Easing Dismissals and Non-Renewals - school administration and employee management

School Administrator, Oct, 2000 by Suzanne R. Painter

Principals need support, personally and professionally, from the central office if expected to take on poor performers

Superintendents who are struggling with a shortage of qualified teachers to fill vacancies in some fields and geographic areas may not want to hear the bad news. Looming below the surface may be a much more intractable and long-lasting problem: the tenuring of increased numbers of unqualified teachers.

During an earlier teacher shortage, a lack of close supervision led to many poor teachers obtaining tenure, weighing down the system for years or forcing school districts into seemingly endless, expensive and unpleasant dismissal proceedings, according to Edwin Bridges, author of the widely read 1992 book, The Incompetent Teacher.

To avoid such a result from the current teacher shortage, school leaders must become more involved in the supervision of newly hired staff. Whether principals and central-office administrators will do this depends not only on their skills, but also on their attitudes and beliefs about evaluation in their schools and districts.

A principal who believes little support is provided by the central office for remediation or dismissal of teachers is unlikely to expend much effort in addressing poor performers. This is true whether or not reality matches the principal's beliefs. Consequently, top district staff need to know what principals themselves say about barriers to removing poor teachers.

Asking Principals

My recent research indicates that principals identify several problems with evaluating low-performing teachers in their school districts. The barriers they identify are largely interconnected: lack of time to work with the teacher, unduly burdensome evaluation procedures, lack of support from the central office or school board, the psychological discomfort of confronting a teacher and the inevitable disruption of the social fabric of the building when the teacher begins to seek support.

In school communities with collective bargaining agreements, principals point to both the contract and the unpleasant confrontations with union representatives as obstacles.

Asking principals directly about their perceptions is the first step to breaking down barriers. Realize, however, that perceived barriers may surprise those in central-office positions (or even provoke denial) because from a more "objective" viewpoint they do not seem like barriers. The goal is not to convince principals that their interpretations are wrong, but to understand the world as they view it.

Then, consider a two-pronged approach: Remove or reduce those barriers that can be changed and assist principals to develop the skills and abilities to overcome the rest.

Altering Attitudes

How can central-office administrators uncover a principal's defeatist attitudes and seek to change them? Above all, remember that you cannot change another person's beliefs by rational argument. Individuals construct their own learning.

Here are six suggestions for working toward more productive attitudes.

* Communicate your values.

Michael Fullan, an expert on school change and reform based at the University of Toronto, points out that leaders must "express and extend" what they value in order to effect change. Principals who are uncertain about school district leaders' positions on confronting poor performance are unlikely to take the risk on their own. They have much to lose and little to gain if their efforts are not supported at higher levels.

Superintendents and their deputies who want principals to hold high standards for teachers must let it be known in word and deed where they stand. When principals look at leaders' words and actions for clues, they must be able to assure themselves that central-office administrators will support their efforts to reform or remove poor teachers. When a principal takes on a difficult case, his or her peers are watching to see how the central office handles the case--and the principal.

This observational learning informs other principals about the sincerity of the spoken values, about what is expected and how much support will be forthcoming. It goes without saying that the attitudes of school board members are critically important, too. Principals look to predict the support they can expect for tough evaluation cases.

* Protect principals' time.

A principal who was trying to explain the extensive time required to evaluate professional staff effectively put it this way: "Principals have so many responsibilities that they can't put them all aside to concentrate on documenting inadequacy."

This is one of the most often-cited barriers to effective evaluation. It takes time to observe teaching and gather other data, analyze and diagnose problems and communicate feedback (particularly when the teacher is not receptive to the message). It is easy for principals to postpone these unpleasant tasks. There is always some other work to be done--some of it as a direct result of district office demands for reports or meetings.