These working committees are comprised of Texas educators from public and charter schools, faculty from educator preparation programs, education service enter staff, representatives from professional educator organizations, content experts, the business community, and parents. The committees are balanced in terms of position, affiliation, years of experience, ethnicity, gender, and geographical diversity. The committee membership is rotated during the development process so that numerous Texas stakeholders may be actively involved.

70% of candidates will pass the TExES Principal test within one year of their graduation from the principal preparation program.

During the 2010 school year, approximately 58% of all 068 Principal Exam takers passed.  However, this includes all students not just the students who took the test within one year.  We need to look at these data more closely.  Domains I, II, and III were tested. Domain I is School and Community Relations; Domain II is Instructional Leadership; and Domain III is Administrative Leadership.  We determined that our students are not doing as well on Domains I and II as they are in Domain III.  We have determined a weakness in our curriculum and instruction related to all three domains. However, typically, our students performed better on items related to Administrative Leadership.

During the 2010-2011 school year, faculty studied the TExES exam results and the current curriculum for improved alignment.  This will continue as a process as we fine tune our curriculum and instruction.  We focused on the courses in which Domains I, II, and III are most appropriately taught and learned ( i.e., ASE 532, ASE 671, ASE 586, ASE 694). We continue to work on alignment of the curriculum in these courses and the TExES exam.  Currently and in the future, students are required to participate in a TExES review session during their internship.