HOW SUPERINTENDENTS CAN HELP PRINCIPALS AND HR DO A BETTER JOB Teacher Hiring.

How superintendents can help principals and HR do a better job

Teacher Hiring

Impact of Teacher Quality

What’s a good teacher worth?

What does a bad teacher cost?

Research with value-added measures of student achievement

“The difference between a good and a bad teacher can be a full level of

achievement in a single school year.”

Eric Hanushek, U of Rochester

“Differences in teacher effectiveness were found to be the dominant factor affecting student

academic gains.”Wright, Horn, and Sanders, U of Tennessee

Conclusions?

Of all the “controllable” variables in a school district, the one that impacts student

achievement the most is teacher quality.

What’s a Good Teacher Worth?

From a parent’s perspective?

From a school district’s perspective?

From a business’s perspective?

Beyond an interview, what should principals and district HR managers do to bring in top quality teachers?

Assumptions

The only active parts of a school system are the people. Everything else — buildings, computers, textbooks, curricula — just sits there until a person puts it to use to educate students.

Better people do better work.

Over the long term, the best way to improve is to hire better people.

Key Leverage Points for Better Hiring

Recruiting

Screening

Making Evidence-Based Decisions

Superintendent’s Role

Evaluating where you are now

Leading improvements

Recruiting

Effective Recruiting

If you don’t get this right, you’re pretty much out of luck.

Recruiting is competitive marketing

10% creativity; 90% effort

Evaluate Your Recruiting Program

Look at yourself through the eyes of an applicant

Apply for a teaching job.

How welcoming is the process? How much red tape?

Check how you stack up against other districts? Why would a top quality candidate choose you?

Are your materials professional, up-to-date, and attractive?

Brochures Booth Website

Evaluate Your Recruiting Program

Are you among the first to get started?

Do you have timely data from principals on how many vacancies and what kind?

What are your competitive advantages? How are you using them?

Anything creative? Or the same old thing?

Lead Improvement

Ask HR for upgrades to materials, website (Nov.)

Ask for a recruiting plan (January) Dates for starting, interviewing, offers, etc. Projected numbers and positions Sources (where you’ll get the applicants) Methods (how you’ll advertise)

Meet with HR and principals (March) Team effort: HR leads process, principals support Schedule times at job fairs for HR, principals, teachers

Set an example

Lead Improvement

Review meeting (May) Principals: Did you have an ample supply of quality

applicants?

HR: Did you have sufficient resources, money and people?

What were your successes and shortfalls?

What improvements should be made for next year?

HR produces a revised recruiting plan (January)

Screening

Effective Screening

Provides data on how likely it is that an applicant will become a high quality teacher.

Based on “requirements”

Knowledge, skills, motivation needed to perform well

Things that cause new teachers to fail (contract non-renewal, terminations, turnover)

Understanding what differentiates your best teachers from average performers

Where are you now?

Do you have a systematic screening process used by all your schools?

Do you have a written list of requirements for teachers?

Do you have credible ways of assessing applicants against the requirements?

Exercise 1

List five requirements for the job of teacher.

Hint: There are three kinds of requirements.

Conceptual (teaching knowledge, intelligence, subject matter knowledge)

Motivational (achievement, conscientiousness, work ethic)

Interpersonal (classroom management skills, ability to work well with peers, sense of empathy)

Have at least one of each kind in your list.

Measurements

How do you know if an applicant meets your requirements?

Interview – structured, behavioral interview

Resume, certifications

References

Tests Personality Intelligence

Simulations

Where are you now?

What kind of measures do you use now?

Is there a logical connection between the measures and the teacher requirements?

Does the measure provide credible information?

Leading Improvement

This is a technical area, and your HR manager is likely to need some help (psychometrics).

If you’re not using structured interviews, ask HR to learn how and teach everyone else (including site-based councils).

Review measures and challenge those that are not credible (in your eyes).

Professionally-developed written tests for conceptual skills and personality are cheap and very helpful. Ask HR to start using them.

Exercise 2

List the measures you will use to assess applicants against your requirements.

Have at least one measure for each requirement.

Evidence-Based Decisions

Make Evidence-Based Decisions

Human decision making Make an initial, quick evaluation Then collect data to support our first impression Willing to use whatever information is available

Set the stage for making good decisions Gather good quality information Postpone final judgment until all data is in Compare candidates Involve more that one person in making the decision

Where are you now?

Survey principals: “Tell me how you make teacher hiring decisions. What do you look for? How do you evaluate the applicants?”

Ask new teachers in different schools to describe how they were hired.

Look for: Consistency from school to school Focus on most important requirements Amount and quality of data used to make the decision

Ask HR what assistance they give to principals in making hiring decisions.

Leading Improvement

Have a “selection plan” for all jobs

HR’s responsibility

Ensures that Requirements are written down Some thought given on how to assess applicants against

the requirements

With HR manager, review a hiring decision at each school. Ask to see the selection plan. Have HR and the principal explain how it works.

Sample Selection Plan

Exercise 3

Create a selection plan using your requirements and measures.

Make sure there is at least one measure for each requirement.

Superintendent Selection Plan

Recap

Hiring top quality teachers is the best way to improve student achievement.

Three key leverage points for improving hiring Recruiting Screening Decision making

You have Ideas for evaluating where you stand Suggestions for leading improvements A selection plan for teachers