NES Superintendent Subtest I (809) Practice Tests

Competencies 01–02 make up about 50% of the test. They ask you to understand how to develop and implement a shared district vision, mission, and goals, and plans to promote continuous and sustainable improvement in student learning and achievement; understand the political, social, economic, and heritage-based contexts of education and how to use effective communication and collaboration skills to build constructive relationships with members of the district governing board and other stakeholders inside and outside the district.

• Competency 0001: Understand how to develop and implement a shared district vision, mission, and goals, and plans to promote continuous and sustainable improvement in student learning and achievement. Skills tested: analyzing the purposes of a district vision and mission and procedures for collaboratively developing and implementing a shared vision, mission, and goals promoting high levels of student learning and effective instructional practice; applying knowledge of how to engage various stakeholder groups in developing and implementing a district vision, incorporate multiple perspectives into the vision, and build a shared sense of commitment to and ownership of the vision; demonstrating knowledge of the role of the superintendent in developing, articulating, and implementing a district vision; demonstrating knowledge of potential barriers to achieving a district vision and how to strategically address barriers; applying knowledge of how a district vision drives planning and decision making about goals, programs, practices, and resource utilization; demonstrating knowledge of how to collect and use relevant data to develop goals aligned with the district vision, assess organizational effectiveness, and promote organizational learning; demonstrating knowledge of how to work with the district governing board and other stakeholders to create and implement plans to achieve goals and promote continuous and sustainable improvement; applying knowledge of how to monitor and evaluate a plan's progress and effectiveness and revise plans as needed to achieve goals.
• Competency 0002: Understand the political, social, economic, and heritage-based contexts of education and how to use effective communication and collaboration skills to build constructive relationships with members of the district governing board and other stakeholders inside and outside the district. Skills tested: demonstrating knowledge of political, social, economic, and heritage-based contexts of education at the local, state, and federal levels that affect public schools and how to respond appropriately to these contexts; analyzing the influences of political, social, economic, and heritage-based factors on families, communities, staff, students, and the educational environment; demonstrating knowledge of how current and emerging issues, trends, and initiatives influence teaching and learning and how to adapt leadership strategies in response to these forces; applying knowledge of how to serve as an effective advocate at the local, state, and federal levels for policies, resources, laws, programs, family needs, and practices that promote student learning and educational access for all; demonstrating knowledge of public school governance and how to work effectively with members of the district governing board and other decision makers at all levels to increase their understanding of issues affecting district schools and to achieve educational goals; demonstrating knowledge of community and media relations, public information strategies for communicating different types of information to various audiences (e.g., families, community partners), networking, and interpersonal and communication skills appropriate in various contexts relevant to the role of the superintendent; applying knowledge of how to nurture a sense of approachability and build collaborative relationships with members of the district governing board, teachers and other personnel, students, advisory councils, families, businesses/enterprises, tribal leaders, and various community stakeholders; demonstrating knowledge of how to promote understanding, appreciation, and use of the community's heritage-based, social, and intellectual resources and how to mobilize community resources in support of district programs and goals; demonstrating knowledge of the benefits of parent/guardian participation in schools and strategies for increasing the involvement of parents/guardians in their children's education; applying knowledge of how to build consensus and collaborate in various educational contexts; applying knowledge of how to respond to various community interests and needs and work effectively with stakeholders who have competing or conflicting perspectives.

Competencies 03–04 make up about 50% of the test. They ask you to understand how to develop, support, and sustain educational environments that are conducive to student learning and professional growth for all staff; understand how to provide instructional leadership focused on effective teaching and learning and the use of best instructional practices that promote academic success for every student.

• Competency 0003: Understand how to develop, support, and sustain educational environments that are conducive to student learning and professional growth for all staff. Skills tested: demonstrating knowledge of how to nurture and sustain a districtwide norm of trust, success, and shared accountability in which all stakeholders share a commitment to high expectations for all students, the pursuit of academic excellence, and placing children at the center of education; demonstrating knowledge of how to establish rigorous academic goals and priorities; ensure that teachers, administrators, and other staff set high academic and behavior expectations for every student; and ensure that students are consistently engaged in learning; applying knowledge of how to evaluate learning environments and support the development of personalized, motivating, safe, supportive, affirming, and fair learning environments for all that are responsive to and respectful of students' various backgrounds, enhance students' enjoyment of learning, ensure each student's active membership in the school community, promote the ability of students to participate in multiple environments, and support achievement for every student; applying knowledge of how to ensure access to social capital and institutional support and how to attack issues of student marginalization; deficit-based schooling; and limiting assumptions about students; demonstrating knowledge of how to lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of effective behavior management approaches, student codes of conduct, and practices and procedures for preventing bullying and other forms of misconduct; demonstrating knowledge of how to guide school and district staff to build productive relationships with parents/guardians and engage them in their children's learning; applying knowledge of how to establish a strong professional environment of collective efficacy that encourages continuous learning and collaboration by principals, teachers, and other staff; staff leadership; and a shared commitment to the district's vision, mission, values, and goals; applying knowledge of how to develop and facilitate job-embedded, standards-based professional development that improves learning for all students, including allocating time and other resources to support learning and collaboration for all personnel; demonstrating knowledge of how to promote and facilitate ongoing collaborative efforts to analyze relevant student data and formulate plans for improved teaching and learning; applying knowledge of how to develop a learning community in which teamwork, reflection, conversation, sharing, openness, and problem solving about student learning and achievement are aligned to instructional goals and priorities; identifying strategies for encouraging leadership, initiative, innovation, and self-reflection among all personnel; providing emotional support to teachers and other professional staff; and encouraging a healthy work-life balance; demonstrating knowledge of resources and practices, including reflection and feedback from others, to promote one's own ongoing professional development and learning.
• Competency 0004: Understand how to provide instructional leadership focused on effective teaching and learning and the use of best instructional practices that promote academic success for every student. Skills tested: applying knowledge of how to plan, organize, supervise, monitor, and support a rigorous, standards-based, and data-driven instructional program based on research-supported best practices for curriculum, instruction, and assessment that promotes the preparation of students to live productively in and contribute to the various contexts of a global society; demonstrating knowledge of factors to consider in developing a district instructional program (e.g., academic standards, student characteristics and needs, authenticity and relevance, consistency in curriculum and instruction throughout the grade levels) and procedures for supervising and allocating resources to sustain the instructional program; applying knowledge of instructional methods and best practices, such as data-driven differentiation and intervention and strengths-based approaches to learning and teaching, to meet various student needs and promote success for every student; applying knowledge of student assessment that reflects understandings of child development and standards of measurement and how to guide the use of achievement data to evaluate student performance, identify instructional strengths and needs, define gaps between current outcomes and goals, analyze differences between individuals and groups of students, and design school and district programs to improve learning for every student; applying knowledge of classroom observations and the use of observation results and student data to evaluate the quality of teaching; demonstrating knowledge of the role of principal evaluation in continuous school improvement; demonstrating knowledge of educational accountability, the importance and implications of accountability for schools and districts, the role of assessment in accountability, and procedures for establishing and monitoring accountability systems; demonstrating knowledge of how to use technology and information systems to enrich curriculum and instruction, support student learning, and monitor instructional effectiveness; analyzing the impact of organizational factors (e.g., staffing patterns, schedules, student grouping practices) on student achievement and ways to adjust these factors to achieve goals for learning.