District Administration - April 2007 - (Page 64)

HUMAN RESOURCES CALLING THE PROFESSIONALS When local boards of education are faced with an administrative vacancy, they have choices. Professional search ﬁrms have the resources and the time to ﬁnd quality administrators who ﬁt the district’s needs as speciﬁed by board members, according to search ﬁrm experts. “There are probably less qualiﬁed candidates in the pool than there once was,” says Gary Ray, president of Ray and Associates, a national search ﬁrm in Iowa. “People are leaving and retiring and not as many folks are replacing them. “Growing your own is not a bad concept,” he continues. “However, sometimes you need new and fresh ideas. If you always grow in-house, you are not getting [as many] mixed experiences.” Many ﬁrms tend to help districts ﬁnd administrators, and they help administrators ﬁnd other jobs. On average, it takes about four months from the time a school board appoints a search ﬁrm to the time a new superintendent signs a contract, according to Hank Bangser, CEO of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, a national search ﬁrm in Illinois. Various Web sites might post jobs, including the site of the American Association of School Administrators and state school board associations. Both Ray’s and Bangser’s ﬁrms each have about 100 associates, or consultants, many of whom tend to be retired superintendents or educators, who ﬁnd good matches via networking and trade shows, among other avenues. Consultants at Bangser’s company ﬁnd prospects, interview about 10 to 15 of them, and then present them to the inquiring Board of Education. From there, interviews ensue and board members narrow the pool to two or three ﬁnalists. Then the board makes the ﬁnal decision. Ray and Associates will also help new administrators transition into their new jobs, sitting down with all the players and discussing everyone’s expectations in the days after a contract is signed, Ray says. “We have tried to address what we see as a declining pool of highly qualiﬁed applicants.” —Benny Gooden, superintendent of schools, Fort Smith Public Schools, Fort Smith, Ark. Resources Agent K-12 www.Agentk12.org Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates www.hyasupersearches.com iHireSchoolAdministrators www.ihireschooladministrators.com J.A. Roy Associates www.jaroyassoc@aol.com Leadership Associates www.leadershipassociates.org McPherson & Jacobson www.macnjake.com Ray and Associates www.rayandassociatesonline.com Waldron & Company www.waldronhr.com week internship with a Springﬁeld school principal and other shadowing opportunities with district administrators. Substitute teachers are called in during that time to take over the teachers’ classes. Graduates of the program receive a state administrative certiﬁcation. Out of the 40 teachers who enrolled, 12 are in administrative jobs, 20 are still completing their coursework and the remaining eight found leadership roles, including content area coaches, who are experts in a speciﬁc subject area. Although the grant monies dry up this year, Hendee says the program can continue with some changes. Teachers will need to pay the tuition, and the internships with a principal 64 April 2007 will be eliminated because they are too costly given the need for substitute teachers. While this approach may not be the ultimate panacea, she believes it’s a strong ﬁrst step. “We have a real necessity of growing our own if we’re going to have a pool of future administrators that we believe have the leadership capacity that we need in our schools,” Hendee says. Administrators who have walked up the ladder in the system offer a skill set that isn’t readily apparent in candidates from outside the district. Some skills include possessing a much deeper understanding of how to use the district’s data or leading teachers through any school improvement process. “We believe,” Hendee says, “that we have a stronger cadre and pool of administrators to draw from who are specialized in the needs of Springﬁeld.” DA Carol Patton is a freelance writer based in Las Vegas. District Administration http://www.Agentk12.org http://www.hyasupersearches.com http://www.ihireschooladministrators.com http://www.leadershipassociates.org http://www.macnjake.com http://www.rayandassociatesonline.com http://www.waldronhr.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2007

Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
“See You in Court!"
Lost in Translation
Bonding Agents
Certifying AP Courses
Hunting for Talent - Part 2
Buying Power
The Musty Bookshelf
New Products
Leadership
Speaking Out
The Online Edge
Problem/Solution
Calendar of Events
Overheard On The Pulse

District Administration - April 2007