District Administration - January 2012 - (Page 23)

Perfect Fit By Eamonn O’Donovan Finding the Administrators are using different approaches for hiring teachers. F rom the outset, President obama placed teacher quality at the center of his education Plan. in a speech to the hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Washington, d.C., in march of 2009, he stated, “to complete our race to the top requires the three pillars of reform—recruiting, preparing and rewarding outstanding teachers. From the moment students enter a school, the most important factor in their success is not the color of their skin or the income of their parents. it’s the person standing at the front of the classroom.” since then, the president and secretary of education arne duncan have focused on teacher evaluation as the means of securing the best teachers for american students. This is evident from the push to use student achievement data in teacher evaluation in race to the top incentives and waivers to states from some of the punitive measures of no Child Left behind. some argue that teacher selection is even more important than teacher evaluation in placing the best teachers in the classroom. You could make the argument that teacher evaluation becomes a tool to retain good teachers, not remove bad ones—the prevailing wind in the debate right now—if the right person is placed in the classroom in the first place. however, too often the process of teacher selection is left to chance as districts fail to align their expectations for teaching excellence with the teacher selection process in a systematic way. inconsistency is often the norm. some site administrators are consistently excellent in choosing teachers for their schools. Those who pick well often do so from a clear understanding of what they are looking for and from a commitment to finding that in candidates. others are not so good at this. some administrators have blind spots when it comes to hiring and may make repeated mistakes in selecting teachers. in reviewing hiring practices for teachers, districts would do well to answer a fundamental question: What do we know about good teachers—what they know, what they do and how their actions demonstrate their commitment to core beliefs and values? A Behavior-based Approach at the Genesee intermediate school district in Flint, mich., administrators have determined what they want in teacher candidates. melinda mcGraw, Genesee’s director of human resources, believes that an approach based on the idea that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance is the key to teacher selection. Therefore, scenario-based interview questions are developed to encourage candidates to describe past practice. mary Clement, a researcher at berry College in Georgia, has written about this behavior-based interview (bbi) approach. The selection team must first identify desired teaching skills. Good teachers have content-area knowledge, know how to manage a classroom, assess appropriately, and reach students with diverse needs. Certain performance skills can be generalized across subjects and grade levels—for example, knowledge of curriculum, communication, professionalism, methods and planning. veer.com www.DistrictAdministration.com January 2012 23 http://www.veer.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2012

District Administration - January 2012
Contents
Letters
News Update
Conversations
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Finding the Perfect Fit
Kansas City Plots Next Steps
Seeking Savings in Special Ed
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Equipping Teachers to Infuse Technology
Flipped Classrooms Gaining Ground
Buying in Bulk
Online Identity Management
Going Mobile
Student Counsel
Online Edge
New Books
New Products
Product Focus
Professional Opinion

District Administration - January 2012