SLPS Competitive Exam cheat sheet

Vision statements are effective only when translated into measurable goals, observable staff behaviors, and a monitoring cycle; a vision without indicators is unenforceable.

Transformational leadership components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration.

Instructional leadership differs from transformational leadership by centering on direct supervision of teaching and learning rather than broad organizational change.

Distributed leadership assigns responsibility for defined decisions to teams (instructional, culture, operations) while the principal retains accountability.

School culture is measured through artifacts, espoused values, and underlying assumptions; gaps between espoused values and observed behavior signal culture risk.

A shared-decision-making model must specify decision type, who decides, who is consulted, and the timeline; ambiguity in any of the four produces conflict.

Climate surveys require anonymity, a response rate above roughly 60 percent for representativeness, and reporting back to respondents to sustain trust.

Change management sequence: establish urgency, build a guiding coalition, form a vision, communicate it, remove barriers, generate short-term wins, anchor in culture.

Curriculum alignment means horizontal alignment (same grade/content), vertical alignment (across grades), and alignment to standards, assessments, and instruction.

Backward design order: identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence, then plan learning experiences and instruction.

Rigor is defined by cognitive demand of the task, not by volume of work; use a taxonomy such as Bloom's or Webb's Depth of Knowledge to classify tasks.

Classroom observation feedback is most effective when specific, behavioral, timely, and limited to one or two high-leverage focus areas per cycle.

Professional Learning Communities operate on four questions: what students should learn, how we know they learned it, what we do when they have not, and what we do when they have.

Coherence requires that standards, pacing guides, assessments, and teacher evaluations reference the same expectations; conflicting documents create implementation drift.

Differentiation modifies content, process, or product based on readiness, interest, and learning profile; it does not modify the standard itself.

Curriculum audits compare written, taught, and assessed curriculum; the gap between written and taught is the most common source of achievement variance.

Formative assessment informs instruction during learning; summative assessment certifies achievement at the end of a period.

Reliability is consistency of scores; validity is whether the instrument measures what it claims for the intended use.

Standard error of measurement: SEM = SD × √(1 − reliability); a 95 percent confidence band is approximately ±1.96 SEM.

Percentile rank is not percent correct; a percentile rank of 70 means the score exceeds 70 percent of the norm group.

Standard deviation describes score spread; a score one SD above the mean is roughly the 84th percentile in a normal distribution.

Data teams use a cycle of inquiry: identify the problem, verify with multiple data sources, select an intervention, implement with fidelity, and reassess.

Triangulation requires at least three data types (e.g., benchmark, formative, observational) before drawing conclusions about a student or program.

Progress monitoring frequency should match the intensity of intervention; weekly or biweekly measurement is standard for tiered academic support.

A school budget is a plan tied to goals; zero-based budgeting justifies every line, while incremental budgeting adjusts the prior year.

FTE (full-time equivalent) converts staffing to budget units; one FTE equals one full-time position at the standard workweek.

Per-pupil expenditure equals total expenditures divided by enrollment; it is a comparison metric, not a measure of efficiency.

Title I funds are allocated by formula based on poverty counts and must supplement, not supplant, state and local funds.

Facilities planning uses enrollment projections, capacity per classroom, and utilization rate; utilization above roughly 85 percent signals crowding.

Inventory controls require tagging, periodic physical counts, and separation of custody from record-keeping to prevent loss.

A master schedule is a resource-allocation instrument; it determines teacher load, student access, and intervention time.

Grant funds carry allowable-cost, period-of-performance, and reporting requirements; unallowable or late expenditures must be returned.

Teacher evaluation systems typically combine observation, student growth measures, and professional practice standards; weights are set by policy.

Due process for tenured staff generally requires notice, a statement of charges, a hearing, and an opportunity to respond before discipline.

Induction programs with mentoring reduce early-career attrition; the first three years carry the highest turnover risk.

Professional development is effective when sustained, job-embedded, collaborative, and focused on content and pedagogy rather than one-time workshops.

Recruitment pipelines target hard-to-staff subjects and shortage areas; retention depends more on working conditions and leadership than on salary alone.

Personnel files must separate confidential medical or disciplinary records from general employment records under applicable privacy law.

Substitute coverage planning uses an absence rate benchmark; uncovered classes create supervision liability and instructional loss.

Staffing ratios compare student enrollment to certified staff; class size and caseload are distinct measures and should not be conflated.

Epstein's six types of involvement: parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community.

Effective communication requires translation, multiple channels, and readability at or below the general public reading level.

Barriers to engagement include language, transportation, work schedules, prior negative school experiences, and perceived invitation.

Two-way communication outperforms one-way notification; response mechanisms and feedback loops must be designed in.

Family engagement correlates with attendance and achievement; engagement is strongest when families are treated as partners in decisions.

Community partnerships require written agreements defining roles, supervision, confidentiality, and liability.

Home-school compacts state shared responsibilities of school, family, and student, and must be reviewed annually with families.

Engagement metrics include attendance at events, volunteer hours, survey response rates, and contact logs, not just event counts.

An ethical decision test: is it legal, is it fair, would it withstand public disclosure, and does it protect the least powerful party?

Conflict of interest exists when a personal interest could influence official judgment; disclosure and recusal are the standard remedies.

Equity means allocating resources and support according to need; equality means identical allocation to all.

Disproportionality in discipline is identified by comparing a group's share of suspensions to its share of enrollment.

Culturally responsive practice uses students' cultural references in instruction and holds high expectations for all learners.

Confidentiality applies to student records and personnel matters; sharing requires legitimate educational interest or consent.

Mandated reporting duties override promises of confidentiality made to a student.

Gift and favor acceptance must follow district policy thresholds; nominal gifts and gifts with influence potential are treated differently.

IDEA requires free appropriate public education, child find, evaluation, individualized education program, least restrictive environment, and procedural safeguards.

Section 504 covers students with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity; it provides accommodations, not specialized instruction.

FERPA governs education records; directory information may be disclosed only after public notice and an opt-out opportunity.

Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment, and requires a designated coordinator and grievance procedures.

Due process in student discipline requires notice and an opportunity to be heard; suspension length and offense seriousness determine the level of process.

English learner obligations include identification, language services, and access to the full curriculum; exclusion from core content is noncompliant.

Child find requires identifying, locating, and evaluating all children suspected of needing special education, including private school students.

Policy implementation requires written procedures, staff training, documentation, and a periodic compliance review cycle.

The four phases of emergency management are mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.

A crisis plan must be all-hazards, site-specific, and exercised through drills and tabletop exercises with after-action reviews.

Incident command uses defined roles: incident commander, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration.

Reunification requires a controlled location, verified release to authorized adults, and documentation of every release.

Threat assessment teams evaluate behavior and communication, not profiles; they distinguish transient from substantive threats.

Reporting systems must guarantee anonymity options and clear escalation paths for tips.

Drills must include lockdown, evacuation, shelter-in-place, and reunification, with accommodations for students with disabilities.

Recovery includes psychological first aid, continuity of instruction, and communication with families after an incident.

Assessment accommodations change how a student accesses a test; modifications change what the test measures and may invalidate scores.

Cut scores convert raw scores to performance levels; standard setting methods include Angoff and bookmark procedures.

Item difficulty is the proportion of examinees answering correctly; item discrimination measures how well an item separates high and low performers.

Growth models compare a student's progress to expected progress; proficiency models compare status to a fixed standard.

Data privacy requires de-identification before sharing; small cell sizes can permit re-identification and should be suppressed.

Feedback is most effective when it addresses the task and process rather than the person, and when it is delivered close to the performance.

Assessment literacy includes selecting, administering, interpreting, and communicating results appropriately to different audiences.

Formative data should drive same-week instructional adjustments; delayed use of formative data reduces its instructional value.