Hiring a new employee for a school, whether that be a teacher or para educator is something that needs to be done carefully, with time, and with a whole team. “Hiring a new teacher is a process and should not be rushed. There are important steps that should be taken when looking for a new teacher.” (Meador, 2020) The reason for this is because teachers can really make or break a school, they are the ones that set the students for success, for growth, and to be ready to enter what is the real world. Every time that an elementary school has t hire, the hiring process is different because every person being interviewed is different. This is why it requires a whole team to hire somebody, because in the end the school and its benefits are the most important thing.
In the case of Antelope Elementary School, the required teachers that are going to be hired not only need to be able to fit different leadership roles, but be more familiar with STEM as well. Since the school takes the biggest pride in STEM, the teachers need to be familiar with the education of STEM in order to make sure that the school continues to be successful. In order for this to happen, to hire someone who is going to continue to help the school, there are some qualities that the teachers must have in order to be considered for the job, those are:
1. Having past experience teaching STEM
2. Being able to work in a positive with other teachers, students and the community.
3. Being able to read and incorporate different data in STEM and its success.
As the positions that are in need to be filled as a multi grade, multi skill position, there needs to be different people in the interview panel. Those included should be the human resource director, the principal of the school, one teacher per grade that is going to get a new teacher, any director with straight ties to science and stem. However, the people may change based on the interview need, for example, if the teacher that is going to be interviewed if for a third grade teacher, there is no need for a fifth grade teacher to be in the interview panel. In the interview panel there should only be people who are going to directly what that teacher. However, no matter what each position is important, and they should not be filled based on any level of importance, each grade level that is going to have a new teacher needs to be taken as serious as the previous, since in the end, the whole school is going to benefit from the teachers that are being hired. “Teachers serving on a search committee automatically move into a leadership role. They become evaluators of teacher performance and professional dispositions. … They work collaboratively to reach consensus in selecting a highly qualified candidate. … It's empowering to be a member of this decision-making group.” (Clement, 2013)
Once the interview team is set, the next thing is to create a set of questions, and in this case, the more that the teachers can get the candidate to talk about STEM and their knowledge of it, the more that they are going to be able to identify the teacher to hire. For this, some of the questions that should be asked are:
1. What is your philosophy of teaching?
2. How do you differentiate students and how do you make sure they are all still successful?
3. How do you incorporate the different subjects in your classroom, including technology and STEM?
4. How will you meet the needs of each student, as they all have different learning targets, goals and levels? (The Hiring Process: Questions! Questions!, 2020)
With these questions, the interview panel can start to get a better idea of the teacher, however, included needs to be behavior questions. It is important to include questions on behaviors because a well-managed classroom is important for success. Students have a harder time learning in a chaotic classroom than one that is more controlled, and in order to have that the teacher needs to have good management skills.
After the interview process, the interview panel needs to consider some legal steps that must be taken first. For example, background checks on all candidates that are being considered for the job. Next, making sure that all references are called and asked detailed questions on the teacher that is being hired, and finally, let the teacher that was being interviewed know the result of the interview. These steps are important because they are going to tell you more about the past of the teacher. For example, why they left their previous school, do they come with good references from their former districts, do their answers to your questions match their history at the previous school. If they do not, if there is not a passing background check, then the next step would be to look again at the teachers that interviewed and find the right one from that group.
Through all of the interviews, background checks, and discussion with the panel, one thing needs to be clear is that the person being hired can follow the schools mission and vision. Typically, a schools mission and vision are tied with the Christian values to help students and teachers grow and be successful. If the candidates being interviewed are able to show that they can follow that, teach that, and help the school, then they are going to also follow the Christian values without knowing it.
Clement, M. C. (2013). Teachers Hiring Teachers. Retrieved from Educational Leadership: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct13/vol71/num02/Teachers-Hiring-Teachers.aspx
Meador, D. (2020). 10 Strategies for Hiring a Teacher . Retrieved from ThoughCo: https://www.thoughtco.com/strategies-for-hiring-a-teacher-3194565#:~:text=10%20Strategies%20for%20Hiring%20a%20Teacher%201%20Understand,Rank%20the%20Candidates%20and%20Make%20an%20Offer.%20
The Hiring Process: Questions! Questions! (2020). Retrieved from Education World: https://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald033.shtml