RenewSteller Jan. 31, 2007 meeting
Staff and Student Body Development Discussion
Group
Facilitator: Barbara Wohlforth; Recorder: Cindy Lankford
This group had two staff members, about 15 parents, and no students. Most of the participants stayed in the group throughout.
HIRING
Prospective staff members have an interview, are expected to read the philosophy. They are rated as first, second, third choices by the committee. They are shown the teacher expectations. It was commented that the expectations as written don’t really give a clear idea of what a new teacher at Steller would be getting into/expected to do, and how it differs from other schools.
It was agreed that the pool of teachers who have applied for a transfer to Steller and are interested in interviewing, is too small. Often the process of the interview means that good candidates are “scooped up” by other schools before Steller can make a decision.
Ideas for creating a
larger pool of teachers to interview:
*Contact interested teachers in Spring/Early Summer.
*More word of mouth from teachers and parents to people they know
*Create a connection to UAA and APU so that their students can visit, and their student teachers placed elsewhere can do an “exchange” to do part of their service at Steller.
*Open House for prospective hires with staff, students and parents to explain.
*Explore ways to get teachers to put Steller on their transfer requests in time.
*Send someone to the out of state job fairs to represent Steller/open optional programs.
*Provide an open optional philosophy/methods class at the ASD academy in the summer.
*Create opportunities for training that may get teachers interested in core ideas of Steller (ie, Seminar training, best practices, essential school).
*Network with other optional schools in the state to create a website that can be used in recruitment.
Ideas for the hiring
process:
*Do interviews with interested teachers sooner than other schools.
*Have a core group of interviewing committee members (including representatives of the different subjects) that can be called upon quickly and know to reserve that time in their schedules.
*Find ways to get around ASD rules against recruiting teachers – getting the jump on other schools. Create an understanding that Steller has different needs and takes longer to process staffing needs.
*Look for ways to find staff that can serve many roles (ie History/Language/computer skills) to create more opportunities for independent study and SDL coaches.
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
The group didn’t have enough information about what
resources are
available (money/time) for teacher training.
There is concern that not enough of the core methods are being
used by
teachers (such as seminar, self assessment, student
driven inquiry) because of staff turn over and lack of training and
support.
Questions that need
to be explored:
-Are all of the funds available being used?
-Is the mentoring of new staff members by old staff members working?
-Are there resources for the Principal to explore and become more knowledgeable through contact with other open optional administration?
-Is there appropriate mentoring, oversight, and resources available from ASD upper management (assuming that there are principal supervisors that know about optional education)?
-What opportunities are there for outside (lower 49) training and networking?
-What opportunities are there for within district training and networking (ie the relationship between gifted and Steller to get more seminar training)?
-Are there resources in the parent/alumni/past staff pool that can be used?
STUDENT
RECRUITMENT
Pool of applicants to the lottery are
dwindling
in past few years. We should be exploring
the possible reasons for this, and look for ways to counter the decline.
-reputation for various things (gifted/druggie/weird/hippie)
-lack of information about the program going out to schools/community
-competition with other optional programs
-reputation of it being hard to win a place in the lottery
-difficult application process
The group was adamant that the recruitment should be “open, fair, and democratic.”
The bulk of the group was opposed to creating feeder school relationships, or preferences for certain groups of students.
Ideas for recruiting
more applicants to the lottery:
*Look for ways to recruit from a wider and more diverse population (ie title one schools, lower income schools)
*Try to reach/educate individual teachers so that they are telling students and parents about the lottery in time. Administrators may not pass on information to teachers.
*Spend money on advertising in public venues (ala PNA)
*Use parents for more outreach in the community, use their contacts and communications avenues.
*Use more student outreach to other schools in the spring (especially ways that can combine students creating entertaining and fun presentations, could students get credit for writing and performing skits and routines that illustrate Steller’s philosophy).
*Provide more options/make it easier for students to get credit for recruitment, orientation and mentoring efforts.
*Create an intensive to do outreach.
*Go to PTA meetings for presentations.
*Tag onto ASD mailings that are already going to target audience (ie 6th grade test scores).
*Make the most of the ASD alternative school fair.
ADMISSIONS
The question of how students are interviewed was discussed. There is concern that the process isn’t updated, well thought out, given enough effort (too last minute), and that it isn’t applied evenly for all of the applicants. The group was not clear on how much lee way there was to discourage applicants or require parent involvement.
The following
questions were brought up:
-Are the interviewing committees well trained and fair?
-Are the prospective students given a clear picture of what Steller is about?
-Are we requiring buy-in to the philosophy (along with information about what it means) or is it just a formality for parents/students to sign that they agree?
-Is there a conflict between saying that Steller is based on freedom and requiring them to “buy in” before they are admitted?
-Is ASD giving us enough lee way to make good choices about taking/rejecting students that will prosper in the school?
-Is the admissions
packet giving
the right kind of “hoops” that will make the parents/students consider
if the
school is right for them?