What is the importance of induction, orientation, and mentoring?

 

1. What is the importance of induction?

       According to Rebore (2015), induction is the process designed to acquaint newly employed individuals with the community, the school district, and their colleagues. The primary goals of an induction program are to help new or newly assigned employees adjust to the social and job related aspects of the work environment, to reduce the anxiety associated with beginning a new job, and to help the new employee feel positive about having accepted the position. Teachers have learned about life in schools through their college preparation programs. However, some non-certificated personnel have never worked in school and the allocation of funds has lagged behind (Learning module, 2021). Therefore, it is crucial to provide classified employees with more effective induction, orientation, and mentoring. In addition, handbooks, site induction, job training and ongoing training are very helpful to all the employees, certificated and classified. 

       A few weeks ago, a teacher asked a question in our Southern California Chinese Teachers Association social media “I began to teach in a school in LASD, I was told that I am going to be in their induction program. As a veteran teacher with over ten years teaching experience in another state, do I have to be in their induction program?”  When I saw her question I was reading Chapter 5 Placement and Induction of Rebore (2015). I am glad I was able to explain to her that the induction is not only for the newly hired teachers, but also for the reassigned teachers like her. As Rebore (2015) mentions reassigned employees need to be acquainted with their new school, program and colleagues. He also provides

some universal objectives of the induction which are “Make the employee feel welcome and secure. Help employees become a member of the team. Inspire the employee toward excellence in performance. Provider information about the community, school system, school building, faculty, and students.” … This teacher appreciated my explanation and expressed that she began to feel much released after realizing it is not a new teacher evaluation process. I am very happy I was able to help her with the knowledge I learned from this class. 

2. What is the importance of orientation?

     According to  Employee Orientation Bill (AB 119), “New employee orientation” means the onboarding process of a newly hired public employee in which employees are advised of their employment status, rights, benefits, duties and responsibilities, and any other employment related matters. It does not matter which medium the orientation takes place in, whether it is in person, online, or through other mediums. Orienting a new employee to a particular school begins with an introduction to the other staff members. A tour of the facility and an explanation of administrative procedures, as well as an orientation to the instructional program, are also important aspects of this induction (Rebore, 2015). In my school, in the first staff meeting of each new school year, the principal introduces the new certificated and classified employees to the staff and we welcome them to join us. As a future administrator, I would like to offer a tour of the facility and an explanation of administrative procedures and instructional programs and other effective orientation activities to the induction. 

3. What is the importance of mentoring?

       Rebore (2015) states the importance of the mentor program. Rebore (2015) argues the experienced teacher can act as a role model and, through coaching, can help the beginning teacher develop his or her competencies, self-esteem, and sense of professionalism. I wish I had a mentor teacher when I began to teach in my school. I received the teaching position as an intern instead of a student teaching status. I was happy that I got paid as an intern, however soon I realized how much more helpful it would be if I had a mentor who could demonstrate how to teach, conduct classroom management, assessment, and communication with parents/guardians. I also needed the mentor teacher to observe my teaching and provide me with instructional feedback to help me find my teaching strengths and areas that need to improve. I truly understand the significance of the meteor to the new teacher and I hope all certificated and classified employees would have the opportunity to have a mentor or be a mentor to others to offer high quality work to students with equity.

      

How is your induction, orientation, and mentoring experience? What support do you need?

      Mentoring Illustration, by Kuba, https://openclipart.org/detail/333210/mentoring-illustration

Resources:

2021. Learning modules. CUI class materials.

Legislature Passes Employee Orientation Bill (AB 119) – What Do Public Employers Need to Know? California Public Agency Labor and Employment Blog.

https://www.calpublicagencylaboremploymentblog.com/labor-relations/legislature-passes-employee-orientation-bill-ab-119-what-do-public-employers-need-to-know/

Rebore, R. 2015. Human Resources Administration in Education. Pearson.

How does the school district recruitment procedures support the success of all students and the school/district's mission?

       Hiring the best candidates is to provide schools with the most qualified, prepared, educated employees with the best understanding of the content. The hiring procedure identifies the candidates whose values align with the school and district mission, through interview questions and contacting references. The human resources department recruits and retains the most qualified  employees with the determination and drive to create a positive and effective 21st century learning environment for students. Teacher recruitment directly impacts student success. Nurturing, inspiring, and supporting student learning ultimately comes down to having skilled and dedicated educators leading classrooms. But recruiting teachers during a nationwide shortage isn’t easy. And meeting the demand for teachers gets more difficult each year (2020). 

       The mission of my school district, the model urban school district, is to ensure that each student achieves their highest academic and personal aspirations while contributing to a diverse, global society through an evolving system. My school district recruitment procedure of classified and certificated employees provides the opportunity to find the qualified candidates who can provide safe and clean environments, high quality education, inspire and motivate students, from diverse backgrounds. My school district is committed to the goal of fair and equitable employment practices in the effort to hire the most qualified educational support staff assisting in the education of my school district students.

Resources:

2020, Improving the Teacher Recruitment Process, Powerschool

https://www.powerschool.com/resources/blog/improving-the-teacher-recruitment-process/

The personnel commission rules and regulations for the classified service of school district

How does the school district encourages cultural diversity in recruitment and select the best candidates?

 How does the school district encourages diversity in the recruitment process and utilizes culturally-sensitive procedures?

        My school district's human resources department director introduced that the district respects an individual's cultural background and does not arrange the interview on someone’s cultural event date. The school district plays the role of the equal opportunity employer. The job position is open to everyone with different backgrounds, values, language, race. The candidates are selected through the process of paper screening. The hiring committee balances the pool of candidates from diverse backgrounds to benefit students to have a comprehensive educational system. 

       The statement is stated on the job post: It is the policy of the Board of Education that students and employees in the school district shall not be subjected to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on the person’s actual or perceived race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin or nationality, religion, age, parental status, family status, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, veteran status, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex or sexual orientation, ancestry, political affiliation, or any other basis protected by federal law, ordinance or regulation, in its educational program(s), recruitment process, application acceptance, testing, selection, and hiring process and employment.  For any equal right or opportunity concerns or complaints, employees please contact the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. The HR departmental goal is to build a foundation of employee excellence through performance standards, staff development and a diverse and dedicated work force which supports the mission and goals of the district. As a Merit district, the school district hires and promotes employees based on ability, with open competition in initial employment, provides for equitable compensation, retains employees based on performance, assures fair treatment of all applicants and employees in all aspects of personnel administration without regard to political affiliation, race, color, national origin, gender or religious creed, and with proper regard for their privacy and constitutional rights as citizens, and protects employees against political coercion..

How does the recruitment and selection procedures will assist the district in hiring the best possible candidates?

       In 2009, President Obama launched the “Race to the Top” initiative. He stated “I am issuing a challenge to our nation’s governors and school boards, principals and teachers, businesses and nonprofits, parents and students: if you set and enforce rigorous and challenging standards and assessments; if you put outstanding teachers at the front of the classroom; if your turn around failing schools- your state can win a Race to the Top grant that will not only help students outcompete workers around the world, but let them fulfill their God-given potential.”  He emphasized the importance of providing students with high quality education. It is crucial for the school district to find, attract, select, and keep the excellent teachers. The recruitment and selection procedures assist the district in checking and verifying the candidates’ qualification, such as  credentials and references, background check, and TB test. The HR administrator prepares and presents the data of the rank ordering by scores obtained using the selection criteria of the interviewees. The scores provide the reference and base for the superintendent to select the best candidates who are most qualified (Rebore, 2015). 

       The school district hires the best possible classified candidates by the procedure of examination and ranking. The candidates who earn the highest score are hired. The best certificated candidates are selected through paper screening and call references. 

       In my opinion, the teacher candidate’s demo lesson is very helpful and important for the interview committee to assess the candidate’s teaching ability in the subject matter and grade level. The demo lesson in the classroom with students can demonstrate the candidate's mastery of the subject standards, classroom management,  and methods to help students to learn with equity. It also provides the candidates to get the feel of teaching in the classroom at this school. 

Resources:

2020, Improving the Teacher Recruitment Process, Powerschool

https://www.powerschool.com/resources/blog/improving-the-teacher-recruitment-process/

2021, Evaluation of Certificated Employees, Learning Module, 2021, CUI Class material 

Education Code - EDC - California Legislative Information,

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=EDC&division=3.&title=2.&part=25.&chapter=5.&article=1

Rebore, R. W. (2015). Human Resources Administration in education. Pearson. 

The personnel commission rules and regulations for the classified service of the school district

Yeh, John R. (2021). Deciphering the Education Code, Translating the law into sound personnel practices for certificated and classified employees. Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP

Compare the recruiting procedures of certificated and classified employees

 What are the recruiting procedures of certificated employees?

       According to Yeh (2021), classified employee position is the one “not requiring certification requirements” (Ed. Code 45103 a). It includes classified management, noon aides, confidential employees, excludes substitute and short-term employees: defined as less than 75% of the school year in Ed.Code 45103 b1. Also excludes temporary apprentices/ experts and students (Ed.Code 45103 b2). Certificated employee position refers to any position “requiring certification qualifications” (Ed. Code 44830). It includes: teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, psychologists, librarians, and CDC staff (Ed. Cod 8366).

       In 2002, Congress amended ESEA and reauthorized it as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act. This law imposed Federal minimal requirements for teachers to become “highly qualified” in order to address the continuing dismal performance of students in public schools. Teachers were immediately required to demonstrate proficiency in their subject matter area in new and rigorous ways (Learning Module, CUI, 2021).        

       Nowadays most of school districts post the hiring procedure of classified and certificated employees requiring all applications shall be submitted online​, www.edjoin.org, completed as directed, and filed on or before the filing deadline as specified.

       In the school district, when it is necessary to fill existing or anticipated vacancies in the classified service and an appropriate eligibility list does not exist , the Personnel Commission shall direct that an examination be held to provide an appropriate list of eligibility. At least fifteen working days in advance of the date of the first part of the examination, public notice of such examination shall be given. Competitive examinations for positions in the classified service are open to all applicants who meet the minimum qualification requirements. I interviewed the director of the Human Resources and he told me that in the school district the examination for the classified applicants is the written test. Following completion of a selection process, the names of participants are arranged on a list in the order of the examination score. The eligibility list becomes effective for a period of one year upon approval by the Human Resources Director.      

       The document of California Legislative Information states that the governing board of a school district shall employ for positions requiring certification qualifications, only persons who possess the qualifications for those positions prescribed by law (Ed.Code 44830 a). The hiring procedures of certificated employees requires the applicants to submit the proof of the credential required for the position, transcript, application to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing or your transcripts. Human Resources posts the position for a certain number of days. Candidates apply for the position with resume, letters of recommendation, credential, transcript and other documents listed in the job listing.  HR will have a paper screening to  determine the applicants’ qualification, then select the candidates for the interview on the phone, online or in person.  The interview team evaluates the interviews and informs them of the result of the interview. 

What are the differences and similarities of the recruitment of certificated and classified employees?

       According to Yeh (2021), classified employee position is the one “not requiring certification requirements” (Ed. Code 45103 a). It includes classified management, noon aides, confidential employees, excludes substitute and short-term employees: defined as less than 75% of the school year in Ed.Code 45103 b1. Also excludes temporary apprentices/ experts and students (Ed.Code 45103 b2). Certificated employee position refers to any position “requiring certification qualifications” (Ed. Code 44830). It includes: teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, psychologists, librarians, and CDC staff (Ed. Cod 8366).

       There are some similarities between the procedures of recruiting the classified and certificated candidates. The candidates all need to submit the application with the required documents such as background check, TB test, Covid verification, and references, receive the notification of interview, and attend the interview. Typically, the principal recommends the candidate, the superintendent determines the successful candidates. Fiscal usually helps with budget and ensures the district can afford or sustain the position and where it is being funded from. Unofficial documents/transcripts will be accepted for initial consideration. If a job offer is extended and accepted, official documents /transcripts will be required. HR files the position for a certain number of days and a screening is done by HR and selected candidates are called for interviews. The differences between these two groups are also depending on the position, whether it is internal or external application, whether it is management or not. Unlike classified applicants, the certificated applicants are required to hold the credential required for the position. 

       In addition, classified and certificated employees belong to different unions. For example, my school district currently has two unions representing and serving the needs and interests of classified employees: California School Employees Association (CSEA) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). These unions gain rights and benefits for the classified employees. The Teachers Association, the Teacher’s Union, is the exclusive representative of the non-management certificated employees, such as teachers and other educational support staff. It helps its members to reach a fair contract settlement with the District.

Resources:

2020. Improving the Teacher Recruitment Process. Powerschool

https://www.powerschool.com/resources/blog/improving-the-teacher-recruitment-process/

2021. Evaluation of Certificated Employees, Learning Module, 2021, CUI Class material 

Education Code - EDC - California Legislative Information.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=EDC&division=3.&title=2.&part=25.&chapter=5.&article=1

Rebore, R. W. (2015). Human Resources Administration in education. Pearson. 

The personnel commission rules and regulations for the classified service of the school district

Yeh, John R. (2021). Deciphering the Education Code, Translating the law into sound personnel

practices for certificated and classified employees. Burke, Williams & Sorensen, LLP

What is Gallup Q12? What are the most important elements in establishing a healthy school culture?

        Do you know what is expected of you at work? Do you have the materials you need to teach? What makes you feel your work is important? Who is your best friend at school?... Reflecting on these questions helps us establish the sense of belonging and engagement at work.

It is a great opportunity to learn the Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey which provides effective questions to measure employee engagement. As a future administrator, I will frequently review it as the framework to understand what teachers need most to perform at their best and handle the issues that matter the most to performance outcomes.  The link of the Q12 Employee Engagement Survey is https://www.gallup.com/access/323333/q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx

      These Q12 are all essential in establishing a healthy school culture. I found “Q07 At work, my opinions seem to count” is particularly important. As Dr. Harter (2020) states in the video, of the Q12 Employee Engagement Survey, that opinion counting is one of the most difficult elements to get right. As its foundation, it is about listening. Conversation is simple but not easy. It takes practice to hold a highly effective and interactive two-way conversation throughout the coaching. One of the core conversational skills is listening. I am a listener, but I need to learn how to listen to truly understand the factual information and the value behind it. Teachers are the educators who are close to students and have better understanding of students’ background and needs. It is impossible for an administrator to know everything teachers know. Therefore, it is crucial to invite and encourage teachers to have their voices and opinions heard to be part of the process of making decisions to provide students a better learning environment and school culture with equity. The link of Harter's video of "How Listening to Employees' Opinions Can Grow Engagement" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DAX9tMn5Xw

       In my opinion, another most important key element to establish a healthy school culture is “Q08: The mission purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.” As Harter (2020) advocates in the video (see the following) during tough times when people can see how their work connects to something bigger, they might become more resilient. Most teachers, including myself, are busy with our own teaching tasks without connecting to a bigger purpose, such as the school or school district’s mission. As a future administrator, I will think deeply for a meaningful school mission to foster the staff connecting their work to the school mission. I will also keep in mind what  Harter (2020) reminds the administrators to make the mission simple enough for everyone to remember. Harter (2020) and Q12 Employee Engagement Survey all mention that many leaders think that putting the organization's mission statement on a wall is enough for employees to feel this connection. It is not. Leaders must ensure that the organization's mission and purpose are clear and aligned with the employee experience. The link of Harter's video of "How to Connect Your Employee's Role to the Company's Mission" is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Cx49nr5v8&t=4s

In addition, Rebore (2015) points out Generation Y teachers and principals are seriously and intensely involved in communicating by electronic means such as cell phones, text messaging, email, and Websites. In order to provide teachers with various ways of sharing their experience of how to connect their work with the school mission, I can have this endeavor conducted during the staff meeting, workshop, email, Google-form and other possible electronic means. Helping teachers connect their work to the school mission can help create, promote, and maintain a healthy school culture in which teachers can see clearly the importance of their work and enjoy their personal achievement in a larger vision. 

What are the most important components, in your opinions, in establishing a healthy school culture? And why?

Resources:

Harter, J. 2020. How Listening to Employees' Opinions Can Grow Engagement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DAX9tMn5Xw

Harter, J. 2020. How to Connect Your Employee's Role to the Company Mission.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Cx49nr5v8&t=4s

Q12 Employee Engagement Survey 

https://www.gallup.com/access/323333/q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx

Rebore, R. 2015. Human Resources Administration in Education, Pearson

What makes us feel good about our work? What makes life worthwhile?

       Please read this blog on computer to open the attached videos.

       What makes us feel good about our work?- Dan Ariely's speech at TED              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aH2Ppjpcho&t=1090s

What makes us feel good about our work?

       Behavioral economist Dan Ariely questions the forces that influence human behavior. What motivates us to work? He presents eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. The example of IKEA furniture he mentioned in the video reminded me of my experience of assembling IKEA furniture. I did not enjoy those complicated pieces and the time consuming process, but when I completed it, I began to like the furniture I built. This made me reflect on my teaching and students’ learning. I teach Mandarin Chinese at a public high school located in a Latino community. The Chinese language is beautiful but can be challenging to learners. The learning process requires great effort. Teacher’s guidance, direction, encouragement, and explanation can motivate students to achieve the learning goals. The teacher also can show students the learning tools such as Chinese character websites to help students learn the subject efficiently, just like using the correct tools can help us assemble the furniture quickly. Ariely also used the cake mixes as an example to show how easy things demotivate people. All people needed to do is to put its ingredients into a bowl and mix with water, put into the oven, then the cake is done. They did not like the cake even though it tasted good. It was because they did not see enough effort being involved. So the company took out the ingredients of egg and milk from this product and people had to break the egg and measure the milk and mix with this product. Since more effort was made into baking the cake, the guests began to enjoy the cake. This makes me reflect that I should adjust and balance the difficulty level of my teaching for students, not too challenging nor too easy. In order to do this, I need to check students’ comprehension and conduct assessment more frequently and meet their needs with equity. 👍  

       

       Measuring what makes life worthwhile. -- Chip Conley's speech at TED

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UROCz70tlMY

What makes life worthwhile?

      The Airbnb Head of Global Hospitality and hotel entrepreneur, Chip Conley, goes in search of a business model based on happiness, when the dotcom bubble bursts. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count. His speech makes me think about what really counts. I was shocked when he compared and contrasted what GDP counts and does not count. It counts the economy, air pollution, ambulances to clear highways of carriage, napalm…, but does not count the health of our children, quality of their education, joy of their play, beauty of our poetry, strength of our marriages…. This impacts me powerfully. We should learn to build a positive mindset of counting the ones that can not be counted by numbers such as physical and mental health, joy, peace, and love. Students need our endless unconditional care, patience, and dedication. It is our mission to provide our best to them because they count on us! 👍

The following slide he shared in his speech inspired me tremendously and I hope you could find the inspiration as well! 👍

How to coach the teacher to collect, analyze, and utilize the student work?

        When we mentioned student work in the past, most people would think of the ones presented on the paper. However, Generation Y teachers (Rebore 2015) make a broad use of the technology in teaching. Therefore nowadays, especially during and after the pandemic, teachers began to collect student work electronically as well, for example, the assignments submitted to Google Classroom. Student work can be from the formative assessment like classwork, homework, or quiz, and summative assessment such as the midterm exam or a project. 

      The mentor can guide the mentee to do a “class evaluation census” by using the Student Work Analysis Protocol (Protocol by RIDE). They can jointly review the learning goals, the standards, and the rubric to reach an agreement about proficiency. Then the mentor may coach the mentee to diagnose student strengths and needs by doing a “quick sort” of student work: objectives met, partially met, not met, not sure. The mentee teacher writes down or types the student names in the columns in order to monitor progress (2012). It also allows the teacher to calculate the percentage of the class who met the objectives (high), partially met the objectives (expected), and did not meet objectives (low), see the following chart:

       I found it is important and helpful to form a habit of writing notes on the student work. The following examples are the notes I took on the student work collected from the 10th English class I observed. 

Student work from the gifted student This student demonstrated high proficiency of the vocabulary words by answering all the questions in each activity correctly.  This student paid close attention to the capitalization, punctuation, and the directions of the questions.  The teacher may provide this student with additional practice with more challenges.

Student’s work from the English learner This student answered most questions correctly. This student skipped the last 2 questions in the activity 1: In-Context Predictions . Teacher’s explanation is needed.  This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 2: Fill-in-blank sentences. However, she answered on the blanks and left the column marked “My answer” blank. Teacher’s explanation about where to write the answer is needed.  This student showed confusion of the vocabulary “civil” and “idealism” in the activity 3: Fill-in-the-Blank Scenarios.    This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 4: Matching.  This student answered all the 9 questions in the activity 5: Application of Vocabulary. The questions in this activity are open-ended without the standard answer key.  This student was able to express himself/herself.  This student needs to work on the capitalization and the plural form.  Scroll down to see the notes on the pages of the student work.

Student’s work from the student with special learning needs This student answered most questions correctly. This student answered 7 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 1: In-Context Predictions . Teacher’s explanation is needed to explain about the vocabulary “futile” and “hierarchy”.  This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 2: Fill-in-blank sentences. This student answered 3 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 3: Fill-in-the-Blank Scenarios. Detailed explanation and various strategies are needed from the teacher to this student.     This student answered 3 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 4: Matching.  This students showed understanding of the vocabulary “civil” and “contrite” because she answered the questions about these two words correctly in the activity 1, 2, 3, and 4.  This student answered all the 9 questions in the activity 5: Application of Vocabulary. The questions in this activity are open-ended without the standard answer key. This student answered these questions very briefly without following the directions to use the underlined vocabulary word in the answer.  This student was able to express himself/herself.  Teacher’s explanation of the definition of the vocabulary words and the directions of answering questions are needed. Differentiate strategies are needed to provide to this student for him/her to improve with equity.  Scroll down to see the notes on the pages of the student work.

   

After diagnosing what the student knows and still needs to learn (Protocol by RIDE), the mentor can discuss with the mentee together the learning needs for the students in each level: high, expected, and low. The reflective questions may include:

1. What went well in your teaching? What did not go well? Why?

2. What is the trend of the class of this work?

3. What are the teaching strategies you plan to use to benefit the whole class?

4. How would you like to help English learners and students with special learning needs?

      After discussing the above questions, the mentee should be encouraged to fill in the chart with the strategies for the gifted students, average students, English learners, and the students with special learning needs.   

      It is also a great interactive and engaging method to include the excellent student work in the teacher’s slide to demonstrate the work sample, explain the expectations, and connect the subject matter with the students’ real-life contexts. 

      The ultimate goal is increased student learning. The key for student learning is the teacher. Providing support and coaching to the new teachers and veteran teachers with timely instructional feedback can promote the quality of teaching and learning. 

Resources: 

Center for Collaborative Education (2012), Quality Performance Assessment: A Guide for Schools and Districts, Boston, MA. 

Rebore (20215), Human Resources Administration in Education, Pearson. 

Student Work Analysis Protocol, Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE).

https://www.ride.ri.gov/portals/0/uploads/documents/teachers-and-administrators-excellent-educators/educator-evaluation/online-modules/student_work_analysis_protocol.pdf