Education

This chapter studies Article IX of the Colorado Constitution, on public schools. Sections 1 and 15 establish the basic structure for administration of the state’s schools. Section 1 provides for an elected State Board of Education. Section 15 authorizes the general assembly to create school districts “of convenient size” and provides for an elected board of education for each, which “have control of instruction in the public schools of their respective districts.” Section 16 forbids the legislature and the State Board of Education from prescribing public school textbooks. Section 2 requires free public schools open to all residents between ages six and twenty-one. Sections 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10 concern the state public school fund and trust lands. Section 17 sets minimum levels of financial support for schools. Section 8 bans the teaching of sectarian tenets or doctrines in public schools and the use of religious criteria in hiring teachers or admitting students. Section 11 empowers the general assembly to require school attendance or education by other means.

TEACHER SELECTION – THE MAIN PRIORITY OF EACH SCHOOL

Hiring teachers in the secondary education system is a critical moment. The image of the school and the calm and positive environment for teamwork depend on the good procedure and the preparation of a team for the implementation of this procedure. While most companies have a human resources department that only deals with this, in schools this is not an option. At the same time, the overall activity at the school depends on the good selection. The article discusses the main problems in this process and gives models that have been implemented by the author in his many years of practice. This process, with the serious decline of trained pedagogical specialists, becomes even more critical, and it is good to have a system for selection and implementation.

The Relationship Between Districts’ Teacher Salary Schedule Structures and the Qualifications of Their Teacher Staffing Profile

Many school administrators face difficulties hiring teachers with the requisite job credentials and qualifications. In this paper, we argue for the potential of salary structures to influence teacher staffing. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to examine whether restructuring teacher compensation salary schedules is associated with attracting larger shares of teachers with the necessary baseline qualifications for the job (i.e., “highly qualified teachers” or HQT) in anon-collective bargaining state. Fixed effects regression using panel data from 2012-2014 for 80 of SouthCarolina’s public school districts was used to address the purpose of the study. The percent of classes not taught by HQT was found to increase as districts become more backloaded. This provides supporting evidence concerning the benefits of frontloading salary schedules. Additionally, potential drawbacks of frontloading salary schedules should be examined to improve the knowledge base of the potential costs relative to benefits of frontloading salary structures.

The Influence of Intuition on Human Resource Officers’ Perspectives on Hiring Teachers of Color

There has been growing scholarly discourse on the topic of diversifying the teacher workforce. However, the perspectives of human resource officers (HROs), who are often involved in the hiring of teachers, are excluded. As a result, this qualitative study explores 12 school district HROs’ perspectives on diversifying the teacher workforce and how intuition specifically influences their hiring decisions of teachers of color. Findings suggest HROs use intuition in determining a candidate’s fit for the organization, but they have conflicting perspectives on whether intuition should be used in hiring decisions. The participants admit teacher diversity is not always their primary goal in hiring decisions while also acknowledging the importance of a diversified teacher workforce. These findings first point to the importance of including HROs in the scholarly discourse on diversifying the teaching profession as in many ways they operate as gatekeepers for teacher candidates. Moreover, given that participants earned their advanced degrees in educational leadership, findings from this study signal the importance of educational leadership programs being intentional in providing coursework on equitable hiring practices, so hiring decisions are not based only on intuitive hunches, but rather on data.

Making the Cut: The Effectiveness of Teacher Screening and Hiring in the Los Angeles Unified School District

Many schools and districts have considerable discretion when hiring teachers, yet little is known about how that discretion should be used. Using data from a new teacher screening system in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), we find that performance during screening, and especially performance on specific screening assessments, is significantly and meaningfully predictive of hired teachers’ evaluation outcomes, contributions to student achievement, attendance, and mobility. However, applicants’ performance on individual components of the screening process are differentially predictive of different teacher outcomes, highlighting challenges and potential trade-offs faced by districts during screening.

Principals’ preferences when hiring teachers: a conjoint experiment

Purpose What do principals look for when hiring teachers? The purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge concerning what aspects of teacher quality are in demand among the individuals who administer schools and make hiring decisions. Design/methodology/approach Rather than employing interviews or surveys, the authors utilized a conjoint instrument that assembled teacher characteristics into fictitious applicant profiles. Participating North Carolina public school principals (n = 467) then chose among the computer-generated options and regression analysis allowed the authors to identify preferences in the aggregate. Findings Principals in this study preferred applicants with classroom experience, but those with 15 years were no more preferred than those with 5. They also preferred applicants with more education, but an advanced degree was no more preferred than a bachelor’s from a highly selective institution. Preference for teachers who are committed to state standards varied with schools’ performance on state tests. Originality/value Conjoint analysis is a useful tool for measuring preferences but is underutilized in research on education administration. This paper contributes not only to the body of knowledge about school principal behavior but also to the field’s familiarity of research techniques.

A Study on the Cultivation of Female Students Ability in the Girl's Athletic Association-Taking Qingdao University of Science and Technology as an Example

This paper studied the status of o the Girl’s Athletic Association in the matter of the organization and function. Some problems in development progress are analyzed, such as the number of members reduced, the chaos of organization construction, the shortage of fund. Some proposals and countermeasures are putted forward from strengthen and improving the organization system construction, carrying out rich and colorful activities, the funding, hiring teachers and the association responsible person, increasing the association activity time, changing the content of activities To play an important role in the aspects of actively encouraging and guiding the female classmate association activities, and promoting the all-round development of girl's ability.

Seeking the Elusive Fit: What Do Educational Leaders Look for When Hiring New Teachers for First Nations Schools?

This article reports on the preliminary findings of a qualitative research study that explored the perceptions of five directors of education in Manitoba’s First Nations’ educational authorities as they assess prospective teachers for fit for both their schools and their local communities. The findings of this study illustrate that in order to meet the challenges of teaching effectively in First Nations’ schools, those responsible for hiring teachers want to find candidates who (a) contribute to the establishment of a new culture of teaching in the schools, (b) form respectful relationships with students and other members of the particular First Nation community, (c) possess a worldview that is commensurate with those held by First Nations peoples, and (d) are competent to teach academic subjects and also support students’ development as Indigenous youth. I conclude with recommendations that can support the preparation of a greater number of prospective teachers capable of teaching effectively in First Nation schools. Keywords: First Nations education; Teacher recruitment and selection; educational leadership