Journal Article

Performance Assessment of Aspiring School Leaders Grounded in an Epistemology of Practice: A Case Study

Jessica E. Charles, Rebecca Cheung, and Kristin Rosekrans
January 2019 | International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership

This journal article examines the design of state-mandated administrator performance assessments (APAs) for licensure, focusing on the California APA, which was fully implemented in 2019. First, the authors describe the impact of different epistemologies on performance assessment design. Then, the authors describe the nature of leadership enacted and the related implications for assessment design. Finally, the article provides performance assessment examples from UC Berkeley’s Principal Leadership Institute that illustrate how assessments can be grounded within an epistemology of practice and discusses implications for preparation programs in the context of mandated state assessments.