BEI: Competency-based Assessment
McClelland spent his life studying the motives of individuals. He was a vocal advocate of testing with “operant methods,” that is, tests where a person must generate thoughts or actions versus tests that included true/false, rating or ranking responses.
Testing a person’s motivations, actions and thoughts yields a much richer data set than other testing methods. McClelland demonstrated that operant tests consistently show:
- More criterion validity
- Greater sensitivity
- More uniqueness
- Increased application with regard to organizational development
We use the BEI process to assess prospective school principals and other potential leaders. Each candidate receives a score (1 – 4 levels) across seven leadership competencies – all based on the UVA school turnaround data model.
These seven competencies include:
- Focuses on Sustainable Results
- Engages the Team
- Impact and Influence
- Holding People Accountable for School Performance
- Commitment to Student Learning
- Conceptual Thinking
- Analytical Thinking
The resulting data gives district leaders a method of looking challenges from a data perspective. A district, for example, may have three schools under-performing; based on the BEI data, a superintendent can learn if the principals of these schools are equipped for a turnaround challenge.