The STEM Common Measurement System will use a school
leadership survey created by school leadership scholars Leithwood
et al. (2006). The survey authors iteratively refined the survey over
more than a decade of projects and the survey has been used in
both elementary and secondary schools (Jantzi & Leithwood, 1996;
Leithwood, Aitken, & Jantzi, 2001; Leithwood et al., 2006). The
survey has a strong theoretical foundation that is based off a
literature review that revealed four characteristics of successful
leaders; the survey scales are designed to measure these
characteristics as well as key sub-characteristics that are organized
under each main characteristic (Leithwood et al., 2008). The survey
is also tightly aligned to the PMSP transformational leadership
construct with subscales that target each of the five leadership
characteristics that are specifically identified in the partnership’s
construct.