1.2 Educational Leadership Assessment (ELA) Tools
Purpose
The Educational Leadership Assessment tools were designed to identify strengths and areas for improvement among primary and secondary school executives, facilitating their professional development and enhancing their leadership capabilities. Detailed in the book Measuring Leadership: A Guide to Assessment for Development of School Executives (Lashway, 1999), the assessments cover a wide range of leadership attributes and behaviors critical to effective educational management.
The ELA tools assess various dimensions of educational leadership, targeting attributes and behaviors critical for effective management in K-12 school settings, such as strategic planning, instructional leadership, community engagement, and organizational management.
Description
Larry Lashway’s work focuses on providing comprehensive tools for assessing leadership effectiveness in educational settings. Lashway’s book was published in 1999 by the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Educational Management and the University of Oregon. ERIC is an online library of education research and information sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) under the USDE. The ELA tools were also sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED).
The ELA instruments typically include a variety of question formats, including Likert-type scales, multiple-choice questions, and open-ended responses. These questions are designed to evaluate leadership behaviors, practices, and outcomes across different dimensions of educational leadership.
The overall academic impact of these tools appears limited, as indicated by only 39 citations on Google Scholar. This suggests a moderate level of testing and adoption in academic and professional settings. Lashway (1999) acknowledges limitations in the instruments’ methodological rigor (p. 81). For a deeper exploration of specific instruments and their validation, he recommends Choosing 360: A Guide to Evaluating Multi-Rater Feedback Instruments for Management Development (Van Velsor et al., 1997).
The following sections describe the individual instruments in Measuring Leadership: A Guide to Assessment for Development of School Executives (Lashway, 1999).
This tool was created to assess the strengths and weaknesses of executives. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.2 Compass: “The Managerial Practices Survey”
This tool assists in professional development by focusing on current leadership behavior. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.3 The Comprehensive Leader
By identifying their strengths in strategic and visionary leadership areas, this tool formulates professional-development plans for participants. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.4 Educational Administrative Style Diagnosis Test (EASDT)
This test’s purpose is to encourage thinking about the styles of educational administrators. It is available for free from its publisher.
1.2.5 Educational Administrator Effectiveness Profile
The goal of this test is to aid school administrators in developing their managerial and leadership behaviors and abilities. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.6 Leadership Competency Inventory (LCI)
To aid in the development of leadership capacity, this test measures four essential leadership competencies. The price varies. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
This tool is a 360-degree feedback instrument that measures how leaders’ personal styles affect their organizations. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
This questionnaire is a research instrument and a professional development aid that assesses effective leadership. It is available free of charge.
1.2.9 Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI)
By focusing on five dimensions of leadership, this tool helps organizations to measure leaders at all levels. Contact the owner directly for pricing information. Discount options may be available.
By providing leaders knowledge about how they can master key leadership domains, this instrument aims to encourage leadership development. The price varies. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.11 Leadership Sphere Inventory
The purpose of this instrument is to help leaders understand how they view their leadership responsibilities and priorities. Several paid options are available for use of the instrument.
This instrument aims to promote leadership development by informing leaders of their defining styles. The cost varies. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
This 360-degree feedback instrument guides participants in understanding their ways of thinking, acting, and interacting. The instrument aims to improve productivity and foster leadership. The cost varies. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.14 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Although this tool is not specifically an assessment of leadership, it does evaluate personal qualities that influence how leaders interact with others and perform their duties. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.15 NASSP Assessment Centers
The National Association of Secondary School Principals developed this instrument, which assists school districts in identifying and developing leadership talent.
1.2.16 The Principal Perceiver
This tool assesses 12 key qualities in how K-12 leaders think and act. It employs a formal interview design. To learn more about using it effectively, reach out to the developer for a paid training session.
1.2.17 Professional Development Inventory
This one-day assessment helps users to understand the technical and practical aspects of the principalship. The cost of the instrument includes many fees related to the training.
1.2.18 Profile of Aptitude for Leadership
This instrument helps to identify and stimulate thinking about leadership style by describing a leader’s beliefs or actions. The cost varies. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.19 The Survey of Leadership Practices
This multirater assessment provides organizational leaders feedback on their tasks in order to facilitate positive change within an organization. Contact the owner directly for pricing information.
1.2.20 The Survey of Management Practices
This multirater assessment tool helps leaders assess their management strengths and weaknesses. To learn more about pricing and available discounts, contact the developer directly.
Access
Measuring Leadership: A Guide to Assessment for Development of School Executives (Lashway, 1999) is available for free at https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/3276 and https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED431209. The Individual tools described in the book may be available online through academic journals and research databases. View the book’s reference section to locate specific articles.
Using some of these instruments described in the book may require permission from their creators. Users of these tools are advised to consult the original articles in which they were published or to directly contact the authors to ascertain the instrument’s availability and any associated permission requirements.
References
Lashway, L. (1999). Measuring leadership: A guide to assessment for development of school executives. ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED431209
Van Velsor, E., Leslie, J. B., & Fleenor, J. (1997). Choosing 360: A guide to evaluating multi-rater feedback instruments for management development. Center for Creative Leadership. http//: DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.5100.0083
