Australian Principal Certification: Presentation by Jim Davies, CEO, Principals Australia Institute to MATSITI School Leaders Forum, 16 October 2014

1. MATSITI School Leaders Forum, 16 October 2014
www.matsiti.edu.au/events/leaders

2. 20 years working with Australian principals with
a focus on quality professional learning and
leadership development

3. PAI today
An independent company with:
• 9 directors
• 100 employees / small offices in most capital cities
• Other major initiatives include:
• Kidsmatter, Mindmatters, Dare to Lead, palnet, L5
Framework, Work On

4. PAI is committed to…
• working with principals to recognise the value of “many principals,
one profession”
• respecting and acknowledging the varying contexts within which
principals work
• consultation and working with principals to co-design and develop
Principal Certification
• forging collaborative relationships
• developing Principal Certification as a national response to
autonomous and accountable leadership practice
• enabling principals to take responsibility for their own Standard
• seeking to develop an empirical evidence base

5. #principalcertification

6. Why certification?
The ability to develop a publicly credible certification system is a
defining credential of a profession.
Recognition from expert peers is a powerful form of reward for
professionals.
Promotion of widespread implementation of
effective professional practices drives
nationally consistent recognition of quality.
Certification is the way most professions drive
continual improvement in their member’s practice;
in their own and in the public interest.
“…if principals don’t
own their
profession, then
others will… we
need to be a part of
shaping the future of
the profession…”

7. “Finding practical ways to thoughtfully and appropriately assess
and develop leaders can have an important impact on the quality
of leadership, and through that, on the quality of education in
our schools.”
Goldring, E., Porter, A. C., Murphy, J., Elliott, S. N., & Cravens, X. (2007)
Assessing learning-centered leadership: Connections to research, professional standards, and current practices. p1
…the fact that this
is going to take
time to get it right
is not an excuse…it
is a reason to get
started…

8. Vision
Principal Certification affirms the importance of
educational leadership and strengthens the unique role
of principals to improve the quality of learning and
teaching in schools.

9. What is certification?
Australian Principal Certification is formal endorsement
that a member of the profession has attained a
designated standard of accomplished practice in
accordance with profession-developed requirements
and the Australian Professional Standard for Principals
(the Standard).
Australian Principal Certification is recognition of the
Standard in action.

10. Principal certification demonstrates the professional
commitment of principals to the Australian Principal Standard
and to its operation in Australian schools. It affirms the
significance of principals taking professional responsibility for the
recognition and application of those who demonstrate the
Australian Principal Standard.
Principals Australia Institute (2013)

11. The Australian Principal Standard
The Standard is a public statement that sets out what principals are expected
to know, understand and do. It is represented as an integrated model. The
Standard aims to:
• define the role and unify the
profession nationally
•describe professional
practice in a common
language
•make explicit the role of
quality school leadership for
the 21st century

13. Complementary…and different
Principal Certification Performance Management
Principal profession Ownership Employing authority
 Attainment of the Standard
 Professional learning and improvement
Purpose
 Employer requirements
 Selection and appointment
 Appraisal and review
Profession-defined Process Employer-defined
Assessment of evidence of learning and
leading a school
Assessment
Appraisal of performance aligned to
employer requirements
 Evaluation of impact
 Conducted by peers
Evaluation
 Evaluation of performance
 Conducted by employer
To the principal profession Accountability To the employer

14. What’s your purpose?
http://www.pai.edu.au/Video-gallery/#video2

15. Assessment & Evaluation Framework
An Assessment and Evaluation Framework, designed by
and for principals will encourage demonstrated
evidence of the Standard in action, and is consistent
with principals as leaders of organisations, empowered
to act autonomously and hold themselves accountable
to the Principal Standard and to each other.

16. “Our ability to recognise and value
quality professional work
depends on our ability to evaluate it. “
@Principal_Lead

17. APPLE criteria
A professional certification system needs to be valid and
reliable, gain public credibility and be legally defensible.
Assessments for certification purposes should reflect the
APPLE criteria:
administratively feasible
professionally acceptable
publicly credible
legally defensibility; and
economically affordable.

18. Draft certification portfolio wheel

19. Structured portfolios should
• be based on what principals normally do
• reflect the wholeness and seamless nature of principals work, where
several of the professional practices are always at play
• allow for evidence against several of the professional practices to be
shown at the same time.
Dr Lawrence Ingvarson 2014
• be authentic and therefore, complex
• be open-ended, allowing principals to show their own practice
• provide ample opportunity and encouragement for analysis, reflection
and the exemplification of good practice
• ensure that professional knowledge and values underlie all performances
• assess a cluster of standards; and each standard should be assessed by
more than one task.
Perlman 2008

20. Example portfolio
Leading and managing change is one of the core responsibilities of a principal.
Demonstrate how you made a significant contribution to the quality of teaching and
learning in your school. Describe an initiative where you mobilised colleagues in your
school to deal with an important need related to student learning opportunities
and/or outcomes and in turn improved your professional practice and that of others.
Provide quantitative and qualitative evidence and describe the main stages, including the:
Discover: identification of a need or problem
Deepen: close analysis of the need and how it informed your conceptualisation and
practical development of the initiative
Develop: development of an innovative plan to meet that need
Deliver: implementation and monitoring of the initiative, together with an insightful
interpretation of and reflection on its outcomes and documented evidence
that the initiative led to improved professional practices and student
learning outcomes

21. “Education research shows that most school variables, considered
separately, have at most small effects on learning. The real payoff
comes when individual variables combine to reach critical mass.
Creating the conditions under which that can occur is the job of
the principal.”
Wallace Foundation. (2011)
The school principal as leader: Guiding schools to better teaching and learning. P2

22. Australian Principal Certification
…heralds one of the most exciting opportunities in recent time for us
to:
• shine the light on the work of the principal
• acknowledge the specialised skills, knowledge and understanding
required of exemplary principals
• elevate the status of the profession
• work together to implement a process that will articulate and
recognise outstanding school leadership and it’s impact on teacher
efficacy, student learning and achievement and whole school
improvement
“join us…be a part of shaping the future of the profession…”

23. Contact
E: louisa.rennie@pai.edu.au
T: @LouisaJRennie
W: www.pai.edu.au/certification
E: principalcertification@pai.edu.au
T: @Principal_Lead