K-12 Talent Manager
Battelle for Kids Human Capital Director Emily Douglas explored effective human capital strategies for recruiting, selecting, developing, and recognizing educators and non-instructional staff in schools to ensure the best learning experience for students. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: recruitment & hiring and retention.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
How Should Employers Use Social Media in Recruiting?
In a previous post, "Staffing, What It Is and Isn't," I discussed the process of finding the right people and bringing them into an organization. An important part of this process is recruitment. (Note that recruitment is different from selection. Recruitment is finding and attracting talent, while selection is just that - picking who you want to hire.)
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Workplace Violence - Do You Have A Plan?
February 17, 2012. 5:30PM.
Long Beach, California.
Long Beach, California.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Using Social Media in Candidate Selection
There are many differing views on using social networking platforms in staffing. In my last blog I explored the different parts of the staffing process, from sourcing and recruitment to selection and hiring. Specifically, in this blog we will look at how social media is used (or not used) in selection. As a refresher, selection involves using multiple measures to pick high-quality candidates. These measures could include structured interviews, writing samples, essay questions, résumé review, previous performance, case studies, portfolio grading, knowledge testing, or screening tools like PrincipalInsight, HUMANeX Ventures, and Haberman Star Administrator. While many confuse selection and recruitment, they are actually different activities.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Staffing: What It Is and Isn't!
The words recruiting, sourcing, selection, hiring, screening, posting, and staffing are often used interchangeably, but they all have different meanings and represent different parts of the larger staffing process. Even I say staffing at times when I really mean hiring. So what do these terms mean, how are they different, and where do they belong in the process? Here is a breakdown.
Professional Development
Opinion
Human Resources Certifications - Does This Make Sense for Talent Managers in Education?
Last October, I presented at the American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) conference in Reno, Nevada. After my session concluded, several participants approached me with questions, one of which caught me by surprise.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Flipped Classroom: Flipped Talent Management Practices
Naima Khandaker, Battelle for Kids Human Capital Specialist, contributed to this post. Naima is a former teacher and current education policy nerd who believes that one day soon, education will be great for all kids.
Education Funding
Opinion
The State of Teacher Evaluation: Part 2
Yesterday, I shared some interesting facts from the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ) October 2011 report, "State of the States: Trends and Early Lessons on Teacher Evaluation and Effectiveness Policies" about the evolution of state educator evaluation systems over the past few years. In particular, we learned that between 2009 and 2011, 33 states changed their teacher evaluation policies.
Education Funding
Opinion
The State of Teacher Evaluation: Part 1
Evaluation is by far the hottest topic in education at the moment. Every (and I mean every) conversation I have about schools with a person outside of the education community eventually circles around to how best to gauge the performance of teachers and principals. Likewise, every district talent manager or other education leader I run into wants to discuss the state educator evaluations.
Teaching Profession
Opinion
What is TIF & Why Should Your District Care?
Over the past three years, I've had the pleasure of working, in one way or another, with more than 42 school districts that have received a federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant. TIF grants are designed to support state level departments of education, districts, charter schools, or non-profit organizations (in partnership with a state, district, or charter) with the design, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of evaluation and strategic compensation systems that identify and reward teachers or principals for developing specific skills, knowledge or abilities; holding leadership roles; exceptional performance; or for working in hard-to-staff subjects or in high-need schools.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
What Makes a Great Talent Manager?
Last week, Ron Ashkenas wrote a piece on Harvard Business Review called, "Stop Bashing HR," in which he discusses why HR is important and how it can add value to an organization. He begins this article with several quotes from HBR readers who expressed a less than favorable view of HR in response to another blog from Brian Hults of Rubbermaid, "Why HR Really Does Add Value." Here is a sample:
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Talent Manager Suggested Reading
I spend a great deal of time reading, researching, and exploring new ways to integrate HR practices in schools. I have found that while there are numerous books written by human resource and talent management professionals, there are very few that focus specifically on HR in education. One of these books is "Strategic Management of Human Capital in Education: Improving Instructional Practice and Student Learning in Schools" by Dr. Allan Odden. I would encourage any K-12 talent manager to check it out.
School & District Management
Opinion
What My 7th Grade Science Teacher Taught Me About Talent Management
I had a fantastic middle school science teacher, Mrs. McLean, who retired last year after nearly 30 years in the classroom. (Such a shame for the district, but well deserved!) She was not afraid to go outside the box and get messy to enhance the learning experience for her students. She blew things up during class experiments and dropped objects off the school roof to make her lessons more engaging. She took us on field trips and supported her students in extracurricular activities. She also gave students compliments in class and pulled them aside to offer encouragement if she thought they could do better.
Professional Development
Opinion
Teacher Evaluations & MET Project Findings
Today, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released, "Gathering Feedback for Teaching: Combining High-Quality Observations with Student Survey and Achievement Gains," which summarizes the most recent findings from the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project. MET, funded by Gates Foundation, is a partnership of more than 3,000 public school teachers and independent research partners working to investigate "better ways to identify and develop effective teaching" to help improve educator evaluation, feedback, and professional development.
Education Funding
Opinion
Understanding Educator Compensation Systems
One area of talent management that piques my interest (and an issue that I spend a great amount of time working on with districts across the country) is compensation. On December 31, 2011, the New York Times published an article, "In Washington, Large Rewards in Teacher Pay." It highlights the work of one of Washington, D.C.'s finest educators, Tiffany Johnson, but also compares "merit pay systems" in four districts across the country: District of Columbia Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and the Houston Independent School District.