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 This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: recruitment & hiring and retention.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
Why Are You Still In Your Job?
According to a recent American Psychological Association (APA) Workforce Retention Survey of more than 1,200 Americans with full-time and part-time jobs, "despite uncertainty in the job market, the top reasons working Americans say they stay with their current employers are work-life fit and enjoying what they do." Specifically:
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Making Decisions: Gut Feel or Workforce Analytics?
A few weeks back, a tweet from @BigThink caught my eye. In 140 characters, they summed up how organizations are utilizing big data to create a stronger workforce. The post linked to a video of Haig Nalbantian, a Senior Partner at Mercer and well-known authority on Human Capital Measurement and Management, discussing the use of workforce analytics.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Changing Cultures: Adapting Business Principles to Meet Educator Needs
Culture is one of those things that all organizations say is important, but it is easily ignored or forgotten in the daily grind of running a business, non-profit, or school district.Building an environment where employees feel valued and engaged, however, is critical to an organization's success. This could translate to greater productivity and profit for a growing company or more effective teachers and improved student performance in the classroom.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Is Your HR Department on the Leading- or Bleeding-edge?
I received an email earlier this week that immediately caught my eye. The tag line said, "Why it's time for HR to quit being so wimpy." I am always interested in new, innovate, and strategic ways to approach HR, so I had to check it out.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
PDK/Gallup Poll Offers Glimpse into Americans Views of Public Education
Seventy-one percent of Americans have "trust and confidence" in our country's public school teachers, 48 percent would give the public schools in their community an A or B, and three of four people in the country believe the Common Core State Standards will provide more consistency in the quality of education between school districts and states. These are just a few of the findings from the 44th Annual Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, which was released today.
School & District Management
Opinion
Leading and Lagging: Balancing Education Measures
I recently met with superintendents, treasurers, principals, and teacher leaders from across Ohio to discuss the use of measures, process improvement, and performance management in education. The group is working to create a list of metrics for scorecards around human resources, finance, IT, operations, transportation, custodial/maintenance, food services, and stakeholder engagement. The conversation touched on a number of topics, including the use of leading and lagging indicators--what they are and how these measures can be used to support educational improvement.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Recognize A Great Teacher
We have all had a great teacher who made a difference in our lives--a math teacher who stayed after school to help us learn Algebra, a coach who not only inspired us to compete on the field, but showed us how to be a leader off of it, or a principal who taught us how to believe in ourselves and dream big. A single teacher can touch the lives of 3,000 students over the course of a career, according to data provided by the USC Rossier School of Education, which I referenced in a previous post.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
WANTED: 'Irreplaceables'
On July 30, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) released a report called "The Irreplaceables," which looks at teachers who are "so successful they are nearly impossible to replace, but who too often vanish from schools as the result of neglect and inattention." The full report is available on TNTP's website. Information below is quoted directly and the sources of the quotes noted.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Use of Credit Checks Scrutinized in Employee Selection
A hot topic of debate (yes, debate) at my office, and within Human Resources departments across the country, is what tools and practices should and shouldn't be used in the selection process. For example, is GPA a good or bad indicator of someone's future potential?
Teaching Profession
Opinion
Understanding FMLA and Its Impact on Education Policy
If you took a poll of professionals in America, most would probably say they have heard of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, but a much smaller number could actually tell you what it does and how it impacts them. In fact, I have worked with numerous people during my career who had never heard of the program.
School Climate & Safety
Opinion
Follow the Yellow Brick Road: Building a Strategic Plan for Your District
This is a guest post by Teresa Daulong, Battelle for Kids' Strategic Measures Specialist. Teresa works daily with large urban school districts across the country to help every employee understand their impact on student success. With 16 years of experience working with organizations to improve performance, she believes that creating systems of shared accountability is the key to success both at home and in schools everywhere.
Recruitment & Retention
Opinion
Capturing Tacit Knowledge of Teachers Is Critical
It's inevitable—people leave organizations. So when it comes down to it, organizations have two options: complain or transfer knowledge.
Job Hunting Tips & Advice
Opinion
HR Skills Are In Demand
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently reported that there is a shortage of HR professionals. The news doesn't surprise me as more organizations and industries start to realize the importance of a highly skilled, strategic HR function. Many districts, for example, are hiring HR professionals for the first time. Why? It could be the result of a greater emphasis put on human capital development through Race to the Top, the Teacher Incentive Fund, and other federal and state programs in recent years. Others might argue that changes in teacher evaluation policy in many states have created a demand for qualified human resources professionals in schools. Whatever the reason, it's about time.
Student Well-Being & Movement
Opinion
Harassment is Not a LOL Matter
This article originally appeared in the May/June/July 2012 American Association of School Personnel Administrators Best Practices Magazine, "Legal Issues Within HR: Keeping Yourself Up To Date". Reprinted with permission.