Chapter 10 Staffing the School

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Chapter 10 Staffing the School

• Recruitment, Selection, and Termination Processes

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Two styles of Selection Recruitment

• Machine metaphor
• Determined completely by central office
• Principal has gatekeeper role confirming or
  objecting to central office decisions
• Brain metaphor (PREFERRED)
• Local school teachers, principal, parents,
  students are decision makers in the selection
  process
• Central office has a supporting role

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Two questions that determine staffing needs

• 1. If you were not allowed to fill the
  vacancy, how would you fulfill the instructional
  need created by the loss of the teacher?

• 2. After reviewing your school improvement
  plan, do you have proposed improvements that
  suggest new personnel or a different staffing
  pattern than the existing one?

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Recruitment

• Good person description
• (See figure 10.1)
• Similar to a job advertisement
• Good position description
• (See figure 10.2)
• AKA a job description

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Federal Regulations to Prevent Employment
Discrimination

• Civil Rights Act, 1964
• Equal Opportunity Act, 1972
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 1992
• Prohibits discrimination against an individual
  with a disability
• Employers must make reasonable accommodation in
  the workplace to enable the individual to perform
  fundamental job duties of a position

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Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Act
(EEOC)

• Unlawful to ask on a written application or
  during an interview (pg. 210)
• Complexion or color of skin
• Anything regarding religion in nature
• Sex, marital status, spouse information, or ages
  of children
• Disabilities or diseases
• May ask if any physical impairments would affect
  the ability to perform the job

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EEOC cont.

• Arrests
• May ask if they have ever been convicted of a
  crime
• Any previous name the applicant may have used
• May ask if they have worked for your organization
  under a different name (e.g. a maiden name)
• Birthplace or birthplace of spouse or parents
  birth date or certificate of naturalization

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EEOC cont.

• Cannot require the applicants photograph before
  hiring
• Whether the applicant or a relative is a citizen
  of a foreign country
• You may ask if the applicant is a U.S. citizen
• Intends to become one
• Or if they have a legal right to be in the United
  States

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EEOC cont.

• The applicants native language
• You may ask which languages the applicant speaks
  and writes
• Questions or information about the applicants
  relatives
• Prior to employment, you cannot ask for the name
  of a person to contact in case of emergency
• The clubs, societies, and lodges to which the
  applicant belongs
• You may ask them to list organizations they feel
  are pertinent to the job

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The Selection Process

• Screening
• Review the candidates application file
• Compare the application with the personal
  description
• Discrepancy Analysis
• Search the file for missing information
• Excluding dates of unfavorable past activities
• Not listing appropriate reference sources
• Check for health and legal problems

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The Selection Process, cont.

• Reference check
• Personal telephone contact with the previous
  principal
• Obtain more information from a phone call than
  from a written reference
• Be careful in the manner in which questions are
  asked
• Or answered, if you are called upon
• If the person in question would seek a job in
  your school again, would you rehire him or her?
• Red flag - if the answer isnt extremely positive

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The Job Interview

• Whenever possible, employment recommendations
  should be based on the group interactions of the
  principal and existing staff
• Interviews should be arranged to involve
  teachers, department heads, and team members in
  the process
• Staff members are also obligated to follow the
  EEOC guidelines regarding appropriate questions

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The Job Interview Agenda

• Establish the atmosphere
• open slowly and reduce anxiety
• Ask focused questions
• personal strengths and weaknesses, philosophy of
  education, what if questions
• Be an active listener
• ask open-ended questions
• Share school information with the candidate
• Children, school programs, school community

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The Job Interview Agenda, cont.

• 4. Close the interview
• Thank candidate for their time openness
• Next steps in the selection process
• When they might to hear from the school
• 5. Write out your notes
• Gather information from others involved
• Team discussion
• Checklist
• Other formatted method of recording perceptions

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Probationary Status Orientation and
Development of New Teachers

• Most states have a 1-3 year probationary period
  before a teacher receives tenure
• The principal is to be a teacher of teachers
• Build a support system for all new teachers
  (ideas for support on pgs. 214-215)

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Teacher Tenure

• In most states tenure is simply a statement of
  the guarantee of due process assuring exercise of
  academic freedom for the teacher by allowing
  dismissal only for specific causes listed in the
  tenure law.

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Teacher Tenure, cont.

• Misconceptions with Tenureit is often believed
  that tenure is a guarantee of a job from which
  dismissal is all but impossible. THIS IS NOT
  TRUE!!!!
• Currently with the broadened decision making by
  courts, probationary teachers are now guaranteed
  many of the same due process rights afforded
  tenured teachers in the past.

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Involuntary Termination

• This section talks about how a bad teacher
  can be fired through due process. They have all
  the rights as other teachers. If they dont get
  dismissed its usually a reflection of how the
  district handled the process. Even though the
  teacher should be fired if the district has
  improper procedure the teacher can keep their
  job.

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Preparation for Dismissal

• Should never be made quickly!
• Before deciding to not rehire a first year
  teacher it should be decided 3 to 4 months before
  the new contract comes out.
• To fire a tenure teacher with the firing holding
  up in court, it often takes two to three years of
  documented poor teaching.
• Poor personnel records and poor evaluation
  procedures are common in school districts.

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Due Process

• Teachers must be given timely notice of the
  decision not to rehire.
• A certified is the best way of assuring a record
  of such notification.
• Employees must be informed that they have the
  opportunity for and the right for a hearing.
• The hearing time, date, and place should be
  stated in the letter.
• If the teacher is tenured, the letter should also
  include the specific causes or changes for
  dismissal.

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Appropriateness of Evidence

• Evidence should be firsthand, factual, and
  documented accurately with appropriate dates.
• The important to remember is to record facts, not
  opinions, and to do this in a timely fashion.

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Equal Rights

• Things to think aboutemployee treated fairly and
  nondiscriminatory manner? Were all employees
  treated the same? Were duties and assignments
  fair?
• Keep monitoring and teacher files equal, dont
  make it look as if you are out to get a certain
  teacher.

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Efforts to Help the Teacher

• Was there adequate supervision of a helping
  nature developed? Was there enough time given to
  improve effort?
• A teacher who knows that school officials are
  well prepared most often will not request a
  hearing and will just resign.