A Survey of Opinions of North Carolina School Administrators Regarding Factors Considered Most Important in Hiring Teachers for their First Teaching Position.This study was constructed to survey administrators across the state of North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. to determine the most important factors in hiring teachers for their first teaching positions. It also suggests to elementary and secondary education majors who will be seeking positions in North Carolina, the factors which will determine whether or not they are successful in obtaining that much sought after first position. The first opinionnaire containing twelve factors was mailed to one-hundred fifty administrators across the state of North Carolina. A second mailing was sent to fifty administrators. Data from 97% of the respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. were analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. and recorded. First year teachers should be informed of factor that will determine their first teaching position. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine factors that are most important in hiring teachers for their first teaching position. Review of Literature Public school systems across the country are in desperate need of good teachers. And the competition for available jobs will become increasingly keener. A key element of the hiring process, the job interview, has always been a topic of inquiry. O'Hair (1989) proposed a model of five factors: demographics The attributes of people in a particular geographic area. Used for marketing purposes, population, ethnic origins, religion, spoken language, income and age range are examples of demographic data. , communication, psychological, atmosphere and enthusiasm. This model serves to influence interview outcomes, and suggest means for preparing prospective teachers for interviews. Braun Braun , Eva 1912-1945. German lover and later wife of Adolf Hitler. They began living together in 1936, but the liaison was kept secret, and she was never seen in public with him. They were married hours before their double suicide on April 30, 1945. and others (1990) found the perceptions of successful teacher applicants and school administrators, regarding aspects of the job seeking process, were quite similar. Both groups viewed the interview as the most important element. Written recommendations from those who had observed the candidate's teaching were perceived as the most important part of the credential credential verb To determine or verify titles, qualifications, documents, completion of required training, and continuing education, in those persons who function in a professional or official capacity–eg, ER physician, neurosurgeon, etc. Cf Credentials. file and honesty Honesty See also Righteousness, Virtuousness. Alethia ancient Greek personification of truth. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 18] Better Business Bureau nationwide system of organizations investigating dishonest business practices. [Am. of responses was identified as most important during and interview. They urge further study of the recruitment and selection process. Place and Drake drake 1. male duck. 2. loliumtemulentum. (1994) conducted a study that interviewed elementary and secondary principals from two different states, Ohio and Illinois Illinois, river, United States Illinois, river, 273 mi (439 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Des Plaines and Kankakee rivers, NE Ill., and flowing SW to the Mississippi at Grafton, Ill. It is an important commercial and recreational waterway. , to see if their priorities for the selection of teachers were the same or different. The high school and elementary principals were given a list of nine criteria to rank in order of importance for the selection of teachers. The three criteria that the principals ranked highest were as follows: 1. Enthusiasm for Teaching 2. Communication Skills 3. Interviewer's Evaluation The most commonly used mechanism for selecting prospective teachers to fill teaching positions is the interview. The best personnel assessments are thought to come through formal, structured interviews. There are several interviews with substance and structure that have been developed by universities, personnel departments and various consultants in order to assist school districts in the selection of teachers with the greatest amount of potential for success in the classroom. A particular interview method employed in selecting teachers is the Urban Teacher Selection Interview. This model was designated by Martin Haberman Martin Haberman is an educator who has developed interviewing techniques for identifying teachers and principals who will be successful in working with poor children. The most widely known of his programs was The National Teacher Corps, which was based on his intern program in and is essentially used to differentiate between prospective teachers who will become successful teachers and those who will not be successful teachers (Baskins, Ross Ross , Sir Ronald 1857-1932. British physician. He won a 1902 Nobel Prize for proving that malaria is transmitted to humans by the bite of the mosquito. , and Smith, 1996). The idea of a demonstration teaching lesson is also perceived as gaining in importance as part of the hiring decision process. The teacher is asked to prepare a lesson and teach it to a group of students. Sometimes this lesson is videotaped. Of 22 teachers, only four reported this occurring, and an additional teacher had been observed during student teaching (Hoffman, 1995). In the field of education, the reference letter has been and continues to be a valued resource in the teacher recruitment process. Often given more importance and attention than other information in the professional file (Mortalini, 1974), a candidate's letters of reference are considered by many school district recruiters to be the essential information link between the potential employer and those who are most familiar with the candidate's training and qualifications for the position (Nash, 1986; Natter & Kuder The name Kuder could refer to:
Methodology In order to determine the characteristics that are most important in prompting North Carolina's major educational consumers to hire teachers, an opinionnaire was developed. In March of 1996, one hundred of these opinionnaires were mailed to a stratified stratified /strat·i·fied/ (strat´i-fid) formed or arranged in layers. strat·i·fied adj. Arranged in the form of layers or strata. random sample of elementary school elementary school: see school. principals, middle school principals, senior high principals, and superintendents of schools in North Carolina. The opinionnaire consisted of twelve factors to be ranked according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. their priorities, by the school administrators who were concerned with hiring teachers for their first teaching position. These are commonly accuring factors in public school systems and in higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. . A scale of 1-12 was used. The twelve factors were: ( ) A. Accumulative LEGACY, ACCUMULATIVE. An accumulative legacy is a second bequest given by the same testator to the same legatee, whether it be of the same kind of thing, as money, or whether it be of different things, as, one hundred dollars, in one legacy, and a thousand dollars in another, or whether grade point average ( ) B. Grade point average in major area ( ) C. Personal appearance (neat, clean, exhibits good taste in dress) ( ) D. Effective use of oral and written English 1. English - (Obsolete) The source code for a program, which may be in any language, as opposed to the linkable or executable binary produced from it by a compiler. The idea behind the term is that to a real hacker, a program written in his favourite programming language is ( ) E. Evaluation of student teaching performance by public school supervisor ( ) F. Evaluation of student teaching performance by college supervisor ( ) G. Evaluation by college instructors in major subject area ( ) H. Evaluation by college instructors in professional education courses ( ) I. Race (with respect to keeping specific racial balance) ( ) J. Environment in which the applicant Applicant is a sketch written by Harold Pinter. It was originally written in 1959 and was first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1964. Plot Applying for a job, a young man named Mr. was reared (rural, urban, low income, middle class, etc.) ( ) K. Scores on the National Teachers Examination ( ) L. Other factors which you feel should be included. Results Out of 100 opinionnaires, 72 were returned (72%). A second mailing was sent. Out of the second mailing, 25 out of 50 were returned for a total of 97 out of 150. Analysis of the 97 returned opinionnaires indicates that evaluation of student teaching performance by public school supervisor was ranked number one. Effective use of oral and written English was ranked second. Personal appearance was ranked third and grade point average in major area was ranked fourth. Scores on the National Teachers Examination was ranked fifth and evaluation by college instructors in major subject areas was ranked sixth. Evaluation by college instructors in professional education courses was ranked seventh and evaluation of student teaching performance by college supervisor was ranked eighth. Accumulative grade point average was ranked as number nine and environment in which the applicant was reared ranked tenth. Race (with respect to keeping specific racial balance) was ranked eleventh In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. Since there are only seven degrees in a diatonic scale the eleventh degree is the same as the subdominant and the interval and other factors they felt should be included was ranked as number twelve. Summary It appears that many states have conducted research to gather information to benefit first year teachers and administrators. Many different models are being used although they receive some of the same results. Based on my opinionnaire, the top five factors are: 1. Evaluation of student teaching performance 2. Effective use of oral and written English 3. Personal Appearance 4. Grade point average in major area 5. Scores on the National Teachers Examination The top five factors sent in by administrators were: A. Answers to interview questions B. Enthusiasm for teaching C. Respect for children D. Style of classroom management E. Creative and energetic The time has come for educators to take responsibility for their product. In order to keep students abreast of the latest information regarding hiring practices, I recommend conducting regular seminars. Students need to know the factors with which they will be judged. These seminars need to be held at various points over the four year tenure of the student, not as an "exit criteria" after student teaching. Table 1 Ranking of Twelve Factors to be Considered in Hiring a Teacher for their First Teaching Position by Elementary School Principals, Junior High School Principals, Senior High School Principals and School Superintendents Noun 1. school superintendent - the superintendent of a school system overseer, superintendent - a person who directs and manages an organization in the State of North Carolina (Spring, 1996)
FACTORS: RANK:
A. Accumulative grade point average 9
B. Grade point average in major area 4
C. Personal appearance (neat, clean
exhibits good taste in dress) 3
D. Effective use of oral and written English 2
E. Evaluation of student teaching
performance by public school supervisor 1
F. Evaluation of student teaching
performance by college supervisor 8
G. Evaluation by college instructors
in major subject areas 6
H. Evaluation by college instructors
in professional education courses 7
I. Race (with respect to racial balance) 11
J. Environment in which the applicant
was reared (rural, urban, low income,
middle class, etc.) 10
K. Scores on the National Teachers
Examination 5
L. Please add other factors which you
feel should be included 12
Table 2 Other Factors which Educators felt were Important in Hiring a Teacher for their First Teaching Position (not ranked): A. Answers to Interview Questions B. Enthusiasm for Teaching C. Respect for children D. Style of Classroom Management E. Creative and Energetic F. Mastery of Subject Matter G. Dependable H. Desire to engage students in developmentally appropriate activities I. Attitude and People Skills J. Ability to add to the School's Program K. Teaching Style/Team Player L. Criminal Record M. Coaching Areas N. Experiences with children other than student teaching O. Emotional security and happiness P. Responses to situational problems Q. Understanding of Child Development Curriculum References Baskins, M., Ross, S. and Smith, D. (1989). Selecting Successful Teachers: The Predictive Validity In psychometrics, predictive validity is the extent to which a scale predicts scores on some criterion measure. For example, the validity of a cognitive test for job performance is the correlation between test scores and, for example, supervisor performance ratings. of the Urban Teacher Selection Interview. The Teacher Educator, 32(1). Braun, J. A., Green, K., Williams, A., & Brown, M. (1990). Getting a job: Perceptions of successful applicants for teaching positions. Action in Teacher Education, 12(2), 44-54. Hoffman, A. R. (1995). Landing the job: A survey of New Teachers. Education, V116 (2), 279-286. Mortaloni, R. (1974). School administrators evaluate the letter of reference and selects recruitment practices. U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare, National Institute of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED099965). Nash, G. L. (1986). A study of the criteria used in hiring teachers of the hearing impaired. American American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of Annuals of the Deaf, 131(3), 205-209. Natter, L. F., & Kuder, J. N. (1983). The hiring of teachers--what principals prefer. Small School Forum, 4(3), 12-14. O'Hair, M. (1989). Teacher employment interview: A neglected reality. Action in Teacher Education, 11(1), 53-57. Place, A. W. & Drake, T. L. (1994). The Priorities of Elementary and Secondary Principals for the Criteria Used in the Teacher Selection Process. Journal of School Leadership, 4(1), 87-93. Marlene Cain-Caston, Department of Elementary Education elementary education or primary education Traditionally, the first stage of formal education, beginning at age 5–7 and ending at age 11–13. , Fayetteville State University History In 1867, seven black men - Matthew N. Leary, Andrew J. Chesnutt, Robert Simmons, George Grainger, Thomas Lomax, Nelson Carter, and David A. Bryant - paid $136 for two lots on Gillespie Street and converted themselves into a self-perpetuating Board of Trustees to . Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Marlene Cain-Caston, Department of Elementary Ecuation, Fayetteville State University, 1200 Murchison Murchison is the name of:
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