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This conceptual study combines theoretical analysis of existing scholarship with empirical analysis of Florida data to assess whether using the Florida Educational Leadership Examination (FELE) is appropriate for credentialing leaders and evaluating principal-preparation programs.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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does the study address about principal preparation and certification?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"The study examines challenges created by perceived principal shortages, accountability demands, and the state’s growing role in school administration, which increases the need to analyze certification and licensure processes.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How does the study evaluate the appropriateness of FELE?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It uses theoretical analysis of extant literature and empirical analysis of Florida data to consider whether success on the state test is appropriate for credentialing aspiring educational leaders and evaluating principal-preparation programs.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What research questions guide the inquiry?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The study asks about the historical, social, and political origins of the state examination, the policy development and implementation processes leading to the current FELE 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Storey  \nUniversity of Central Florida  \nJerry Johnson  \nUniversity of Central Florida  \nPerceived shortage of principals, increased accountability demands, the changing role of principals, and the growing influence of the state over school administration have created a set of challenges for principal certification and licensure that have propelled a renewed need for analysis of certification and licensure processes. Recent calls to hold preparation programs accountable for outcomes have prompted states to develop and adopt preparation program accountability systems. One primary feature of these systems is the success of program graduates on a state test leading to principal certification. Yet, little research has examined the validity and reliability of such state tests in assessing even the likely effectiveness of aspiring principals, let alone predicting their actual effectiveness once employed as a principal. This conceptual study utilizes theoretical analysis of extant literature and empirical analysis of extant data from one state (Florida) to reach conclusions about the appropriateness of using a state test to (1) credential aspiring educational leaders; and (2) evaluate principal-preparation programs.  \nKeywords: accountability, equity, Florida Education Leadership Exam (FELE), principal certification, principal preparation, school leadership  \nICPEL Education Leadership Review, Vol. 18, No. 1– December, 2017 ISSN: 1532-0723 © 2017 International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership  \nCurrent literature on educational leadership preparation programs contributes to an understanding of what should be included in preparation curriculum–pedagogies that have the potential for developing strong leaders, inclusion of a rigorous internships, and effective partnership between universities and districts (Crow & Whiteman, 2016) . However, little is known about the appropriateness of using a state examination to (1) credential aspiring educational leaders and (2) evaluate principal preparation programs. This paper utilizes critical policy analysis (Taylor, 1997) to address the research problem that policymakers, researchers, and practitioners lack a clear understanding of the appropriateness of the state examination (the Florida Educational Leadership Examination, or FELE) that educational leadership candidates in state-approved university-based1 preparation programs in Florida are required to pass in order to graduate and obtain credentials to serve as a school administrator in ensuring quality leaders for the state’s public schools.  \nMethods, Research Questions, and Conceptual Frame  \nAs deployed here, critical policy analysis represents an approach in which policy is viewed as situated in (and thus the outcome of) specific contexts and the power dynamics that characterize those contexts (Ball, 1994; Edmonson, 2004; Prunty, 1985; Taylor, 1997) . Operating from the position that policy is an outward manifestation of the values of its authors (Ball, 1994), such analyses are explicitly attentive to the historical, social, political, and economic forces that shape and are shaped by the values of the dominant groups in a particular context.  \nTo provide an overall structure for the investigation, an analytical model developed by Fallon and Paquette (2009) based on earlier work by Blaikie and Soussan (2000) and Levin (2001) was adapted and modified. The model is grounded in a stage theory approach to understanding and describing public policy cycles (Fallon & Paquette, 2009) . The one substantial modification to the Fallon and Paquette model here involved collapsing policy adoption and policy implementation into a single stage of the policy cycle. The rationale for that modification is that the contemporary FELE process has come about through an iterative process in which policy adoption and implementation (as operationalized in the","cbCailSKKe90W5jI","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailSKKe90W5jI","pdf",281012,"English","# Methods, Research Questions, and Conceptual Frame\n## Review of Relevant Literature","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the study address about principal preparation and certification?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines challenges created by perceived principal shortages, accountability demands, and the state’s growing role in school administration, which increases the need to analyze certification and licensure processes.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the study evaluate the appropriateness of FELE?\",\"answer\":\"It uses theoretical analysis of extant literature and empirical analysis of Florida data to consider whether success on the state test is appropriate for credentialing aspiring educational leaders and evaluating principal-preparation programs.\"},{\"question\":\"What research questions guide the inquiry?\",\"answer\":\"The study asks about the historical, social, and political origins of the state examination, the policy development and implementation processes leading to the current FELE iteration, and the impact FELE has had on school leaders and schools.\"}]","Out Over Their Skis - A Study of Principal Preparation Program Policy in Florida | PDF",1792093596]