Teacher Selection Process - Case Study Example

Teacher Selection Process Part A- Identifying the Problem Information extracted from the interview: Mr. Larry Blender, the principal of the OhioAPS School, talks about his visionary ideas and mission statement. He asserts the fact that his ambition is to provide his students safety, high standard of education, and all necessary resources that are required to fortify their educational skills. He affirms that he is totally in favor of inculcating technology in teaching instruction so that the students may be able to come at par with the modern world. He mentions the significance of good public relations; the need for creating a safe and favorable learning environment; and, the importance of catering to the social-emotional needs of students. Apart from conflict resolution and crisis management, effective resource management must also be addressed, according to Mr. Blender. Time management is an important aspect of effective management. When asked about outlining school budget and teacher selection process, he responds that teacher selection is the responsibility of the district. The school budget depends on the number of students. School receives title funds which it spends on projects. This interview helps explain the different roles the principal has to play in order to foster a good learning environment. However, it also outlines the problem that teacher selection process is not a main concern of the principals, as the district is responsible for it. Mr. Blender did not shed enough light upon the current design and performance of the teacher selection process, which is the main issue that underlines how competent a teacher should be when he enters the school building to teach the young minds. 2. Review of other data: A myriad of members belonging to the school community were interviewed along with some parents. A couple of teachers provided the information that the school ensures periodic teacher training sessions so that all teachers are trained according to the curriculum requirements. Two school board members were interviewed regarding the fiscal plans and annual budget of the school. They mentioned that the school received annual funds under different titles according to which funds were allocated. For example, this year, as the principal suggested, funds were allocated to hire tutors. Some parents complained that since the school focused significantly on computer associated instruction, hence they faced difficulty if they could not provide their children with computer related resources. The staff also complained that sometimes, the teachers were not trained enough to cope with the technological devices and equipment, and hence, teacher training in this regard was also required. Teachers provided information about 9am-5pm faculty time, during which they had to tackle with manifold challenges and responsibilities related to instructional material and curriculum. They mentioned that the school’s mission was to highlight the roles of leadership in every job level. For example, the principal had his own leadership roles with which he was supposed to create harmony among the human resource; the teachers held responsible for leading students and low level workers; and, the students were supposed to be leaders in group work. Hence, the informants provided information about various challenges and responsibilities related to the human resource employed at different levels. 3. Analysis From the various interviews conducted with the school personnel, it is analyzed that there are multiple challenges that need to be addressed in order to facilitate a harmonious learning environment within the school. The teacher selection process is not clearly defined, as the interviews suggest. The current process is that the district is responsible for the teacher selection process. Rebore (2014, p.40) suggests that principals are responsible for all kinds of school operations. This implies that the teacher selection process must also involve the role of principals. Goldring et al. (2014, p.6) state that principals should be held responsible for “using multiple forms of teacher effectiveness data for talent management decisions”, and that very few principals use teacher effectiveness measures when they are hiring teachers. The selection process of the school under observation does not align well with the school’s goal and vision. The needs and resources of the school demand that there should be a well-defined and sophisticated teacher selection process which ensures that such proficient teachers should be hired that are competent enough to help the principal and the staff to handle the educational and curriculum challenges effectively. The recruiting, screening and hiring processes should be efficiently conducted. Stronge and Hindman (2006, p.19) suggest that “a well-constructed selection process should create a situation where teachers are selected based on a multitude of factors that ultimately influence student achievement.” Hence, the main concern of this paper is to outline the design of a teacher selection process that should help the authorities assign proficient teachers/principals to the school. Part B- Developing the Strategic Plan 1. Problem The problem of concern is that I am a member of a committee appointed by the superintendent, and my task is to design a selection process to be used in hiring a principal for a middle school who must be able to function as an instructional leader. My design should be able to culminate in the selection of a highly-qualified teacher who should possess skills and competencies necessary to bring about effective student learning and school improvement. There are six months in the appointment of a new principal, and my selection design should be able to function properly in these six months. It is December, and the new principal is to be appointed in June. 2. My Teacher Selection Design The teacher selection design that I propose has the following necessary components to it. First of all, job description will be written. I, as a committee member, will observe the building principal to come to know his job responsibilities, tasks and challenges. I might engage that principal in an interview. If face to face interview is not possible, then a job questionnaire will be sent to him. This will help me in conducting supervisor analysis of the job. A diary method may also be used to record all observations made at the building. The final job description will include job summary (maintenance and continuance of instructional program among staff including leadership and communication skills in dealing with staff), organizational relationships (maintenance of line relationships with the building staff), organizational tasks (establishment of administrative processes), job qualifications (possession of teaching and professional qualities with required qualifications- a bachelor’s degree with major or minor in biological science along with a State Secondary School Teaching Certificate in high school teaching) and employment tests (evaluation of intelligence, aptitude, ability and interest). I will also allocate sufficient funding, that is, $1,000 more than $25,000 required to hire a school superintendent (Rebore, 2014). This process will take around one month, that is, from mid of December till mid of January. Then, candidates will be recruited both by way of print media (newspapers, magazines) and through the school’s own recruitment portal on its website. Pamphlets will be published and distributed. Furthermore, the school authorities will manage to network and manage such a referral scheme in which teachers refer other teachers. This module of the design process will take one month, that is, from mid of January to mid of February. Technology will play its part here, as the advertisements will be given on the school’s website. Candidates will be able to download the application, and will send it over to the concerned authority through e-mails. Hence, online communication will take place between the committee and the candidates. Candidates’ credentials and background checks such ass criminal-background investigation will be done online, and the profiles will be saved in an online database which would only be accessed by authorized members of the committee. 10-15 interviews will be conducted to select 6 candidates after screening. The committee will identify and select the interviewers on the basis of their educational qualifications and experience. 4-5 candidates will be interviewed in each stage of the selection process. Length of each interview will be 15 minutes. This module will take one month in total, that is, mid of February till mid of March. There will be six criteria or required application materials for screening the candidates: portfolio, years of teaching experience, transcript evaluation, written responses to essay questions on application, willingness/ability to direct extracurricular activities, and type of licensure. The principal and two teacher assistants will act as screeners. Since applicants may inflate their resumes, the committee will make sure to find discrepancies in resumes during screening on important hiring factors which include dates of employment, education, experience, salary, and/or criminal history. Screening will take about one month that is mid of March till mid of April because validating the documents for fraud or forged information takes time. . Communication with candidates will be done by way of emails, telephone and Skype. This will be done during and after the screening process. It will start in the month of March and will go until the entire selection process. So, there is no definite timeline that can be dedicated to this module. The principal will make the final decision about the semi-finalist and finalist candidates. This decision will be made till the end of April after screening has been completed. After that, the scheduling of interviews will take place. Selected candidates will be invited by way of e-mails and postage that the secretary will send to them one week before the date of interviews. Interviews will start from 9 a.m. till 12 p.m. There will be two phases of interviews. In phase 1, all candidates will be interviewed; and, in phase 2 only the final candidate will be interviewed. However, the committee will appoint a teacher who will check all references before the 1st interview. The secretary will send apology email to those candidates who will not be selected after interviews. This module will be completed till the end of May. 3. The Selection Committee It is also important to mention here how the selection committee will be chosen. As I already mentioned, the committee will consist of the principal and eight teachers. The principal will hold the main authority due to his leadership roles. Teachers will be included since they serve as the backbone of the school system. 2 of them will be teacher assistants, 4 should be from within the school community, and 2 will be counselors. So, in total the committee will have 10 members because it is a reasonable number of members required to make wise decisions. No advisory/non-voting members will be included but they will be allowed to give their inputs through regular feedbacks and criticisms. Committee members will not be allowed to apply for the post of the principal. They will have to mention before selection in the committee that they do not have to apply for the post. 4. Final Words The above-mentioned teacher selection process has been carefully designed keeping in view the timeline and the school requirements. This design contains sophisticated and well-prepared procedures for candidate recruitment, screening and selection. Candidate hired through this method will be efficient to perform all crucial tasks that a principal of a middle school is supposed to do. He will be able to create a healthy atmosphere within the school that is safe and secure as well as ready to embrace all sorts of advancements in teaching process and student learning. References Goldring, E.B., Neumerski, C.M., Cannata, M., Drake, T.A., Grissom, J.A., Rubin, M., Schuermann, P. (2014). Principal’s Use of Teacher Effectiveness Data for Talent Management Decisions. Retrieved April 9, 2015, from http://tpep-wa.org/wp-content/uploads/VanderbiltPrincUseEvalData.pdf Rebore, R.E. (2014). Human Resources Administration in Education. New York, USA: Pearson Education Limited. Stronge, J.H., & Hindman, J.L. (2006). The Teacher Quality Index: A Protocol for Teacher Selection. Denver, USA: ASCD. Read More