Preliminary Administrative Services Program Standards

The administrative services preparation program prepares instructional leaders to serve effectively in a variety of public schools and school districts. The design of the program is based on a sound rationale informed by theory and research and aligned with the California Administrator Performance Expectations and principles of adult learning theory. The program includes a coherent, developmental, integrated, and interrelated set of theoretical and practical learning experiences designed to provide extensive opportunities to engage candidates in developing knowledge, skills, and dispositions to advance teaching and learning. The program includes both formative and summative assessments based on the California Administrator Performance Expectations (CAPE). 

Each sponsor of an administrative services preparation program establishes one or more partnerships that contribute substantively to the design, implementation, quality and effectiveness of the program. Partnership agreements are collaboratively established with each partner and clearly define roles and expectations of all partners sharing the responsibility for the implementation and success of the program. Partners, such as advisory committees, school districts that facilitate field experiences, higher education institutions, community organizations, and other stakeholder groups establish productive working relationships, coordinate joint efforts, and communicate regularly and openly. Partners share responsibility for program quality; candidate recruitment, selection, and advisement; curriculum development; delivery of instruction; selection of field sites; design of field experiences; selection and preparation of field experience supervisors, and assessment and verification of candidate competence. 

By design, the administrative services preparation program facilitates each candidate’s development of a professional leadership perspective through learning activities that promote leadership and interpersonal skills. The program curriculum and pedagogies are designed to engage candidates in learning activities that require the ability to diagnose the causes of organizational problems at both macro and micro-organizational levels (e.g., system-wide and individual). The program provides multiple opportunities for candidates to apply skills of reasoned and objective inquiry to analyze complex problems and propose effective solutions considering the political context and its implications. In addition, the program ensures candidates understand environmental contexts, organizational culture, intra-organizational systems, and their influence on human behavior and educational outcomes. Finally, the program builds leadership perspective through learning activities that expose candidates to both the internal and external influences, relationships, resources, and opportunities that can engender and support the vision and mission of the school and district. 

By design, the administrative services preparation program provides each candidate with an opportunity to understand and apply theories and principles of educational equity within the educational context, for the purposes of creating more socially just learning environments. Through coursework and fieldwork, candidates (a) examine their personal attitudes related to issues of privilege and power in different domains including race, gender, language, sexual orientation, religion, ableness, and socio-economic status; (b) learn ways to analyze, monitor, and address these issues at the individual and system level; (c) understand how explicit and implicit racial bias impacts instruction, classroom management, and other school policies; and (d) come to understand the role of the leader in creating equitable outcomes in schools. The program provides opportunities for candidates to learn how to identify, analyze and minimize personal bias, how policies and historical practices create and maintain institutional bias, and how leaders can address and monitor institutional-level inequity. The program prepares candidates to improve schooling for all students with an emphasis on vulnerable and historically underserved students by examining teaching, learning, student engagement, student discipline, school culture, family involvement, and other programmatic supports in the school for the purposes of providing effective instruction and equitable access for all students. The program ensures candidates understand pedagogical approaches that recognize the importance of building on students' strengths and assets as a foundation for supporting all students, especially historically underserved students including English learners and students with special needs. 

By design, the administrative services preparation program provides each candidate with an opportunity to critically examine the principles of democratic education and the responsibilities of citizenship. This includes the moral imperative to provide all students with the best possible education. The program prepares each candidate to understand the role of the school in preparing K-12 students to actively and productively engage in civic responsibility and to identify and critically analyze the variety of ideas and forces in society that contribute to (or constrain) a democratic society. The program includes opportunities for candidates to learn how historical and philosophical influences, state and federal policy decisions, and prevailing educational practices impact schooling. The program prepares candidates to understand the administrator’s responsibility to develop and nurture public support, family participation, and community engagement. In addition, the program prepares administrators to establish civility through an organizational culture that promotes constructive problem solving, conflict resolution strategies, and application of ethical behaviors. 

The California Administrator Performance Expectations describe the set of professional knowledge, skills and abilities expected of a beginning level practitioner in order to effectively lead a school community in educating and supporting all students in meeting the state-adopted academic standards. 

The California Administrator Performance Assessment (CalAPA) is an assessment designed to ensure preliminary credential candidates have demonstrated satisfactory knowledge and understanding of the California Administrator Performance Expectations. 

The program’s organized coursework and clinical practice provide multiple opportunities for candidates to learn, apply, and reflect on each California Administrator Performance Expectation (CAPE). As candidates progress through the program, pedagogical and andragogical assignments are increasingly complex and challenging. The scope of the pedagogical and andragogical assignments (a) address the CAPE as they apply to the credential, and (b) prepares the candidate for the California Administrator Performance Assessment (CalAPA) and other program-based assessments. 

As candidates progress through the curriculum, faculty and other qualified supervisors assess candidates’ performance in relation to the CAPE and provide formative and timely performance feedback regarding candidates’ progress toward mastering the CAPE. 

In the administrative services preparation program, candidates participate in practical field experiences that are designed to facilitate the application of theoretical concepts in authentic settings. Each candidate is introduced to the major duties and responsibilities authorized by the administrative services credential as articulated in the Performance Expectations. Field experiences include a variety of diverse and realistic settings both in the day-to-day functions of administrators and in long-term policy design and implementation. 

Candidates must complete a range of activities in educational settings. The settings must: 

1) support the candidate’s ability to complete the CalAPA; 

2) demonstrate commitment to collaborative student-centered practices and continuous program improvement; 

3) have partnerships with appropriate other educational, social, and community entities that support teaching and learning for all students; 

4) create a learning culture that supports all students; 

5) understand and reflect socioeconomic and cultural diversity; 

6) support the candidate to access data, work with other educators, and observe teaching practice; and 

7) permit video capture, where designated, for candidate reflection and CalAPA task completion.

The administrative services preparation program sponsor has an effective system by which the candidate’s performance is guided, assisted, and evaluated in each field experience. In this system, at least one field/clinical supervisor and at least one program supervisor provide complete, accurate, and timely feedback to the candidate, including constructive suggestions for improvement. 

The institution identifies individual program staff responsible for: 

1) implementing the CalAPA, and 

2) documenting the administration processes for all CalAPA activities/cycles. 

The program requires all faculty and staff providing instructional and/or supervisory services to candidates within the program to become knowledgeable about: 

1) the CalAPA cycles, rubrics, and scoring, and 

2) how the CalAPA is implemented within the program, so that they can appropriately prepare candidates for the assessment and also use CalAPA data for program improvement purposes. 

8A: Administration of the California Administrator Performance Assessment (CalAPA) 

Video 

1. For purposes of implementing any video requirement, candidates must be able to record interactions with faculty, staff, and PK-12 students. 

2. The program assures that each school or district where the candidate is completing fieldwork has a media release for all who are videotaped on file. 

3. The program requires candidates to affirm that the candidate has followed all applicable video policies for any CalAPA task requiring a video, and maintains records of this affirmation for a full Accreditation cycle. 

Materials and Data 

4. The program assures that candidates understand the appropriate use of materials submitted as part of their CalAPA responses, the appropriate use of their individual performance data, and privacy considerations relating to the use of candidate data. 

5. The program maintains program level and candidate level CalAPA data, including individual and aggregate results of candidate performance over time, and retains the data for one Accreditation cycle. The program documents the use of these data for Commission reporting, accreditation, and program improvement purposes. 

Retake Appeal Process 

6. All programs have a clearly defined written appeal policy regarding CalAPA retakes and informs candidates about the policy prior to enrollment in the program. 

Local Scoring Option 

7. The program may choose to have their candidate’s submission scored by their own calibrated faculty through the CalAPA centralized scoring structure. 

8. lf the program participates in the CalAPA local scoring option, the program coordinates with the assessment developer to identify the local assessors who train and calibrate, who may then score CalAPA submissions from the program’s candidates. 

8B: Candidate Preparation and Support 

The administrator preparation program assures that each candidate receives clear and accurate information about the nature of the tasks within the CalAPA and the passing score standard for the assessment. The program provides multiple formative opportunities for candidates to prepare for the CalAPA activities/cycles. The program assures that candidates understand that all responses to the CalAPA submitted for scoring must represent the candidate’s own work. For candidates who are not successful on the assessment, the program provides appropriate remediation support and guidance on resubmitting cycle components to the assessment developer. 

(1) The program implements as indicated below the following support activities for candidates.

These activities constitute required forms of support for candidates within the CalAPA process: 

• Providing candidates with access to assessment guides and other explanatory materials about the CalAPA and expectations for candidate performance on the assessment. 

• Explaining CalAPA cycles and scoring rubrics. 

• Engaging candidates in formative experiences aligned with the CalAPA (e.g., analyzing data, facilitating collaborative professional learning, and coaching for improved instruction). 

• Providing candidates who are not successful on the assessment with additional support focusing on understanding the cycle(s) and rubric(s) on which the candidate was not successful as well as on understanding what needs to be resubmitted for scoring and the process for resubmitting responses for scoring.

These activities constitute acceptable, but not required forms of support for candidates within the CalAPA process:

• Guiding discussions about the CalAPA cycles and scoring rubrics. 

• Providing support documents such as advice on making good choices about what to use within the assessment responses. 

• Using CalAPA scoring rubrics on assignments outside of the ones the candidate will submit for scoring. 

• Asking probing questions about the candidate’s draft CalAPA responses, without providing direct edits or specific suggestions about the candidate’s work. 

• Assisting the candidate in understanding how to use the program’s electronic platform in connection with the assessment platform. 

• Arranging technical assistance for any video portion of the assessment. 

These activities constitute unacceptable forms of support for candidates within the CalAPA process: 

• Editing a candidate’s official materials prior to submission and/or prior to resubmission (for candidates who are unsuccessful on the assessment). 

• Providing specific critique of the candidate’s responses that indicates alternative responses, prior to submission for official scoring and/or prior to resubmission (for candidates who are unsuccessful on the assessment). 

• Telling a candidate which video clips to select for submission. 

• Uploading candidate CalAPA responses (written responses or video entries) on public access websites, including social media. 

(2) The program provides candidates with timely feedback on formative assessments and experiences in preparation for the CalAPA. The feedback includes information relative to the candidate’s demonstration of competency on the domains of the California Administrator Performance Expectations (CAPE). 

(3) The program provides opportunities for candidates who are not successful on the assessment to receive remedial assistance, to prepare them to retake the assessment. The program recommends only candidates who have met the passing score on the CalAPA for a preliminary administrative services credential and have met all credential requirements. 

8C: Assessor Qualifications, Training, and Scoring Reliability 

The preliminary programs identify potential assessors for the CalAPA centralized scoring option who are then trained, and when calibrated, selected by the Commission’s assessment developer to participate in scoring the CalAPA. For programs electing to use the CalAPA local scoring option, the program identifies potential assessors based on selection criteria established by the assessment developer. The assessment developer is responsible for training, calibration and scoring reliability for all assessors in both local and centralized scoring options. All potential assessors must pass the assessment developer’s initial training and calibration prior to scoring and must remain calibrated throughout the scoring process.

Prior to recommending each candidate for a Preliminary Administrative Services Credential, the program determines on the basis of thoroughly documented evidence that each candidate has demonstrated a satisfactory knowledge and understanding of the California Administrator Content Expectations and satisfactory performance on the full range of California Administrator Performance Expectations below. A representative of the program sponsor and at least one field/clinical supervisor provides the verification of candidate competence and performance. The candidate must meet all program requirements for coursework and fieldwork and also pass the CalAPA prior to recommendation for a credential.