Competency 10: Personnel

Related Task:
10.8 Knowledge of principles of recruiting and selecting teaching personnel.
Specific Task:
10.8.4 Review placement files of at least ten candidates for a teaching position. Make
recommendations for candidate selection and justify.
Narrative Description:
With the over-abundant number of applicants for a single position at the public school
level, the selection of quality candidates can prove to be an overwhelming endeavor. Consortium
sites are a common medium for application submissions, and I will consult and review potential
applicants with administrators to identify qualified candidates for a position. Throughout this
process, I will interview building administrators to discuss the guidelines for selecting candidates
for the interview process and view the Genesee County Consortium from an administrative
perspective to better understand how candidates are sorted based on application information. If
positions are not available and interviews are not being conducted, I will review applications for
either former applicants or current applicants to assist in the interview selection process. If
interviews are conducted, assist during the interview process to narrow candidates to position
selection.
Description and Analysis of Administrative Task
Annual teacher turnover in education is an ongoing issue administrators must address
through the interviewing and selection of qualified candidates. At the conclusion of the 20132014 school year, three teachers were laid off as a result of district-wide budget cuts and a
fluctuation in student enrollment that restricted available positions at Clio High School.
At the conclusion of February 2015, an English teacher submitted his letter of resignation
following the acceptance of another position in the private sector. As Clio High School is

currently on trimesters, administrators received the letter of resignation with approximately three
weeks remaining in the second trimester. The overwhelming issue relative to the situation was
the urgency in which a replacement teacher had to be found to replace an experienced instructor
with a demanding course load. Head principal, Mike Lytle, decided to bypass the traditional
process of seeking teachers through the Genesee County consortium and contacted reputable
surrounding school districts to field recommendations for teachers with long-term experience in
English.
A replacement was found and became quickly acclimated to the position; however,
without much indication, the newly hired substitute teacher quit after two days. At this point, it
was necessary to field applicants from the Genesee Intermediate School District Consortium and
conduct interviews to select a qualified replacement. Three candidates out of 11 applicants were
invited to interview for the vacancy and two candidates accepted the opportunity to interview
one of the candidates had already accepted another position elsewhere. The interview committee
consisted of head principal, Mike Lytle, English department chair, Brooke Polcik, and me.
Profile of Candidate #1Becky
The first candidate earned an undergraduate degree in English from Michigan State
University in 2006 and immediately enrolled in a graduate studies program at University of
Michigan Flint in English education after being unable to find a job following her student
teaching. The extent of her teaching experience was limited to student teaching at a school in the
area and one long-term position at Grand Blanc High School.
This candidate demonstrated enthusiasm for the position and recognized that it may be
limited to the conclusion of the school year, despite the chance that it could become a permanent
position. She focused heavily on content-area appreciation and demonstrated her philosophy of

classroom management through student rapport and staff relationships. Becky demonstrated
thoroughly developed lessons through utilization of her portfolio during the interview and
referenced her capability to construct units connected to CCSS as well as district curriculum.
When she was asked about her experience with the course material that would be relevant to the
curriculum she would be teaching, she, once again, demonstrated enthusiasm for the content
although she had never taught any of it prior to the interview.
Profile of Candidate #2Sarah
The second candidate is a Winter 2014 graduate from Central Michigan University with a
Bachelors Degree in English education and a minor in social studies. The recent graduates
classroom experience was a semester of student teaching at a high school local to Mt. Pleasant,
Michigan.
Sarah was thoroughly versed in prescriptive teaching philosophy and was clearly a
recent student of an excellent education program. However, it was evident very early on that her
answers were well versed from experiences studying pedagogical texts instead of personal
philosophies developed as a result of classroom experience. Her portfolio contained artifacts
limited to formal lesson plans written for observation experiences during her student teaching.
Each lesson plan was correctly aligned to CCSS curriculum benchmarks, but her answers seemed
a bit scripted and less genuine. Sarahs experiences were not relevant to the curriculum that
she would potentially be teaching, and this was a pretty significant shortcoming, as a seamless
transition to the position was necessary because of the urgency of hire.
Primary Issues
The primary issue with this cycle of interviews for the selection of personnel was the
number of qualified candidates acceptable to be granted an interview for the posted position.

Eleven candidates submitted applications for the position, which is typical of a late-in-the-year
long-term substitute position. However, despite the number of applicants, only three possessed
the qualifications necessary to potentially fill the role. This did not provide much differentiation
in candidates experiences and time was sensitive for this position. A qualified, subjectexperienced, teacher needed to be hired as soon as possible because students in the positions
classes were falling significantly behind as a result of having a general substitute filling in for the
class.
Reflections
Being involved in this hiring experience was very unique because the teacher hired for
this position would be replacing my former teaching partner and working closely with me
throughout the remainder of the year. Not only was I involved in the interview process from the
administrative perspective, I was also involved from a subject-area position as well. In essence, I
was conducting the interview from several different angles and had the support from my head
principal as well as the English department chair. Luckily, the difference between the two
candidates was fairly obvious during the interview process, and we needed someone with
experience in the classroom as well as experience in the subject-area. The first candidate had
long-term experience in a demanding school district as well as a Masters Degree in English.
Although this may not be representative of a typical interview cycle, it was necessary to
thoroughly evaluate each candidate with the support of two others interviewers. Fortunately, I
have also had other experiences serving on two different interview committees in two different
years. However, it was an excellent opportunity leading the interview process and making a
recommendation for hire.

Note:
Upon hire, Becky provided permission to use her consortium application as well as her
resume as an artifact for this project. She requested that her personal information be secured.