Chapter 13: People

Goals

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to• comprehend the significance of people for schooling’s success;• understand the profile of America’s education professionals;• recognize contemporary educator personnel incentives and

compensation practices;• identify educator compensation reform possibilities;• make suggestions for recruiting, selecting, and terminating personnel;• construct strategies for ensuring productive professional development

for educators;• critique strategies for providing effective evaluation of educators;• motivate people to promote organizational effectiveness.

People and School Success Three million teachers in the United States and half million school administrators and

other personnel connected to education As a nation, we have hired more teachers and reduced the pupil workload Education has become more labor intensive and it has become more intensive over time Education is more labor intensive because of functions in addition to instruction (i.e.-

overseeing the well being of students) Other industries such as banking, communication, manufacturing have become

capital intensive; banking is more accurate when transacted through digital processes Instead of replacing teachers with computers, the US has been adding both teachers and computers Schooling relies heavily on people

Figure 2. Public and private elementary and secondary school pupil/teacher ratios: Selected years, fall 1955 through fall 2011

Profiling America’s Educators In addition to the huge demand for labor in education—more individuals are

employed in schooling. Schools do not always attract from among the most talented of our nation’s

individuals. With so many hiring positions, uniform attention to high-quality candidates is

unlikely. State certification standards vary from state to state The uniform wage and compensation arrangements typically applied to teachers

restrict school districts’ ability to pay selective individual teachers in a manner that is competitive with higher-paying private-sector positions.

Compensating America’s Educators Most contend that teaching is a calling and we don’t enter the profession

expecting to make a lot of money Most districts follow a single salary schedule (how many years taught, how

many college credit accumulated, and levels of state certification (p. 318-9) Perverse incentives: Most prestigious pay are given to ones who left the

classroom teaching and have taken positions such specialists, counselors, school administrators, central office administrators, state official, superintendents

Inert incentives: When students characteristics are controlled, one can identify an important effect of teachers upon student achievement.

Experience as a teacher appear to be related to student’s success, but only the initial years of experience

No discernible relationship between certification and teacher’s affect upon student’s achievement

Compensating America’s Educators Pension as a Part of Pay: Teachers usually enjoy high fringe benefit levels.

These include items such as pensions and health insurance. Teachers enjoy a defined benefit plan. An arrangement that provides a more secure

pension than its counterpart, the defined contribution plan, which overwhelmingly characterizes private-sector employees.

A participant is eligible for drawing upon the capital amassed in the pension plan after a specified number of work years, usually about seven.

Teacher pension plans suffer from three major problems. they are seldom portable across state boundaries. teacher pensions hey vastly favor more senior teachers at the expense of the more junior

teachers. the collective financial exposure of state systems for the payment of retirement

obligations for which states have not set aside sufficient funding for coverage.

Contemporary Compensation Practices Fringe Benefits: In addition to pensions, teachers are also usually accorded

handsome fringe benefit packages, particularly medical and dental insurance. Fringe benefits are estimated to cost the employer approximately 30 percent on top of

the salary of an employed educator. Labor Markets: there are persistent teacher shortages in select subject

matter and geographical areas. The subject areas in short supply are mathematics, physical science, special education, and foreign languages.

The hard-to-staff geographic areas are inner-city and remote rural schools. Are Teachers Paid Fairly? Given the security involved in being employed in

teaching, a 9-10 month working schedule, generous fringe and personal benefits, and the protections afforded by the single salary schedule, teachers would appear to be paid well in the United States.

Compensation Reform Possibilities

Working Conditions: A primary problem for teachers is work isolation. The egg crate individuality of schools separates classroom teachers from other adults and teaching colleagues.

Schools do not have the prestige and comfort of expansive corporate offices. Professional Perks: Internet service and an email address may a

reinforce a sense of professionalism. Progressive districts provide teachers with professional perks such as business cards or a teacher of the year parking space. Recognition in district or school newsletters of outstanding teacher actions.

Compensation Reform Possibilities Performance Incentives and Salary Premiums:

Substantially elevating entry-level classroom teacher salaries; Creating a dynamic career ladder permitting individual classroom teachers to be

professionally promoted and remain as instructors; Compressing the salary schedule, facilitating an able individual’s accelerated progress

toward the highest teacher pay levels; offering individual teachers an extended option of annual, rather than academic year

pay; Offering individual classroom teachers income supplements for student performance

gains and added professional service; Eliminating the need for able individuals to obtain state certificates that have little or no

bearing upon instructional proficiency and act as irrational barriers to entry into teaching.

Student achievement is influenced by teachers and educational leaders Incentive pay can be for entire school, team of teachers, or individual teachers

A Performance-Based Compensation SystemsFollowing conditions are important for strategic educational leadersto consider in creating, assessing, or implementing performance based compensation:

Teacher remuneration and rewards must be related to added levels of student performance or extra pay for hard-to-staff schools and subjects.

Bonuses should be contingent upon student performance gain as measured through a value-added method that controls for incoming levels of achievement and other nonschool factors.

To ensure that a bonus system truly “incentivizes” teacher behavior, consider multi-tiered bonuses that match the attainment of performance targets with bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

Reward structures and payment dynamics should be transparent to all involved. The compensation system should facilitate, not inhibit, organizational flexibility over time. Reward structures should move away from compensation bases such as certification levels,

experience, and course credits

Fair measurement: there are certain conditions such as parental commitment, early childhood environments, community amenities, etc. that influences student’s achievement

Effective incentives

A Performance-Based Compensation Systems: Pre-Service Teachers

Most state certifications require student teaching Student teaching performance is often not rigorous or

comprehensive The ideal prospective teaching candidate should possess the

following skills: • fundamental knowledge and communication abilities• genuine expertise in one or more subject matter areas• reading and mathematics instructional skills• the ability to tailor instruction to student needs• classroom management know-how• relate to a wide spectrum of learner backgrounds, disabilities, and student skill levels• technical ability to construct and interpret tests• communicate effectively with parents and citizens.

A Performance-Based Compensation Systems Administrator Performance: The performance of school administrators,

principals, and subordinates is linked to the academic performance of students

Principals cannot be held fairly for student achievement without taking student social and economic circumstances into account.

What Can Be Done? A valid product for performance must exist

Pay for Performance: Answer to School Woes

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video?id=3672744

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPL3ckl6M7g

Selecting Teachers, Administrators and Others

A strategic educational leader must establish qualifications in: intelligence attitude education experience One should ask hypothetical questions of candidates to detect intelligence; a good candidate

will answer the question while reflecting on the complexity of the question and explain it in simple and understandable terms

An indiviudal's attitude runs a close second to intelligence as a desirable employee trait The greatest trait of a leader, is the ability to create an accurate and useful vision of the

organization and its future, and being able to select individuals who can realize that vision. Selecting talent is a leader’s second most important challenge.

Employee Termination: In addition to state law and bargaining contract provisions, teachers and other school district employees have the protection of the legal system. If a dismissed individual believes himself or herself illegally treated, he or she can file a wrongful dismissal suit.

Professional Development

Continued education and in-service training of teachers, administrators, and other professionals connected with schooling

To ensure that professional developemnt is consistent with core purpose and mission of schooling, effective schools have leaders that create an environment that emphasizes professional learning

It is important for educational leaders to ensure that their teachers are engaging in professional development experiences that will enhance teacher quality and improve student learning

Effective Professional Development should: (a) the degree to which the activity is focused on enhancing

teachers’ content knowledge and how students learn the content; (b) the duration of the activity, including the total number of hours

that participants spend in the activity, as well as the span of time over which the activity takes place;

(c) the degree to which the activity includes the collective participation of teachers from the same school, department, or grade level;

(d) the extent to which the activity offers opportunities for active learning by the participants; and

(e) the coherence of the activity, both in terms of promoting consistency between teachers’ professional development and other activities and the degree to which it is aligned with the appropriate standards and assessments.

Assessing the Linkage between Professional Development and Professional Goals

School leaders can use forms to gather data to assess the quality of professional development experiences

Can use for individual teachers or teams Linking Professional Development to Annual Goals Sample form on p.337

Teacher/Team Member Annual Professional DevelopmentGoals

Focus and Description of Professional Development Activities

Degree of Alignment of Effective Professional Development

First Grade Team 1.

2.

3.

_linked to student learning_job-embedded_measures impact on student's learning

Teacher Evaluation:Standards-Based Faculty Evaluation In 1988 the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational

Evaluation crafted the Personnel Evaluation Standards to serve as a logical framework for appropriate and useful teacher evaluation.

The standards provide a comprehensive description of desired teacher performance that describes what teachers should know and be able to do to facilitate student achievement.

Standards-based faculty evaluation systems specify effective teacher behavior and utilize detailed tools to assess teacher practice, they may serve as a powerful mechanism to enhance instructional quality and ultimately contribute to increased student performance.

Teacher Evaluation

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=81Ub0SMxZQo

Approaches to Faculty Evaluation Three Major Functions:

provide accountability guide promotion decisions inform staff development choices.

Faculty evaluation can serve the following purposes: encourage collaboration and teacher engagement on issues central to the

improvement of student learning Support positive organizational change Create greater program coherence Build strong professional relationships that strengthen collaborative

leadership Strengthen individual and collective effectiveness in meeting valued

organization

Faculty Evaluation Linked to Dimensions of Organizational Climate:

• teacher self-assessment• administrator, peer, and student assessment• assessment of written planning documents• collaborative conversations about teaching and learning• group assessments by teachers working together to share their views• extensive professional development for assessors• differentiated systems for novice and experienced teachers• a multiyear cycle of formative and summative evaluations• involvement of all central stakeholders in the development of a system• active teacher roles through the development and implementation stages

Youtube: Download and Watch Making Teacher Evaluations Meaningful:

Charlotte Danielsonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzDcYuSsU2E

Bill Gates: "How Do You Make a Teacher Great?" Part 1 & 2https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfzZEREfQshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCSdIRNZmHw

CNN: Link teacher pay to student performance?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPL3ckl6M7ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBk0MYR2Fhchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd_r2Pf2-sE

Questions What are some conditions that render education less

attractive as a career option to possible entrants when contrasted with other occupational choices?

Briefly describe the pros and cons of current and former pension and fringe benefit plans that you have experienced. If you could establish the ideal “total compensation package,” what would it look like?