Comprehensive Review Personnel Management

Compton Unified School District Personnel Management Comprehensive Review August 2002 Administrative Agent Larry E. Reider Office of Kern County Superintendent of Schools Chief Executive Officer Thomas E. Henry 3.10 Certificated Recruitment and Selection Legal Standard The district limits the number of certificated persons on CBEST waiver. [EC 44252.5] Consent Decree Stipulations Section 20 of the Consent Decree in the action Serna v Eastin, Case no. BC 174282, includes the following stipulations: the district is to identify teachers without clear credentials, produce a public report, monitor teachers who have not passed CBEST, release teachers who have not passed CBEST after two years or who have not obtained a preliminary credential after three years, provide an incentive program to teachers to obtain an appropriate credential. Progress on Recommendations and Recovery Steps 1. The district continues to limit the number of teachers on CBEST waivers as the current reduction in waivers demonstrates. In 1998-99 there were 252 teachers on CBEST waivers. This has been reduced to 72 in the 2001-02 school year. The percent of total teaching staff with credentials increased during the first half of the 2001-2002 school year to 40% and was reported at 45% in June 2002. 2. The number of teachers in the Pre-Intern and Intern programs has expanded with the collaborative assistance of CSU-Dominguez Hills. In the 2001-2002 school year, 170 teachers participated in the Pre-Intern Program, and 47 teachers were in the Intern Program. All new, non-credentialed teachers are required to participate in the district’s intern program as a condition of employment or show documentation that they are participating in another intern program working towards a credential. 3. A clear distinction has been made on the certificated employee salary schedule for teachers with a credential as opposed to teachers without credentials, providing a strong incentive for teachers to become credentialed as quickly as possible. 4. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing allows a maximum of three years for teachers to obtain a CBEST waiver. However, the Consent Decree stipulates that the district must release teachers who have not passed CBEST after two years. The district is complying with the Consent Decree. To minimize the disruption to student instruction, the parties to the Consent Decree have agreed that teachers may be re- leased at the end of the school year. Not only has the district released teachers who have not passed the CBEST, it has also released or reassigned administrators who have not passed the CBEST in their quest for an administrative credential. 5. The district has utilized TAP grant funds to provide incentives for recruiting and retaining credentialed teachers in the district. The funds provided for a $3500 signing bonus for teachers new to the district in the 2001-02 school year. Teachers who stayed with the district received a $750 bonus and an additional $750 for supplies if they were a classroom teacher. Personnel Management 1 6. The district continues to provide CBEST training several times each year for teachers who have not yet passed CBEST. Staff training is provided at no expense to the teachers, and provides support and coaching from experienced teachers. The district has developed a “Learning to Teach Continuum” which outlines the process and support provided for teachers working toward their credential. The continuum pro- vides for ten paraprofessionals to participate in the 2002-2003 school year in a teacher training program, up to 80 teachers to be supported through the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program and up to 20 teachers to be supported by the Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program. The district shared its schedule of training for 2000-01 and 2001-02. 7. The district continues to comply with the stipulations to identify teachers without clear credentials, to monitor teachers who have not passed the CBEST, and to release teachers who have not passed CBEST or obtained a preliminary credential after three years. The district reports to the superintendent and board on the numbers of teachers who have not passed CBEST, the number of years they have served with the district, and the number of teachers released for not meeting the CBEST requirement. A report dated January 18, 2002 indicated the number and percent of credentialed and non- credentialed teachers for each school site and the district. The HRED division compared the percent of credentialed teachers to the schools’ API base scores. However, there was no clear correlation that a higher percent of creden- tialed teachers at the site yielded a higher API base score. The district will continue to monitor the comparison of these two data streams. Standard Implemented: Fully Implemented - Sustained February 1999 Rating: 8 August 1999 Rating: Not Reviewed February 2000 Rating: Not Reviewed August 2000 Rating: 8 February 2001 Rating: 8 August 2001 Rating: 9 February 2002 Rating: 10 August 2002 Rating: 10 Implementation Scale: Not ➤ Fully 2 Personnel Management ➤ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.2 Use of Technology Professional Standard The Personnel Division provides an automated substitute calling system. The system should have the ability to input and retrieve data. Data should be distributed to site and program managers. Consent Decree Stipulations Sections 11 and 12 of the Consent Decree in the action Serna v Eastin, Case No. BC 174282, includes the following stipulations: the district is to ensure that certificated teachers are present in each classroom every day, maintain a list of certificated substitutes in sufficient numbers to meet absences, develop a plan to reduce employee absenteeism, and hold employees accountable for meeting attendance requirements. Progress on Recommendations and Recovery Steps 1. Site administrators rely on substitutes to replace absent teachers, and assign their non- instructional certificated staff to substitute when a regular substitute is not available to cover a teacher’s absence. A memo dated October 9, 2001 from the Associate Superin- tendent was sent to principals to remind them of the district’s policy of using certifi- cated staff to cover classes when substitutes are not available. First, certificated teachers are solicited to substitute during their preparation period(s). Department chairs, counselors, curriculum specialists, learning support coordinators, assistant principals and principals are to be used on a rotational basis when other teachers are not available. Teachers can be recalled from a locally held workshop or conference to return to school if no substitute is available. At the elementary level, HRED indicated that in emergencies, 20% of the students in a class may be assigned to each of five other certificated teachers for the day. 2. The district monitors on a daily basis, the number of absent teacher positions that are filled by substitutes and the number of positions that remain unfilled throughout the district that must be filled by other school-site certificated staff. The district continues to increase its substitute teacher pool. Month Absent Positions Filled Absent Positions Unfilled January 122.16 20.16 February 132.68 20.43 March 130.17 10.05 April 133.17 6.52 May 138.78 9.77 3. The district utilizes an automated substitute calling system. The system has operated well and has not broken down. The system utilizes four incoming lines and four outgoing lines. Principals must still remind teachers to use the system to report their absences. The district has developed a substitute teacher’s manual for substitute teachers as recommended. The sub manual includes directions for using the system. Monthly orientation training meetings are held with new substitute teachers. Personnel Management 3 4. The HRED staff reports that communications with the school sites has greatly im- proved. Substitutes are trained, have a better idea of their tasks and the district’s expectations. Absent teacher positions are usually adequately filled with a trained substitute. 5. The district attempts to limit the demand for substitutes on any given day, by limiting the number of substitutes that can be used to provide release time for teachers to participate in a staff development activity. The district assigns event numbers to staff development events and tries to limit no more than 40 teachers per day to attend staff development events. This requires that the district coordinate its staff development activities so as not to schedule too many activities on the same day. 6. The district has implemented a safety system that requires all district employees to wear identification badges. 7. The district is investigating the upgrade of SEMS, its substitute employee manage- ment system, to proactively provide data to site administrators, such as providing principals with daily substitute reports by email. Each school addresses staff atten- dance as part of their school improvement plan. The district regularly reports em- ployee absences and reasons for absences to school site managers to work with their staffs to reduce absenteeism. Standard Implemented: Fully Implemented – Substantial February 1999 Rating: 4 August 1999 Rating: Not Reviewed February 2000 Rating: 6 August 2000 Rating: 6 February 2001 Rating: 6 August 2001 Rating: 7 February 2002 Rating: 8 August 2002 Self Rating: 9 August 2002 New Rating: 9 Implementation Scale: Not ➤ Fully 4 Personnel Management ➤ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Personnel Management 5