TEA Principal Student & Staff Development 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A principal wants to support a struggling first-year teacher. Which coaching model is most effective for building reflective practice?
- Telling the teacher exactly what to fix after each observation
- Using a cognitive coaching approach with open-ended, reflective questioning (Correct answer)
- Assigning a veteran teacher to co-teach all lessons
- Reducing the new teacher's class load until performance improves
Correct answer: Using a cognitive coaching approach with open-ended, reflective questioning
Cognitive coaching uses reflective questioning to build teacher self-directedness and metacognitive awareness, which sustains growth beyond the coaching relationship.
Question 2: Under the Texas Behavior Support framework, when must a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) be conducted for a student with a disability?
- Whenever any student is referred to the office more than twice
- When a student with a disability's behavior impedes their learning or that of others, or when facing certain disciplinary actions (Correct answer)
- Only when a student is being considered for alternative placement
- At the start of every school year for all special education students
Correct answer: When a student with a disability's behavior impedes their learning or that of others, or when facing certain disciplinary actions
IDEA and Texas rules require an FBA when a student with a disability's behavior is an impediment to learning or when considering disciplinary placements exceeding 10 days.
Question 3: A campus principal is reviewing professional development effectiveness. Which evaluation level, per Guskey's model, most directly measures impact on student learning?
- Level 1: Participants' reactions to the PD experience
- Level 2: Participants' learning of new knowledge and skills
- Level 4: Use of new knowledge and skills in the classroom
- Level 5: Student learning outcomes (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Level 5: Student learning outcomes
Guskey's Level 5 evaluates whether professional development ultimately improved student learning outcomes, the highest and most meaningful measure of PD effectiveness.
Question 4: A student with an IEP is struggling to access the general curriculum despite accommodations. What is the principal's appropriate role in this situation?
- Remove the student from general education classes until improvement is shown
- Convene an ARD committee meeting to review the IEP and consider additional supports or modifications (Correct answer)
- Direct the general education teacher to independently create new strategies
- Refer the student to the district office for alternative placement evaluation
Correct answer: Convene an ARD committee meeting to review the IEP and consider additional supports or modifications
The principal ensures that the ARD committee convenes to review IEP effectiveness and make data-driven adjustments to supports, services, or placement as needed.
Question 5: Which approach to staff development best reflects the principle of 'job-embedded learning'?
- Annual summer institutes held off-campus
- Learning walks, collaborative lesson planning, and peer observation during the regular school day (Correct answer)
- Online certification courses completed independently at home
- One-day substitute-covered workshops delivered by outside consultants
Correct answer: Learning walks, collaborative lesson planning, and peer observation during the regular school day
Job-embedded learning occurs within the context of actual teaching practice through activities like instructional rounds, co-planning, and peer observation integrated into the school day.
Question 6: A principal is developing a campus crisis response plan. Which component is most critical for supporting students' social-emotional recovery after a traumatic event?
- Resuming normal academic schedules as quickly as possible to restore normalcy
- Activating psychological first aid and providing tiered mental health supports in the aftermath (Correct answer)
- Sending a single informational letter home to parents describing the incident
- Referring all affected students to off-campus mental health providers
Correct answer: Activating psychological first aid and providing tiered mental health supports in the aftermath
Psychological first aid provides immediate evidence-based support that addresses safety, connection, and calm, with tiered follow-up for students with ongoing trauma responses.
Question 7: A teacher requests accommodations under the ADA due to a disability. What is the principal's most appropriate immediate action?
- Deny the request if it would change the teacher's assigned duties
- Consult with HR and engage in an interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations (Correct answer)
- Grant whatever accommodation the teacher requests without review
- Wait for the district's legal department to make all decisions without principal input
Correct answer: Consult with HR and engage in an interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations
ADA requires an interactive process between the employer and employee to identify effective, reasonable accommodations, with HR guiding the principal through this process.
TEA Principal Student & Staff Development 3
A principal wants to support a struggling first-year teacher.
Which coaching model is most effective for building reflective practice?