Criteria Administrators

Considered When Hiring First Year

Agricultural Education Teachers

Criteria Administrators

Considered When Hiring First Year

Agricultural Education Teachers

Jeremy Cantrell Union City High SchoolUnion City Oklahoma

LiteratureLiterature

• The quality of teachers has a direct impact on students’ achievements (Holmes, 2001)

• By better understanding hiring practices and alternative certification, this should allow finding the best route to teacher certification.

LiteratureLiterature

• Boulton (1979) found selected interviewees for teaching positions were chosen by:• Cooperating teacher recommendations• College supervisor recommendations• Subject area expertise

• Seiferth (1979) found the personal impression job candidates leave on potential employers seemed to be the most influential.

LiteratureLiterature

• Mortaloni (1984) found that administrators liked letters of recommendation from: • Cooperating teacher• College supervisor• Building principal at cooperating centerand• Candidate’s grade in student teaching

LiteratureLiterature

• Vornberg & Liles (1983) • often the administrator hires the

applicant who seems to reflect his or her own attitudes

LiteratureLiterature

• Coady (1990) • the problem is not the candidate’s

value system, but the value system of the interviewer

• we infer the characteristics of a candidate on the basis of incomplete information based on similar candidates from previous situations

LiteratureLiterature

• Braun (1990) found that teacher candidates were often selected based upon:• Inexperienced & unskilled interviewers• The basis of one interview• Interviewers with administrators who may

not be familiar with classroom realities• Personal judgment rather than objective

criteria

LiteratureLiterature

• Stronge (2002) • alternative certification will attract

talented individuals with subject matter competency that can improve quality of education because of their knowledge and the depth of the material being taught.

LiteratureLiterature

• . . . to improve quality of education, (we must) ensure that professional knowledge and subject matter competency are grounded in solid pedagogy.

Darling-Hammond (1990)

Purpose of the StudyPurpose of the Study

• Describe factors that public school administrators in Oklahoma consider when hiring first year Agricultural Education Teachers.

ObjectivesObjectives

• Describe the importance administrators place on the teaching candidate’s:• Academic Achievement• Agricultural Experience• Teaching Practice• Interview Skill• References• Certification

ProceduresProcedures

• Population – All Oklahoma school administrators who hired a first-year agricultural education instructors for the 2002-03 academic year

• Of the 24 ag ed teachers, five were alternatively certified

• Ag Ed regional program specialist was contacted to identify the school administrator responsible for hiring

Research DesignResearch Design

• Data was collected by telephone interviews to increase response rate

• Descriptive statistics were used for the Likert-type questions (mean, STD)

• Open-ended questions were coded and frequencies were analyzed

• Questionnaire was pilot tested and was reviewed by a panel of experts

ScaleScale

Level of Importance Score

Not Important 1.00 – 1.50

Not very Important 1.51 – 2.50

Somewhat Important 2.51 – 3.50

Important 3.51 – 4.50

Very Important 4.51 – 5.00

Academic AchievementAcademic Achievement

Assessment Score Level

Ag Knowledge (OSAT) 3.96 Imp

Teaching Knowledge (OPTE) 3.63 Imp

College GPA 3.58 Imp

Other Standardized tests 3.00 S. Imp

General Education Knowledge (OGET)

2.92 S. Imp

Experience In AgricultureExperience In Agriculture

• Most importance on:• Well-rounded in agriculture content• Supervision of student projects• FFA activities and programs

• Less importance on:• Experience in production agriculture

Ag Ed AreasAg Ed Areas

Assessment Score Level

Supervision of SAEs 4.67 V. Imp

FFA Activities 4.50 Imp

Personal Experience Showing Livestock

3.87 Imp

Personal Experience in Production Agriculture

3.46 S. Imp

General Teaching PracticeGeneral Teaching Practice

Assessment Score Level

Classroom Mgmt Skills 4.96 V. Imp

Community Relations 4.92 V. Imp

Educate a diverse group 4.63 V. Imp

Work with other faculty 4.58 V. Imp

Work w/ special needs students 4.38 Imp

Integrate technology 4.25 Imp

Integrate other subjects 4.13 Imp

InterviewsInterviews

Interview Item Mean Response

Oral Communications Skills 5.00

Enthusiasm 4.58

Personal Appearance 4.21

Distance between hometown/job 1.50

Marital Status 1.02

Ranked ReferencesRanked References

Reference Mean Rank

#1 Cooperating Teacher 1.83

#2 Regional Ag Ed Program Specialist 2.25

#3 Reference from Administrator 3.29

#4 Teacher Education Faculty 3.33

#5 Reference Supplied by Candidate 4.29

Alternatively Certified Teachers Alternatively Certified Teachers

• 20 said they would not hire alternatively certified teachers

• 4 said they would, and did • Secondary responses

• 15 wanted teachers who have been trained to teach

• 13 wanted candidates with classroom experience

Alternatively Certified TeachersAlternatively Certified Teachers

• 14 believe it may be ok in academic areas such as math or science

• 4 were completely opposed• 14 believed it was not for first-year

Agricultural Education Teachers• 3 believed it was acceptable

ConclusionsConclusions

• Administrators were most interested in the candidates’:• Knowledge of agriculture• Ability to run a well-rounded program in

terms of agricultural content• Ability to manage the classroom, and

develop rapport with community and other teachers.

Conclusions Cont..Conclusions Cont..

• Administrators sought candidate’s:• Who can present their knowledge of

agriculture in an enthusiastic manner.• Who were highly recommended by his or

her cooperating teacher.• Who were fully certified, having previous

classroom instruction and classes in pedagogy.

The EndThe End

•Go Pokes!

Jim Leising watching the game