NES Principal Subtest II (812): Study Guide

Topics to review

• Managing change and supporting people
• Coherent curriculum design
• Alignment across classrooms and grade levels
• Research and evidence for instructional decisions
• Learning theories and child and adolescent development
• Literacy and numeracy across grade levels
• Differentiation, intervention, and student needs
• Language, culture, and learner strengths
• Disability supports and instructional access
• Technology, digital literacy, and responsible participation
• Academic and nonacademic program coordination
• School structures that affect instruction
• Instructional implementation and program improvement
• Assessment purposes, strengths, and limits
• Sound assessment design and selection
• Multiple sources of learning evidence
• Using evidence to adjust instruction
• Assessment and educator development
• Accountability systems
• Collaborative data use and assessment capacity
• Feedback, reporting, and data tools
• Patterns, trends, and root causes in school data
• High expectations and shared commitments
• Safe reflection, voice, and innovation
• Collaboration and collective responsibility
• Consistent expectations and accountability
• Assessing and improving school culture
• Equity, access, and high expectations
• Cultural and linguistic assets
• Responsive curriculum, instruction, and assessment
• Equitable behavior management and conflict resolution
• Equitable staffing and professional opportunity
• Inclusive leadership and public responsibility
• A caring and personalized learning environment
• Academic, developmental, and engagement needs
• Coherent systems of student support
• Behavior expectations and positive behavior support
• Bullying, harassment, and conflict prevention
• Access, accommodations, and specialized needs
• Nonacademic opportunities and community services
• Monitoring student support and school climate
• Tiered disciplinary measures and student codes of conduct
• English learners and language-development services
• Staffing needs and workforce planning
• Recruitment and candidate selection
• Induction, mentoring, and retention
• Fairness and diversity in personnel decisions
• Evaluation and employment decisions
• Personnel law, contracts, and records
• Leadership capacity and management of staff
• Purposes and models of supervision
• Instructional expectations and evaluation criteria
• Gathering multiple forms of evidence
• Interpreting evidence and identifying needs
• Actionable feedback and coaching conversations
• Individual growth and improvement plans
• Evaluation and personnel responsibilities
• Named supervision models: clinical supervision, peer coaching, mentoring, and conferencing
• Adult learning and differentiated professional development
• Professional learning tied to student evidence
• Job-embedded learning and resource support
• Professional learning communities
• Induction and mentoring
• Individual professional growth
• Formats for professional learning: seminars, book studies, workshops, and coaching
• Innovation, reflection, and action research
• Teacher leadership and distributed responsibility
• Evaluating professional learning
• The principal’s own professional growth
• Professional health and ethical learning practices
• Team building, trust, and shared responsibility among staff
• Trusting relationships with families
• Supporting learning at home and school
• Organizational design and responsibilities
• Auxiliary and support services
• Data and information systems
• Technology and communication systems
• Operational evaluation and improvement
• Resources and organizational capacity
• Rights, due process, and fair procedures
• Privacy, confidentiality, and information security
• Employment, leave, and contractual obligations