KPSM - a potential analysis instrument for school leadership

Author(s):

Stephan Gerhard HuberHiltmann Maren

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

Format:

Paper

Session Information

09 SES 01 B, Assessment of Teacher Competencies and Attitudes

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-28

09:15-10:45

Room:

HG, Marietta- Blau-Saal

Chair:

Nils Berkemeyer

Contribution

Background The pivotal role of the school leader as a factor in effective schools has been corroborated by findings of school effectiveness research over the last decades. School improvement researchers have also demonstrated increasing recognition of the importance of school leaders for all stages of the school improvement process (reviews of international studies from the field of school effectiveness and school improvement see Huber, 1999, 2003a,b, 2005a,b, 2009). For these reasons, it is essential to select and develop suitable individuals for school leadership positions. To establish and modify appropriate selection processes and training and development opportunities has become a major focus of professionalization tendencies in educational research. Overall, we know from the field of recruitment and selection that it is the “fit” between job characteristics and a person’s skills, attitudes, and ability to learn (potential) that matters (e.g. Schuler, 2006; Schuler & Höft, 2007; Sekiguchi, 2004). Research and development question There is good reason to support future school management personnel in its orientation as early as possible. While selection is often seen as a one way process of an institution selecting suitable candidates, the overall quality for all parties included is influenced by first of all being able to attract the right candidates and to help people get an idea whether the new position will suit them (Huber & Hiltmann, in press). Therefore, supporting processes of orientation and self-selection are equally important. In turn, opportunities for teachers to find out whether they fit to the personal demands of the school leadership role have become more important. In other fields of career development, self assessments based on psychometric tests have been proven stated to be helpful (Stiftung Warentest 2004, 2007, 2008). However, such tools are not known in the educational sector, particularly not in the German speaking context. The paper will briefly outline the tool’s development and psychometric properties. Besides psychometric properties, a very important aspect of the usefulness of a career counselling tool is its social validity. How is the tool accepted? What do participants expect of an online career counselling tool and were expectations met? Are results useful in itself or will further advice (e.g. workshops or individual counselling) be needed? The paper will present results on a follow up evaluation study.

Method

KPSM was developed by Huber, Hiltmann and Hader Popp in cooperation with eligo, a German consulting firm specialized on online-based aptitude testing. KPSM is an online-based self-assessment orientation tool for clarifying personal strengths and weaknesses for interested, newly appointed, or experienced members of school leadership teams. It has been used in the context of preparation and training programs. It consists of 24 test dimensions, which - following Schmidt & Hunter (1998) - focus on cognitive abilities as well as on job related attitudes and motives. Furthermore, the selection of test scales relates to theories of school leadership(see Moos & Huber, 2007) and studies of the job profiles of school leadership in the German speaking context (Huber & Schneider, 2007a,b). To explore psychometric properties, a pilot study was conducted in Germany in 2007 and 2008(N=400; Huber & Hiltmann, 2008). An evaluation study on the experiences of the participants was undertaken as well (N=264).

Expected Outcomes

The PC-based test administration and calucalation of test reensures a standardized test procedure and interscorer objectivity. Written feedback reports form a basis for objectivity for interpreting test results when the tool is used appropriately. About 20 of the 24 test scales show good alpha coefficients between .70 and .86. Significant correlations between test scales and external variables (e.g. being steering committee member) serve as first indicators for the tool’s validity. With regard to social validity, findings of the evaluation study show that participants have adequate expectations corresponding with the formative purpose of the tool, that their expectations were met(79%), that the self-assessment advised them of aspects worth thinking about(75%) and taking into account in future(79%), and that they would recommend the self-assessment to colleagues(82%). Nevertheless, additional studies focusing on retest reliability, construct and criterion related validity shall be conducted. Modifications of the tool and possible complementary instruments will be discussed.

References

Huber, S.G. (1999). School Effectiveness: Was macht Schule wirksam? Internationale Schulentwicklungsforschung (I). Schul-Management, 2, 10-17. School Improvement: Wie kann Schule verbessert werden? Internationale Schulentwicklungsforschung (II). Schul-Management, 3, 7-18. Effectiveness & Improvement: Wirksamkeit und Verbesserung von Schule - eine Zusammenschau. Internationale Schulentwicklungsforschung (III). Schul-Management, 5, 8-18. Huber, S.G. (2003a). Qualifizierung von Schulleiterinnen und Schulleitern im internationalen Vergleich: Eine Untersuchung in 15 Ländern zur Professionalisierung von pädagogischen Führungskräften für Schulen. In der Reihe Wissen & Praxis Bildungsmanagement. Kronach: Wolters Kluwer. Huber, S.G. (2003b). International trends of school management. The complex range of tasks and responsibilities: An international perspective. The Japanese Association for the Study of Educational Administration, Journal of JASEA, 45, 212-230. Huber, S.G. (2005a). Anforderungen an Schulleitung: Überlegungen aufgrund der Veränderungen in den Bildungssystemen vieler Länder. In: A. Bartz, J. Fabian, S.G. Huber, Carmen Kloft, H. Rosenbusch, H. Sassenscheidt (Eds.). PraxisWissen Schulleitung (10.23). München: Wolters Kluwer. Huber, S.G. (2005b). Führungskonzeptionen und Führungsmodelle im Überblick. In A. Bartz, J. Fabian, S.G. Huber, Carmen Kloft, H. Rosenbusch, H. Sassenscheidt (Eds.). PraxisWissen Schulleitung (10.11). München: Wolters Kluwer. Huber, S.G. (2009). Schulleitung. In: S. Blömeke, T. Bohl, L. Haag, G. Lang-Wojtasik & W. Sacher, Werner (Hrsg.). Handbuch Schule Theorie – Organisation – Entwicklung, 502 – 511. Bad Heilbrunn: Verlag Julius Klinkhardt. Huber, S. G. & Hiltmann, M. (2008). Kompetenzprofil Schulmanagement (KPSM). Abschlussbericht der Pilotierung. Institut für Bildungsmanagement und Bildungsökonomie, Pädagogische Hochschule Zentralschweiz, Zug. Huber, S. G. & Hiltmann, M. (in press). The Recruitment and Selection of School Leaders – First Findings of an International Comparison. In: S. G. Huber (Ed.), School Leadership - International Perspectives. New York: Peter Lang. Huber, S. G. & Schneider, N. (2007a). Leitbilder und Anforderungsbeschreibungen für Schulleitungen - Synopse der Beschreibungen in den Bundesländern. In Huber, S. G. (Ed). Reihe „Bildungsmanagement“. Erfurt, Zug. Huber, S.G. & Schneider, N. (2007b). Anforderungen an Schulleitung: Was wird in den Ländern von pädagogischen Führungskräften in der Schule erwartet? In: A. Bartz,. J. Fabian, S.G. Huber, Carmen Kloft, H. Rosenbusch, H. Sassenscheidt (Eds.). PraxisWissen Schulleitung (10.24). München: Wolters Kluwer. Moos, L. & Huber, S. G. (2007). School leadership, school effectiveness and school improvement: democratic and integrative leadership. In T. Townsend (Ed.), International handbook of school effectiveness and improvement, 579-596. Berlin: Springer. Sekiguchi, T. (2004). Person-organization fit and person-job fit in employee selection: A review of the literature. Osaka Keidai Ronshu, 54 (6), 179-196. Schmidt, F. L. & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262-274. Schuler, H. (2006). Lehrbuch der Personalpsychologie. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Schuler, H. & Höft, S. (2007). Diagnose beruflicher Eignung und Leistung. In H. Schuler (Ed.) Lehrbuch Organisationspsychologie, 289-343. Bern: Huber. Stiftung Wartentest (2004). Onlinetests zur Selbsteinschätzung: Eignungstest bestanden. Finanztest 11/2004, 35-37. Stiftung Warentest (2007). Onlinetests zur Selbsteinschätzung: Eignungsprüfung im Netz. Stiftung Wartentest 3/2007, Stiftung Wartentest (2008). Test Onlin-Eignungstests: Was kann ich gut? Stiftung Wartentest, test Spezial Karriere, 11/2008, 24-27.

Author Information

Stephan Gerhard Huber

University of Teacher Education Central Switzerland (PHZ) Zug

Institute for Management and Economics of Education (IBB)

Zug

Hiltmann Maren

Teacher Training University of Central Switzerland (PHZ) Zug, Switzerland

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