Human Resource Management

Through my studies and professional work I have human resource management competence by:

1. demonstrating knowledge of effective personnel recruitment, selection, and retention;
2. demonstrating an understanding of staff development to improve the performance of all staff members;
3. demonstrating the ability to select and apply appropriate models for supervision and evaluation;
4. describing and demonstrating the ability to apply the legal requirements for personnel selection, development, retention, and dismissal;
5. demonstrating an understanding of management responsibilities to act in accordance with federal and state constitutional provisions, statutory and case law, regulatory applications toward education, local rules, procedures, and directives governing human resource management;
6. demonstrating an understanding of labor relations and collective bargaining; and
7. demonstrating an understanding of the administration of employee contracts, benefits, and financial accounts;

Reflection:

Through both the program and my professional experiences, one of the most important things a principal can do is be present in the school. Whether it is during passing time, before school, after school, and especially in the rooms during class, being present reinforces a sense of trust, can bridge a gap between administration and teachers, and open up channels of communication and support. It is much easier to have a difficult conversation with someone if you already have a professional line of communication where both parties are continually open to constructive feedback.

I had really great experiences being present in another teacher's classroom to see the different practices they have and to focus on the engagement and effectiveness of those methods with the students. I was able to identify when students were highly engaged in the activity and when students were disengaged, and knowing about instructional strategies, I could connect the engagement levels to what the teachers were doing at the time.

I also fortunate enough to be able to be on the committee to hire a new science teacher for our school. Being on the opposite side of the interviewing table was a great experience to be able to see the process on hiring qualified candidates. Both the interview process and the discussion afterwards gave me good insight into the values that we hold high as a school and the expectations we want to see in the future teachers we hire.

Finally, one of the major roles as an administrator is retaining employees, which I was involved with a concerted effort this year since we as a school usually experience a high turnover rate. We were successful this year in our retention efforts as there was only one position open. The more retention you have, the less you need to focus efforts at the end of the year or even during the summer on recruitment and selection, which can be a difficult process if there are many qualified candidates or no qualified candidates at all. I learned much more about the importance of a quality induction and mentoring program to make teachers and staff feel welcome to begin and then supported throughout the year.