SLQ exam format — anyone have recent experience with the current version?
I'm scheduled to sit the School Leaders Licensure Assessment in about 10 weeks and I'm having trouble finding current, specific prep information. Most of what I'm finding online references older versions of the exam or is vague about what the updated format actually covers. I've been a vice principal for three years and I feel reasonably prepared conceptually, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something about the exam structure itself.
From what I've gathered the exam includes constructed response questions which is what I'm most nervous about. I do fine with multiple choice but the idea of having to write extended responses under time pressure for something this high-stakes is stressful. Has anyone sat the current version and can share how much of the exam is constructed response versus selected response?
I've been working through the official preparation materials and the sample questions feel manageable, but sample questions are rarely representative of the actual difficulty. The leadership for learning domain feels like my strongest area given my background, but I'm less confident about the systems and community leadership sections just because they're less central to my day-to-day role.
Any advice from people who've recently passed would be really appreciated — specifically around time management during the exam and whether the constructed response scoring rubrics are accessible in a way that actually helps you prepare.
Three years as a VP is solid prep for the leadership content. The systems leadership questions that tripped me up were the ones about data-driven decision making at the district level — that was less central to my building-level experience too. Worth spending some extra time on those scenarios.
Good luck in 10 weeks!
Time management for constructed response: I budgeted 25 minutes per extended response and stuck to it even when I felt like I had more to say. Finishing with time to review is worth more than adding a fourth paragraph to a response that already covers the scoring criteria.
I sat it about 14 months ago and the constructed response sections were definitely the trickier part. There were two extended responses and you need to demonstrate both content knowledge and practical application. The rubrics from ETS are available on their site and actually do help — they're more specific than typical rubric language.
The community leadership section has a lot of questions about family engagement practices and community partnership frameworks specifically. If that's not part of your regular role it's worth doing a focused review of the research literature on school-community partnerships — there are specific models the exam references.
Failed it the first time around, so I feel this post. My mistake was treating it like a knowledge test — I spent most of my prep memorizing frameworks and legislation, and then sat down to the constructed response tasks completely underprepared for the actual writing demand. The SLQ leans hard on situational judgment and your ability to ground your responses in evidence-based leadership practice. Knowing the AITSL standards is table stakes; applying them to a messy scenario under time pressure is the actual skill they're testing.
What I changed for round two: I started writing practice responses to realistic school scenarios every single day — not outlines, full responses — and I timed myself. The format gives you just enough rope to hang yourself if you ramble, so I had to get tight on structure fast. I also paid closer attention to the cognitive demand in each prompt. Words like "analyse" and "evaluate" require different responses than "describe," and I was conflating them. Finding a decent slq practice test that actually mirrors the current question style helped me calibrate, because some of the older prep material out there still reflects the previous format.
Ten weeks is genuinely enough time if you're deliberate. Focus your energy on the constructed responses — multiple choice you can shore up fairly quickly, but the extended writing is where most candidates leave marks on the table.
Honestly, I almost didn't bother finishing my prep because I couldn't find anything that felt current either. Everything I found kept referencing frameworks and formats that clearly hadn't been updated in years, and I wasn't sure if I was wasting my time studying the wrong stuff. What finally clicked for me was just leaning hard into the distributed leadership and instructional accountability pieces -- that's where the current version puts most of its weight, at least in my experience sitting it a few months back.
You're going to be fine if you stop looking for a perfect study guide and just work through scenario-based practice. The constructed response sections are where people lose the most points, so don't treat them like an afterthought. I wrote out full answers for maybe a dozen practice prompts and that alone made a huge difference. It's a long test and the format isn't as mysterious as it feels right now, I promise.
I was in almost the exact same spot six months ago and honestly came close to pushing my test date back because I couldn't find anything current. The format had clearly shifted but nobody was talking about it. What finally clicked for me was stopping the content review and spending the last few weeks just doing scenario-based practice, because the test is basically all situational judgment -- it's not asking what you know, it's asking what you'd do as a leader and why. That pivot made a huge difference.
You've got 10 weeks, which is actually a solid amount of time. Don't panic if your practice scores feel low early on, mine were rough and I still passed. Focus on the constructed response sections more than most people tell you to -- that's where a lot of candidates lose points they didn't expect to lose. Keep going. It's hard but it's doable.