704 Ky. Admin. Regs. 3:406

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 6, December 1, 2024

Section 704 KAR 3:406 - Superintendent training program and assessment process

RELATES TO: KRS 156.111, 160.350

NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 156.111 mandates that the Kentucky Department of Education establish a superintendent training program and assessment center and that the State Board for Elementary and Secondary Education adopt administrative regulations to govern the training content, number of hours, written examination, and criteria for successful completion of the training and assessment center process. This administrative regulation implements the superintendent training program and assessment center process.

Section 1. Definitions.

(1) "Assessee" means an individual who undergoes the assessment process.

(2) "Assessment center candidate" means a superintendent or applicant for a superintendent position who has been recommended by a local board of education or the Kentucky Department of Education to undergo assessment.

(3) "Assessor" means a trained observer who records and analyzes assessee performance during an assessment.

(4) "Assessor training" means training in which participants are taught how to observe and record behaviors displayed by assessment center candidates and are taught to write objective and comprehensive reports.

(5) "Comprehensive superintendent examination" means a written comprehensive examination over the following subjects:

(a) Core concepts of management;

(b) School-based decision making;

(c) Kentucky school law;

(d) Kentucky school finance;

(e) School curriculum and assessment.

(6) "Final assessment report" means a written report providing the overall performance ratings as well as the performance rating for each skill, and shall include suggestions for improvement and growth, and signatures of all persons involved in the assessment process.

(7) "Mastery level on the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Examination" means a required level of performance on each of the five (5) components of the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Examination to be determined by an advisory committee to the Kentucky Department of Education based on technical reports secured from field test data obtained during the 1992-93 school year.

(8) "Screening committee" means the local superintendent search screening committee required by KRS 160.352.

(9) "Superintendent assessment and training and testing process" means a comprehensive assessment process and training program including assessment of personal administrative skills, training modules in identified skill dimensions and selected concepts related to the position of school superintendent, and a comprehensive examination. Assessment and training are more specifically defined as follows:

(a) "Assessment process" means a Kentucky Department of Education psychometric procedure emphasizing multiple individual and group simulations representative of the superintendent position which will yield extensive feedback of each assessee's strengths and behaviors in skill dimensions validated as essential for effective performance. The assessment process is used to develop a personal skills profile on candidates seeking employment or employed in superintendent positions.

(b) "Training program" means a series of training modules designed for the purpose of improving individual skills of superintendent candidates or providing knowledge in the following subjects:

1. Core concepts of management, up to eighteen (18) hours;

2. School-based decision making, up to nine (9) hours;

3. Kentucky school law, up to nine (9) hours;

4. Kentucky school finance, up to twelve (12) hours;

5. School curriculum and assessment, up to twenty-four (24) hours.

(10) "Written assessment report" means a report which provides each assessee with a profile of strengths and behaviors and suggestions to help improve the assessee's skills.

(11) "Written testing report" means a report which provides each assessee with certification of successful completion of each component of the comprehensive superintendent examination.

Section 2.

(1) The Superintendent Training and Assessment Center shall be responsible for the assessment of superintendents and superintendent applicants, provide assessor training, provide training using Kentucky Department of Education approved modules, and serve as the site for the administration of the comprehensive superintendent examination.

(2)

(a) The center staff shall coordinate assessments and trainings, maintain all records, make provisions for the necessary reporting of training and assessment status as to all superintendents, and report the status of all superintendent candidates to the chairperson of the local board of education.

(b) The report shall:

1. Be sent at the conclusion of participation in the training, testing, and assessment process;

2. Include a copy to the participating superintendent;

3. Specify whether the participating superintendent successfully completed the training, testing, and assessment process.

(c) A report shall be made to the assessee, the Office of Teacher Education and Certification, and the local board of education chairperson on any person serving in the position of superintendent, who does not complete the assessment and successfully complete the comprehensive superintendent examination within the applicable deadlines set forth in KRS 156.111 and 160.350.

Section 3.

(1) The following requirements shall apply to a person hired for the first time as a superintendent in Kentucky after July 1, 1992 and before July 1, 1994:

(a) Superintendents who complete the assessment phase and demonstrate mastery on the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Exam shall be certified as having met the requirements of KRS 156.111.

(b) A superintendent who does not demonstrate mastery on any one (1) of the components of the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Exam shall be eligible to participate in a second training of the appropriate module(s) of the training program prior to retaking the comprehensive examination or shall retake the comprehensive examination on the next scheduled date of the examination.

(2) Persons employed as superintendent in Kentucky prior to July 1, 1992, may elect to not participate in any, or all, of the modules of the training phase and take the appropriate components of the comprehensive examination.

(a) Superintendents who complete the assessment phase and demonstrate mastery on the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Exam shall be certified as having met the requirements of KRS 156.111.

(b) Superintendents who do not demonstrate mastery on the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Exam shall be eligible to participate in further training in corresponding module(s) as a requirement for eligibility to repeating the comprehensive examination.

(3) A person hired for the first time as a superintendent in Kentucky after June 30, 1994, shall have one (1) year from the time of employment to successfully complete the assessment and training and testing program described in subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section.

Section 4.

(1) The Superintendent Training and Assessment Center director shall allocate training and assessment center slots, considering factors to assure diversity and equal access. Local school districts with actual or imminent superintendent vacancies shall be given priority in the assignment of training and assessment center slots.

(2) Each assessee, upon completion of the superintendent assessment center process, shall receive a final assessment report. Superintendents and superintendent candidates shall complete the requirements for training and assessment and achieve the designated mastery level on each of the modules of the Kentucky Superintendent Comprehensive Examination to successfully complete the training and testing and assessment.

(3) Upon completion of the assessment and successful completion of testing by superintendent candidates, the Superintendent Training and Assessment Center staff shall provide the Office of Teacher Education and Certification and the chairperson of the appropriate local board of education a written report confirming completion of the assessment and successful completion of testing.

(4) Persons desiring to be assessed as superintendent, but who are not employed as a superintendent or are not candidates for superintendency at the time, may have requests granted by the Superintendent Training and Assessment Center director at the candidate's expense.

(5) Prior to assessment, an assessment center candidate shall be required to sign an oath which pledges nondisclosure of the assessment center process and materials.

Section 5.

(1) The Superintendent Training and Assessment Center staff shall maintain all assessment center reports.

(2) The security of training and testing and assessment data shall be maintained by the Superintendent Training and Assessment Center staff. Each written report shall be the property of the Kentucky Department of Education. Individual profile reports shall be disseminated by the Superintendent Training and Assessment Center staff only after written authorization has been given by the assessee.

(3) All complete written training and assessment center reports shall be retained in confidential Superintendent Training and Assessment Center files. Working documents used by the assessment or training team to formulate each report shall be discarded after three (3) years.

Section 6. The Kentucky Department of Education may pay a stipend for each assessment performed by an assessor and for services necessary to conduct training and testing as needed.

Section 7. Complaints regarding failure to comply with statutory and regulatory provisions of the Superintendent Training and Assessment Program shall be directed to and evaluated by the Kentucky Department of Education.

Section 8.

(1) Continuing education for superintendents shall include:

(a) Participation in forty-two (42) hours of Kentucky Department of Education approved training over twenty-four (24) months; or

(b) Completion of an annual individual personal growth training plan of at least twenty-one (21) hours.

(2) Completion of continuing education of the superintendent shall be reported to the Kentucky Department of Education. The Kentucky Department of Education shall annually notify the local board of education chairperson of the status of the school district's superintendent's continuing education.

(3) Failure to comply with the requirements of this administrative regulation shall result in referral of the matter to the Education Professional Standards Board for consideration of revocation of the superintendent certificate.

704 KAR 3:406

20 Ky.R. 3384; 21 Ky.R. 346; eff. 8-4-1994; Crt eff.11-16-2018.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 156.111