Free SLLA Study Companion Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: For the grading period, the dean of instruction at a high school academy for ninth graders would like to track students' progress. Which data sources would help the dean of students the most in assessing students' progress?
- Report card grades for the marking period
- Student portfolios of work samples from previous and current marking periods (Correct answer)
- Benchmark scores from the previous and current marking periods
- Anecdotal teacher notes
Correct answer: Student portfolios of work samples from previous and current marking periods
Data must be compared to determine progress from one point in time to another. Benchmark exams are frequently used to evaluate lessons taught during a specific period, and they don't constantly evaluate the same lessons from test to test. Therefore benchmark scores would only sometimes compare the same data to identify improvement. The best way to measure student achievement over time and gauge student growth would be using student portfolios from various marking periods.
Question 2: Which of the following is true regarding the effectiveness of classroom management systems?
- They work by providing individualized intensive interventions for all students.
- By making learning environments orderly, they enable student academic success. (Correct answer)
- They control student behavior rather than helping emotional-social development.
- They work by increasing prosocial behavior rather than academic engagement.
Correct answer: By making learning environments orderly, they enable student academic success.
Systems for managing classroom conduct, such as tiered systems supporting positive behavior across the entire school, provide ordered learning environments that help children learn more effectively and achieve academic success. They nurture and maintain proper classroom conduct while also fostering the emotional and social growth of the students, as opposed to merely regulating their behavior. Students' prosocial conduct and academic engagement are both effectively increased by them. They achieve success for 80–85 percent of children by offering universal assistance in the first tier across the whole acschool, while the remaining 15–20 percent are only given personalized, intense interventions in the third tier.
Question 3: A district school board meeting is attended by a school administrator new to the neighborhood. How might attending this conference best aid this school leader's formation of opinions on educational matters?
- By shedding light on differences between a school’s vision and the district vision
- By allowing the school leader the opportunity to learn how to run school board meetings
- By demonstrating the areas of disagreement within a school district
- By displaying the diverse issues and viewpoints across the unfamiliar school district (Correct answer)
Correct answer: By displaying the diverse issues and viewpoints across the unfamiliar school district
A school administrator may experience rare problems in his former town when he attends a district school board meeting in a new area. He will likely have a deeper comprehension of issues and develop as a school leader if he is open to change and willing to consider different points of view. It can be helpful to resolve conflict and seek to unite a school's or district's vision by identifying areas of disagreement (b) and disparities between district and school visions (d), but this does not always aid in developing the viewpoints of the school leaders. Developing opinions on educational issues do not benefit from learning how to organize school board meetings (c).
Question 4: What group of mental health barriers to learning and achievement for students contains the SMALLEST percentage of issues that can occur in and be handled in schools?
- Psychological disorders (Correct answer)
- External stressors
- Educational problems
- Psychosocial problems
Correct answer: Psychological disorders
There may be external stresses (a) in the family, the neighborhood, or the school. Educational issues (b) might come from a student's family, community, school, or other sources. Examples include learning difficulties (LD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Psychosocial issues (c) are frequently preventable or treatable in educational settings. However, psychological problems (d)—which often demand psychotherapeutic care, frequent counseling, and medication—are LEAST likely to be developed or treated in schools.
Question 5: For the forthcoming academic year, a middle school anticipates a sharp rise in pupils needing special education services. Which of the following issues has to be the principal's top priority?
- The reason for the increase in the number of students requiring special education
- How this group of students will impact current student performance data
- The availability of human and fiscal resources needed to meet the needs of this group of students (Correct answer)
- Community resources for this group of students
Correct answer: The availability of human and fiscal resources needed to meet the needs of this group of students
The principal's primary concern should be whether the school is prepared to give this specific population of pupils a proper education, even though there are many other ways that this inflow of students may affect the current instructional program. Teachers and paraprofessionals are examples of human resources. Financial resources may cover the cost of technology, furniture, and other physical resources required to facilitate training.
Question 6: Of the above, which best encapsulates shared leadership?
- Publicly recognizing stakeholders that demonstrate leadership
- Authoritarian leadership
- The delegation of authority and responsibility to other team members (Correct answer)
- Consulting others before making decisions
Correct answer: The delegation of authority and responsibility to other team members
A leader exemplifies shared leadership by entrusting others with specific leadership tasks and giving them the power to carry them out. Providing leadership tasks to qualified staff members is possible because they are independent of job titles. While distributing power and authority to others is a sharing leadership, it is also possible to include people in decision-making processes.
Question 7: Which of the following behaviors demonstrates a focus on a challenging curriculum for the entire school and standards-based instruction?
- Offer after-school tutorials for students who are falling behind.
- Increase the number of advanced placement and dual credit courses offered on the master schedule.
- Increase the number of students taking college entrance exams.
- Evaluate campus-based assessments for alignment to the standards and curriculum and revise where appropriate. (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Evaluate campus-based assessments for alignment to the standards and curriculum and revise where appropriate.
A dedication to rigorous education throughout the school may be seen by evaluating and amending campus-based evaluations to ensure they align with standards. The criteria should be precisely measured in assessments. Increasing the availability of AP and dual credit courses enhances the challenging curriculum for some eligible students but has little effect on the institution's rigor. Similar to how increasing participation in college entrance tests encourages students to apply for and study for college admission rather than increasing academic rigor on campus.
Free SLLA Study Companion Questions and Answers
For the grading period, the dean of instruction at a high school academy for ninth graders would like to track students' progress.
Which data sources would help the dean of students the most in assessing students' progress?