Topic 1- Clinical Field Experience A- Recruiting and Interviewing

One of our many responsibilities as an administrator will be the task of recruiting and
interviewing potential candidates for open staffing positions at our sites. There are many
factors to consider, recognize, and comprehend, such as who is or should be involved in the
hiring process as well as the legalities that must be foreseen and or upheld. Ultimately the goal
is enlisting strong matches and hiring the top candidates. This must be done and should be
aligned with the desired and proscribed student, staff, and campus goals & outcomes of safety
and achievement.

For this assignment I allocated 2 hours minimum in the field to support this clinical field
experience (CFE) part A. I was also allowed to participate/take part in the hiring committee
and was allowed to review candidate applications as well as both observe and ask questions
during the hiring interview. I, of course, asked the permission of my principal mentor at my
site, and found it quite an interesting and fulfilling task that I will be sure to implement in/at
my own site. I also took the time to interview my principal mentor and our AP/instructional
leader at our school regarding the recruiting and hiring process that we currently employ at my
school district.

Questions will vary, depending on who you are interviewing; however, suggested questions
include:
 What recruiting methods are used by the district and school to find teacher
applicants? Non-teacher applicants? New methodology and online resources
currently being utilized by our district as a recruiting tool is using online platforms such
as indeed who screen and vet potential staffing candidates for both certified and
classified positions.

 Who sits on your interview committees? Do you use the same interview team for
all positions? Why or why not? The people that sit on the interview committee are
myself the principal sometimes our assistant principal depending on the level of the
hiring candidate a district member will come either from the board the assistant
Superintendent or Superintendent or even the HR department will sit in along with
grade level team member and one of the specialists either a elective teacher asked
teacher and MTS or the school counselor. The grade level team member as well as the
specialists are the only ones that rotate depending on the position being interviewed for.
(Dr. Finchum, 2024)
 Are there positions you would try to fill prior to others? Why or why not?
Positions that I will try to fill prior to others would be hard to fill positions such as ELL
itinerant, hard to fill positions such as steam or stem, then I would work my way up
from early childhood, towards upper elementary, and then to middle school, as we are a
K-8 school. (A. Cannon, 2024)
 What criteria do you use in making hiring decisions? The criteria that I would use in
making the hiring decisions is inviting candidates that fit the description of the job, then
screening their applications as well as their resumes to see if the qualifications are met,
followed by an initial telephone prescreening interview to see if they'd be a good fit for
 an in-person interview, then possibly a second interview (panel and mini-lesson) and or
offering the position at that time. (Dr. Finchum & A. Cannon, 2024)
 What are examples of interview questions you use? Do you include any
performance and behavior focused questions? Why or why not? Some of the
interview questions that I utilize are both from a performance-based list as well as from
a behavior focused list, when screening for/a potential candidate. They are: why did
you go into teaching? Can you describe yourself and your teaching philosophy? what
are some of your classroom management tools or resources? how well do you know the
content/area of expertise? can you prepare a Lesson plan for us? How do you deal with
conflict? and these are just some to name a few. (Dr. Finchum & A. Cannon, 2024)
 What legalities do you consider when going through the hiring process? I ask: are
there any problems with the license such as currently pending an investigation, or any
phone calls to CPS? may we contact your previous employer? May we have and contact
at least three personal references and three professional references? (A. Cannon, 2024)

At the conclusion of the CFE, I used a bit of my remaining CFE hours for the week to assist
my principal mentor and sought opportunities to observe and assist her in a community liaison
capacity as well as in community building for our school climate and culture. All of the
experiences were both beneficial to my professional and personal growth as a future
administrator. The PSEL/ELCC Standards that applied to this weeks topic 1 of staffing and
hiring were PSEL 6 and 9. PSEL Standard 6: professional capacity of school personnel states
that “…Effective educational leaders develop the professional capacity and practice of school
personnel to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.” (PSEL.
http://npbea.org/) PSEL Standard 9: operations and management states that “…Effective
educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic
success and well-being.” (PSEL. http://npbea.org/)

References:
Desvarines, Jean, Jaime Aquino & Benjamín Fenton. Breakthrough Principals: a step-by-step
guide to building stronger schools (First). (2016). Jossey-Bass a Wiley Brand.
National Policy Board for Educational Administration. 2015. "Professional Standards for
Educational Leaders," PSEL. http://npbea.org/ and
https://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-
Leaders_2015.pdf

Cannon, A. AP Mary Belle McCorkle. In-person/Telephonic Interview. February, 2024)

Dr. Finchum, T. Principal J. Robert Hendricks. In-person Interview. March, 2024.