A Graduate's Experience With the SLLA

By Tamara Freeman

"Understanding the conceptual basis of the SLLA is key."

For More Information on the SLLA

Shortly after I arrived at William and Mary in 2003 to pursue my doctoral studies, I heard rumblings about a standardized licensure assessment for K-12 administrators in Virginia . I thought that I would not be affected since I had never considered being an assistant principal or a principal. After receiving some very practical advice from my advisor, I decided to obtain the K-12 administrative licensure since I was not exactly sure where my career would lead. Suddenly conversations and debates about the need for a standardized administrative licensure assessment became more meaningful and interesting to me.

In January, I learned that I would have to take the School Leadership Licensure Assessment (SLLA). Since the Virginia Department of Education had not yet implemented its cut-off score of 165. I registered to take the assessment on June 11, 2004. I thought that this would be the best option for me since my licensure classes would not begin until the summer session. I was sure that my prior experience as a school-based speech-language pathologist had oriented me to my future roles as an effective collaborator and a reflective practitioner, but I was worried that I had not gained the content knowledge to be an effective educational leader.
The whole testing experience was intense; the SLLA is comprised of a series of written tasks administered over a six hour period. I learned several important lessons throughout the preparation for this exam.

The following is a synopsis of those lessons:

I have to invest in my future . $465 is a great deal of money to obtain for a full-time doctoral student. I re-framed my thinking and considered the SLLA to be a requirement that must be fulfilled in order to secure my future career as an administrator. If I'm going to spend $465, why not invest in myself?

I was better prepared than I thought. Although I have neither traditional classroom nor administrative experience, most of the issues and scenarios that were presented in the exam were not foreign to me. I believe that my experience as an itinerant, who regularly interacted with the staff and administrators of three schools as well as central office, provided me with the opportunity to observe the educational process at the district and the building level. This unique perspective enhanced my ability to respond to the scenarios presented.

My coursework really helped me . With the majority of my coursework, my professors facilitated class discussions and activities that required us to apply leadership theories and concepts to realistic cases, issues, problems, and scenarios which educational administrators encounter. Essentially the SLLA is a compilation of similar activities within a structured testing environment; my class experiences enhanced my ability to perform successfully on the assessment.

Understanding the conceptual basis of the SLLA is key. ETS reports that the SLLA is grounded in the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) Standards for school leaders. I familiarized myself with the ISLLC Standards and was able to describe my administrative actions and fully address each standard.

Collaboration with my colleagues is a good thing. Since I only had a week to prepare for the SLLA, I decided to work more efficiently by studying with a colleague; she has a background in general education and mine is in special education. We didn't try to memorize concepts and theories, instead we discussed the sample test items provided in the preparation materials provided by ETS. As we discussed each sample item, we determined which ISLLC standards were being addressed and how we would answer each question. Our rationale was: If we can discuss it in a logical manner, we can write about it!