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Headmaster/Headmistress practice questions

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Question 1School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A school's vision statement primarily serves to:

  1. list the duties and responsibilities of every member of staff
  2. record the decisions taken at governing body meetings
  3. summarise the previous year's examination results
  4. describe the future state the school aspires to reach Correct answer.

Explanation

A vision statement articulates the desired future the school is striving to create and gives direction to strategy, culture and day-to-day decisions. Documents such as duty lists, minutes and results summaries describe current operations or past events rather than future aspiration.

Question 2School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Which statement best distinguishes a mission statement from a vision statement?

  1. The vision describes present purpose, while the mission sets out future aspirations.
  2. Both describe future aspirations and differ only in the length of the text.
  3. The mission describes present purpose, while the vision sets out future aspirations. Correct answer.
  4. The mission is written by governors, while the vision is written by staff.

Explanation

A mission explains why the school exists and what it does now, whereas a vision projects forward to the future state the school wants to reach. The two documents are complementary, but they answer different questions.

Question 3School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

In the SMART framework for strategic objectives, the letter 'M' stands for:

  1. Motivational
  2. Measurable Correct answer.
  3. Meaningful
  4. Manageable

Explanation

SMART objectives must be measurable so that progress and impact can be judged against a clear indicator. Without a measurable element, leaders cannot evidence whether an improvement priority has been achieved.

Question 4School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

When a headteacher develops the vision jointly with staff, pupils, parents and governors, the main benefit is that:

  1. it reduces the number of meetings that leaders need to hold during the year
  2. it allows the headteacher to avoid responsibility for the final wording
  3. it satisfies inspection requirements without changing day-to-day practice
  4. it builds shared ownership of and commitment to the school's direction Correct answer.

Explanation

Widely consulted vision-building creates a sense of shared ownership, which increases the likelihood that staff and the community will act on the vision. Consultation does not transfer accountability for the vision away from the headteacher and governors.

Question 5School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Distributed leadership is best described as:

  1. the delegation of routine administrative tasks to senior support staff
  2. leadership practice spread across many people and interactions in the school Correct answer.
  3. the rotation of committee chairs according to a published timetable
  4. a single senior leader holding all formal decision-making authority

Explanation

Distributed leadership treats leadership as a practice that emerges through interactions among many people, not as a property of one post. It involves the purposeful sharing of influence and expertise around shared goals, not simply handing out tasks.

Question 6School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The main purpose of a school improvement plan is to:

  1. record the professional development completed by each member of staff
  2. set out prioritised actions, targets and timescales for raising standards Correct answer.
  3. describe the school's historical development since its foundation
  4. publish the school's agreed behaviour policy for parents and pupils

Explanation

A school improvement plan translates strategic priorities into focused actions with clear targets, deadlines, responsibilities and success criteria. It is the working document leaders use to coordinate and monitor improvement.

Question 7School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

In a SWOT analysis used for strategic planning, the letter 'O' refers to:

  1. Outcomes
  2. Objectives
  3. Opportunities Correct answer.
  4. Obstacles

Explanation

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, with opportunities being favourable external conditions the school could exploit. Objectives and outcomes are planning terms, not part of the SWOT acronym.

Question 8School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Instructional leadership places its strongest emphasis on:

  1. the efficient management of the school's buildings and site budget
  2. the development of links with local businesses and community groups
  3. the quality of teaching and its effect on pupils' learning outcomes Correct answer.
  4. the fair allocation of duties across the teaching staff team

Explanation

Instructional leadership focuses on the core business of the school: curriculum quality, teaching practice, and the monitoring of pupils' learning. Leaders working in this model spend their attention on classroom practice and its impact on outcomes.

Question 9School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A headteacher who inspires staff with a compelling moral purpose, stimulates them intellectually and attends to their individual development needs is demonstrating:

  1. transformational leadership Correct answer.
  2. laissez-faire leadership
  3. bureaucratic leadership
  4. transactional leadership

Explanation

Transformational leadership rests on the four I's: idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised consideration. The behaviours described map directly onto these dimensions.

Question 10School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

According to Kotter's model of leading change, the first step a leader should take is to:

  1. create a sense of urgency about the need for change Correct answer.
  2. anchor the new approaches firmly in the school's culture
  3. form a powerful guiding coalition of influential staff
  4. communicate the change vision through every available channel

Explanation

Kotter's sequence begins with establishing a sense of urgency so that people see why change is necessary before coalitions, visions and communication are developed. Without urgency, change efforts typically stall at the outset.

Question 11School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A school leader evaluating the impact of a new reading strategy should:

  1. compare the school's reading results with national averages only
  2. count how many reading sessions were timetabled during the term
  3. ask the staff who introduced the strategy whether they think it worked
  4. collect several independent sources of evidence and compare the findings Correct answer.

Explanation

Robust self-evaluation triangulates evidence from more than one source, such as attainment data, lesson observation, pupils' work and stakeholder views, before drawing conclusions. This reduces the risk of a judgement resting on a single, possibly unreliable, source.

Question 12School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The strongest evidence that a school's vision is genuinely driving its strategy is that:

  1. staff can recite the vision accurately when questioned by visitors
  2. budget and staffing decisions consistently reflect the vision's priorities Correct answer.
  3. the vision statement is displayed prominently in every corridor
  4. the vision is reviewed formally by governors once every three years

Explanation

A vision becomes strategic reality when it shapes the allocation of finite resources such as money, staff time and expertise. Display and recitation demonstrate awareness, but resource decisions demonstrate commitment.

Question 13School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

In school planning, operational plans differ from strategic plans mainly because they:

  1. focus only on financial matters rather than on teaching and learning
  2. are not required in schools that already have a published vision
  3. cover a shorter timescale and detail day-to-day implementation Correct answer.
  4. are written exclusively by the governing body rather than by staff

Explanation

Strategic plans set medium- to long-term direction from the vision, while operational plans translate that direction into shorter-term, detailed actions with named responsibilities. The two levels must be aligned so that daily work serves the longer-term strategy.

Question 14School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The governing body's distinctive contribution to school strategy is to:

  1. deliver lessons when teachers are absent on training courses
  2. write the scheme of work for each subject area of the curriculum
  3. supervise pupils at break times and manage daily behaviour incidents
  4. set the school's strategic direction and hold leaders to account Correct answer.

Explanation

Governance operates at a strategic level: agreeing the vision and direction, approving key policies and holding senior leaders to account for outcomes. Day-to-day management is properly delegated to the headteacher and staff.

Question 15School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Staff most commonly resist a proposed organisational change because:

  1. a written policy requires leaders to consult staff before deciding
  2. an external adviser has been appointed to support the change
  3. additional funding has been secured to resource the new approach
  4. they believe the change threatens established routines and expertise Correct answer.

Explanation

Resistance usually stems from perceived loss, whether of competence, status, security or familiar practice, and from feeling uninvolved in the decision. Leaders reduce resistance by communicating honestly, involving staff early and providing support to build new capability.

Question 16School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The most effective way to build capacity for a new strategic priority is to:

  1. link professional development and collaborative planning time to the priority Correct answer.
  2. ask staff to read the relevant research during their holiday time
  3. announce the priority at a full staff meeting and issue a memo
  4. purchase new resources and display them in the staff workroom

Explanation

Capacity is built when professional learning, coaching and protected collaborative time are deliberately connected to the priority being pursued. Isolated announcements or resources do not develop the expertise required to change practice.

Question 17School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A parent group has high influence over the local community and a strong interest in a proposed reorganisation. The most appropriate stakeholder strategy is to:

  1. engage them closely and involve them in shaping the proposal Correct answer.
  2. keep them satisfied with brief information and little real influence
  3. monitor their views with occasional newsletters and no direct contact
  4. ignore their views because they are not members of the staff body

Explanation

Stakeholder mapping matches strategy to levels of influence and interest; those high on both dimensions should be managed closely and involved. Early engagement uses their influence constructively and reduces the risk of later opposition.

Question 18School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Which of the following is an example of monitoring rather than evaluation?

  1. judging whether the new assessment approach improved pupil progress
  2. evaluating the overall impact of the school improvement plan
  3. collecting termly records of the number of guided reading sessions held Correct answer.
  4. deciding whether to continue funding the reading intervention next year

Explanation

Monitoring is the ongoing collection of information about activity and implementation, whereas evaluation involves making a judgement about merit, worth or impact. Tracking how many sessions took place records activity; deciding whether progress improved requires evaluative judgement.

Question 19School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A leader who prioritises the growth and wellbeing of staff and the wider community, and who shares power in order to serve others, is best described as:

  1. an autocratic leader
  2. a laissez-faire leader
  3. a servant leader Correct answer.
  4. a transactional leader

Explanation

Servant leadership places the needs of others first, with the leader acting as steward of the organisation's people and purpose. Power is shared so that others can grow and succeed, in contrast to models built on reward, control or non-intervention.

Question 20School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

When a headteacher consults stakeholders before making a decision, the headteacher:

  1. must follow whatever the majority of those consulted prefer
  2. gathers views to inform a decision for which leaders remain accountable Correct answer.
  3. is no longer accountable for the outcome of the decision
  4. hands over the final decision to the largest stakeholder group

Explanation

Consultation means seeking views to inform a decision, while accountability for that decision stays with the headteacher and governing body. It differs from consensus or delegation, where the decision itself is made elsewhere.

Question 21School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A school has repeatedly made small incremental adjustments to practice while its community and curriculum environment have changed rapidly. This pattern is best described as:

  1. strategic drift Correct answer.
  2. emergent strategy
  3. strategic intent
  4. scenario planning

Explanation

Strategic drift occurs when an organisation's strategy fails to keep pace with a changing environment, often because adjustments remain incremental and inward-looking. The result is a widening gap between what the school does and what its context now requires.

Question 22School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

In Schein's model of organisational culture, the deepest and least visible layer consists of:

  1. espoused beliefs and values
  2. published vision and mission statements
  3. basic underlying assumptions Correct answer.
  4. visible artefacts and symbols

Explanation

Schein describes three levels: visible artefacts, espoused beliefs and values, and basic underlying assumptions. The assumptions are taken for granted, largely unconscious and therefore hardest to change, which is why cultural change takes time.

Question 23School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A headteacher learns that a popular teacher has breached assessment regulations, but reporting the matter would damage the school's published results. The most defensible ethical leadership response is to:

  1. persuade the teacher to resign quietly so that no report is needed
  2. delay any action until after the published results have been released
  3. ask governors to decide so that the headteacher avoids responsibility
  4. uphold the regulations and report the matter through the proper procedures Correct answer.

Explanation

Ethical leadership means applying agreed standards consistently, even when doing so carries a cost to the school's reputation or figures. Transparent use of proper procedures protects pupils, preserves trust and models the conduct expected across the school.

Question 24School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The most sustainable way to ensure a school's vision survives a change of headteacher is to:

  1. build leadership capacity at several levels and embed the vision in systems Correct answer.
  2. publish the vision in more languages and display it in every classroom
  3. ask the governing body to write the vision into the headteacher's contract
  4. hold an annual celebration at which the vision is read aloud to staff

Explanation

Sustainability comes from embedding the vision in structures, routines and the capabilities of many leaders, so that it is not dependent on one individual. Succession planning that develops a leadership pipeline is a core element of this.

Question 25School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A newly appointed headteacher finds the vision displayed everywhere but not reflected in staff behaviour or leadership decisions. The most accurate analysis is that the school has:

  1. no vision at all, because the statement has been forgotten by staff
  2. an espoused vision that is not yet embedded in the school's culture Correct answer.
  3. a mission statement that has been confused with a vision statement
  4. a vision that is too ambitious for the school's current resources

Explanation

When a vision is proclaimed but not enacted, it remains an espoused value at the surface or middle level of culture. Closing the gap requires leaders to model the vision, align systems and incentives to it, and make it visible in everyday decisions.

Question 26School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

An effective school vision statement is best characterised as:

  1. A restatement of the school's statutory duties and legal obligations
  2. A detailed schedule of annual improvement activities and deadlines
  3. An ambitious, future-focused and concise statement of aspiration Correct answer.
  4. A summary of the current budget and staffing establishment

Explanation

A vision describes a desired future state in aspirational, memorable terms that can guide choices across the school. Detailed schedules belong in improvement plans, legal duties in policy documents and finances in budget papers.

Question 27School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

In a typical strategic planning cycle, the stage that follows analysis of the school's internal and external context is:

  1. Repeating the same analysis in the following planning cycle
  2. Setting strategic priorities and goals Correct answer.
  3. Producing the detailed annual budget for each department
  4. Publishing an updated prospectus for prospective families

Explanation

Context analysis is followed by direction-setting, in which the findings are converted into a small number of priorities with measurable goals. Budgeting, publication and further analysis come later or belong to other processes.

Question 28School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The main difference between a school's strategy and its policies is that strategy:

  1. Lists the statutory requirements the school must meet each year
  2. Records the minutes of governing body discussions and decisions
  3. Specifies the procedures staff must follow in each subject area
  4. Sets long-term direction and priorities Correct answer.

Explanation

Strategy concerns choices about where the school is going and what it will prioritise over time. Policies are the codified rules and procedures that ensure consistency and compliance; the two should align but perform different functions.

Question 29School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The headteacher's distinctive contribution to strategic leadership is best described as:

  1. Checking that routine administrative deadlines are met each week
  2. Personally covering lessons when staff are absent
  3. Setting direction and building capacity Correct answer.
  4. Chairing every subject team meeting across the school

Explanation

Strategic leadership is about direction, alignment and capacity rather than personal coverage of operational tasks, which can and should be delegated. Heads who spend their time on routine administration weaken the school's long-term improvement.

Question 30School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Distributed leadership supports strategy implementation mainly by:

  1. Allowing each team to set its own independent strategic priorities
  2. Building shared responsibility across staff Correct answer.
  3. Removing accountability from the headteacher and governing body
  4. Reducing the number of decisions that need to be made in school

Explanation

Distributed leadership extends influence and decision-making to middle leaders and staff, increasing collective capacity and commitment to strategic goals. It does not dissolve accountability or fragment priorities into separate agendas.

Question 31School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A headteacher acting as a system leader would most likely:

  1. Work with other schools to improve outcomes across the local area Correct answer.
  2. Focus exclusively on raising outcomes within their own school
  3. Withdraw from local partnerships to protect school resources
  4. Delegate all external relationships to the governing body

Explanation

System leaders look beyond their own institution and collaborate to raise the quality of education across a wider network or locality. This contrasts with an inward-looking focus or withdrawing from partnership.

Question 32School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A school's strategy prioritises early reading. Which budget decision best demonstrates strategic alignment?

  1. Protecting every existing budget line to avoid unsettling staff
  2. Deferring all spending decisions until the end of the financial year
  3. Shifting staffing and resources towards early reading Correct answer.
  4. Distributing the budget equally across all departments regardless of priority

Explanation

Strategic alignment is demonstrated when resources follow declared priorities, even if that means reallocating from lower-priority areas. Equal distribution or preserving the status quo signals that the strategy is not genuinely driving decisions.

Question 33School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

The main strategic purpose of succession planning in a school is to:

  1. Sustain leadership capacity over time Correct answer.
  2. Ensure that the longest-serving staff are promoted first
  3. Reduce the number of external appointments to save money
  4. Allow the headteacher to choose a preferred successor

Explanation

Succession planning develops a pipeline of capable leaders so that key roles can be filled without loss of momentum. It should be based on evidence of capability rather than tenure, cost-saving or personal preference.

Question 34School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Middle leaders contribute most directly to strategic implementation when they:

  1. Focus solely on their own classroom teaching responsibilities
  2. Turn priorities into team actions and monitor impact Correct answer.
  3. Wait for senior leaders to issue detailed instructions for every change
  4. Report upwards frequently without adjusting team practice

Explanation

Middle leaders are the bridge between whole-school strategy and classroom practice. Their distinctive contribution is interpreting priorities for their teams and checking whether the resulting changes are working.

Question 35School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

When introducing a new strategic priority to staff, the most effective approach is to:

  1. Present it as a temporary initiative that will soon pass
  2. Rely on informal conversations to spread the message
  3. Announce the decision in writing without further discussion
  4. Explain the rationale and invite questions Correct answer.

Explanation

Staff are more likely to commit when they understand why a priority matters, how it connects to current work and can raise concerns. One-way announcements or reliance on rumour often breed resistance.

Question 36School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A headteacher facing a complex ethical dilemma decides to use a structured framework. The most appropriate first step is to:

  1. Delay the decision until the dilemma resolves itself
  2. Consult only the staff who will be most affected by the decision
  3. Identify the values, stakeholders and consequences involved Correct answer.
  4. Choose the option that best protects the school's reputation

Explanation

Ethical frameworks begin by clarifying what is at stake: which values are in tension, who is affected and what consequences may follow. Only then can options be weighed and a defensible decision reached.

Question 37School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Benchmarking against similar schools is most useful in strategic planning because it:

  1. Proves that the school is performing better than its neighbours
  2. Removes the need to collect the school's own performance data
  3. Gives an external reference point for judging performance Correct answer.
  4. Guarantees that targets set will be achieved within a year

Explanation

Benchmarks supply context so that internal data can be interpreted against comparable schools, helping leaders set realistic but stretching goals. They complement, rather than replace, a school's own evidence.

Question 38School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

Scenario planning is most valuable to a leadership team because it:

  1. Produces a fixed plan that does not need to be revisited
  2. Tests the strategy against plausible futures Correct answer.
  3. Predicts the single most likely future with a high degree of accuracy
  4. Replaces the need for routine monitoring of the external environment

Explanation

Scenarios are alternative, plausible pictures of the future used to stress-test current strategy and surface hidden assumptions. They do not forecast a single outcome or remove the need for ongoing environmental scanning.

Question 39School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A theory of change strengthens strategic evaluation by:

  1. Summarising national policy requirements in a single document
  2. Making explicit links between actions and outcomes Correct answer.
  3. Listing the activities the school intends to carry out each term
  4. Recording the opinions of senior leaders about what should work

Explanation

A theory of change sets out the causal chain from inputs and activities through intermediate outcomes to long-term goals, allowing evaluators to test each link. Without it, evaluation tends to focus on activity completion rather than impact.

Question 40School Vision, Strategy and Leadership

A school's strategic risk register is most useful when it:

  1. Lists every possible risk so that none can be overlooked
  2. Is updated only once a year by the governing body
  3. Links significant risks to objectives and owners Correct answer.
  4. Focuses exclusively on health and safety hazards on site

Explanation

Strategic risk management connects risks to the objectives they threaten and assigns clear ownership so that mitigation is actively managed. A long undifferentiated list or an annual update provides little control.

Question 41Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

In the revised Bloom's taxonomy, which cognitive process represents the highest level of demand?

  1. Remember
  2. Apply
  3. Understand
  4. Create Correct answer.

Explanation

The revised taxonomy orders processes from Remember and Understand through Apply and Analyse to Evaluate and Create. Create sits at the top because it requires combining elements into a new, coherent whole while drawing on the lower processes. Apply and Understand are lower-order processes in this hierarchy.

Question 42Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

Which statement best defines the zone of proximal development?

  1. The set of tasks a learner can already complete independently and accurately
  2. The range of scores a learner achieves across a series of standardised tests
  3. The distance between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance Correct answer.
  4. The age band in which a learner is expected to master a particular skill

Explanation

The zone of proximal development describes the gap between a learner's independent performance and their potential performance with skilled assistance. Instruction is most productive when pitched into this zone, where support allows the learner to succeed and then take over the task.

Question 43Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

A test reports each student's performance against a fixed set of learning standards, regardless of how classmates perform. This assessment is best described as:

  1. Norm-referenced
  2. Ipsative
  3. Criterion-referenced Correct answer.
  4. Prognostic

Explanation

Criterion-referenced assessment compares performance with explicit standards or criteria rather than with other students. Its purpose is to show whether specific knowledge or skills have been attained. Norm-referenced assessment, by contrast, locates a student within a comparison group.

Question 44Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

Which description best captures working memory?

  1. The mental process of organising new information into existing schemas
  2. A limited system that holds and manipulates information for a short time Correct answer.
  3. The permanent store of facts and procedures a learner has accumulated
  4. The automatic recall of well-practised skills without conscious effort

Explanation

Working memory is the limited-capacity system in which conscious processing of new information occurs. Because its capacity is small, instruction must avoid overloading it while schemas are being built. Long-term memory, by contrast, holds organised knowledge more or less permanently.

Question 45Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

What is the primary purpose of sharing learning intentions and success criteria with students?

  1. To provide a formal record of content coverage that satisfies external accreditation requirements
  2. To reduce the amount of curriculum content that must be covered in a lesson
  3. To allow the teacher to rank students against one another at the end of a unit
  4. To make the learning target visible so students can monitor their own progress Correct answer.

Explanation

Clear learning intentions and success criteria make the destination of a lesson explicit, so students can judge the quality of their own work against it. This supports self-regulation and helps students interpret feedback. They are a learning tool rather than an accountability or ranking device.

Question 46Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

A teacher wants feedback to encourage a growth mindset. Which comment is most aligned with this aim?

  1. You got the highest mark in the class
  2. You kept testing different strategies until the proof worked Correct answer.
  3. You finished faster than everyone else
  4. You are a natural at this subject

Explanation

Growth mindset is supported by feedback that attributes success to effort, strategy and process, because these are within the learner's control. Comments about innate talent, rank or speed direct attention to fixed comparisons rather than to how improvement happens.

Question 47Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

Formative assessment is best characterised by which purpose?

  1. Certifying achievement at the end of a course of study
  2. Gathering evidence during learning to adapt teaching and next steps Correct answer.
  3. Comparing a cohort's results with national benchmarks
  4. Selecting students for placement in ability groups

Explanation

Formative assessment is used while learning is in progress so that the teacher and student can adjust what happens next. Its value lies in the decisions it informs, not in the record it produces. Certification, benchmarking and selection are summative or administrative uses.

Question 48Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

Which sequence correctly represents the gradual release of responsibility model?

  1. Modelling, guided practice, independent practice, review Correct answer.
  2. Review, independent practice, modelling, guided practice
  3. Independent practice, guided practice, modelling, review
  4. Guided practice, modelling, independent practice, review

Explanation

Gradual release moves from teacher modelling (I do), to guided practice with support (we do), to independent practice (you do), followed by consolidation or review. The sequence deliberately transfers cognitive work from the teacher to the learner as competence grows.

Question 49Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

Constructive alignment requires that:

  1. Outcomes, teaching activities and assessment tasks all target the same learning Correct answer.
  2. Assessment tasks are written before outcomes so that marking is quicker
  3. The curriculum follows national standards while teaching methods remain unconstrained
  4. Students negotiate their own grades with the teacher at the end of a unit

Explanation

Constructive alignment means the intended learning outcome, the activities students undertake and the assessment used to judge success all point at the same thing. When the three are misaligned, students can pass assessments without achieving the stated outcome.

Question 50Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Leadership

A teacher gives students a writing frame for a new genre and progressively removes sections of it as drafts improve. This practice best illustrates:

  1. Differentiation by product
  2. Scaffolding with fading Correct answer.
  3. Mastery learning
  4. Summative moderation

Explanation

Temporary support that is withdrawn as competence increases is the defining feature of scaffolding. Fading is essential: support that is never removed can prevent students from taking ownership of the task.