Title: Criteria Administrators Considered When Hiring First Year Agricultural Education Teachers
1Criteria Administrators Considered When Hiring
First Year Agricultural Education Teachers
Jeremy Cantrell Union City High SchoolUnion
City Oklahoma
2Literature
- The quality of teachers has a direct impact on
students achievements (Holmes, 2001) - By better understanding hiring practices and
alternative certification, this should allow
finding the best route to teacher certification.
3Literature
- Boulton (1979) found selected interviewees for
teaching positions were chosen by - Cooperating teacher recommendations
- College supervisor recommendations
- Subject area expertise
- Seiferth (1979) found the personal impression job
candidates leave on potential employers seemed to
be the most influential.
4Literature
- Mortaloni (1984) found that administrators liked
letters of recommendation from - Cooperating teacher
- College supervisor
- Building principal at cooperating center
- and
- Candidates grade in student teaching
5Literature
- Vornberg Liles (1983)
- often the administrator hires the applicant who
seems to reflect his or her own attitudes
6Literature
- Coady (1990)
- the problem is not the candidates value system,
but the value system of the interviewer - we infer the characteristics of a candidate on
the basis of incomplete information based on
similar candidates from previous situations
7Literature
- Braun (1990) found that teacher candidates were
often selected based upon - Inexperienced unskilled interviewers
- The basis of one interview
- Interviewers with administrators who may not be
familiar with classroom realities - Personal judgment rather than objective criteria
8Literature
- Stronge (2002)
- alternative certification will attract talented
individuals with subject matter competency that
can improve quality of education because of their
knowledge and the depth of the material being
taught.
9Literature
- . . . to improve quality of education, (we must)
ensure that professional knowledge and subject
matter competency are grounded in solid pedagogy.
Darling-Hammond (1990)
10Purpose of the Study
- Describe factors that public school
administrators in Oklahoma consider when hiring
first year Agricultural Education Teachers.
11Objectives
- Describe the importance administrators place on
the teaching candidates - Academic Achievement
- Agricultural Experience
- Teaching Practice
- Interview Skill
- References
- Certification
12Procedures
- Population All Oklahoma school administrators
who hired a first-year agricultural education
instructors for the 2002-03 academic year - Of the 24 ag ed teachers, five were alternatively
certified - Ag Ed regional program specialist was contacted
to identify the school administrator responsible
for hiring
13Research Design
- Data was collected by telephone interviews to
increase response rate - Descriptive statistics were used for the
Likert-type questions (mean, STD) - Open-ended questions were coded and frequencies
were analyzed - Questionnaire was pilot tested and was reviewed
by a panel of experts
14Scale
Level of Importance Score
Not Important 1.00 1.50
Not very Important 1.51 2.50
Somewhat Important 2.51 3.50
Important 3.51 4.50
Very Important 4.51 5.00
15Academic Achievement
Assessment Score Level
Ag Knowledge (OSAT) 3.96 Imp
Teaching Knowledge (OPTE) 3.63 Imp
College GPA 3.58 Imp
Other Standardized tests 3.00 S. Imp
General Education Knowledge (OGET) 2.92 S. Imp
16Experience In Agriculture
- Most importance on
- Well-rounded in agriculture content
- Supervision of student projects
- FFA activities and programs
- Less importance on
- Experience in production agriculture
17Ag Ed Areas
Assessment Score Level
Supervision of SAEs 4.67 V. Imp
FFA Activities 4.50 Imp
Personal Experience Showing Livestock 3.87 Imp
Personal Experience in Production Agriculture 3.46 S. Imp
18General Teaching Practice
Assessment Score Level
Classroom Mgmt Skills 4.96 V. Imp
Community Relations 4.92 V. Imp
Educate a diverse group 4.63 V. Imp
Work with other faculty 4.58 V. Imp
Work w/ special needs students 4.38 Imp
Integrate technology 4.25 Imp
Integrate other subjects 4.13 Imp
19Interviews
Interview Item Mean Response
Oral Communications Skills 5.00
Enthusiasm 4.58
Personal Appearance 4.21
Distance between hometown/job 1.50
Marital Status 1.02
20Ranked References
Reference Mean Rank
1 Cooperating Teacher 1.83
2 Regional Ag Ed Program Specialist 2.25
3 Reference from Administrator 3.29
4 Teacher Education Faculty 3.33
5 Reference Supplied by Candidate 4.29
21 Alternatively Certified Teachers
- 20 said they would not hire alternatively
certified teachers - 4 said they would, and did
- Secondary responses
- 15 wanted teachers who have been trained to
teach - 13 wanted candidates with classroom experience
22Alternatively Certified Teachers
- 14 believe it may be ok in academic areas such as
math or science - 4 were completely opposed
- 14 believed it was not for first-yearAgricultural
Education Teachers - 3 believed it was acceptable
23Conclusions
- Administrators were most interested in the
candidates - Knowledge of agriculture
- Ability to run a well-rounded program in terms of
agricultural content - Ability to manage the classroom, and develop
rapport with community and other teachers.
24Conclusions Cont..
- Administrators sought candidates
- Who can present their knowledge of agriculture in
an enthusiastic manner. - Who were highly recommended by his or her
cooperating teacher. - Who were fully certified, having previous
classroom instruction and classes in pedagogy.
25The End
Jim Leising watching the game