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Volume 2 Number 2 www.ucea.org/cases |
Interviewing for the Principalship
Donald G. Hackman
Iowa State University
Abstract
Donna Rensick is a candidate for the Southside High School principalship. When she arrives for her interview, she learns more details concerning issues the school has been experiencing, including: racial strife prompted by changing demographics, sagging achievement scores, low teacher morale, a poorly maintained building, and a leadership void. At the conclusion of the interview, she is asked how she would improve the school's learning environment and whether she is capable of accepting this challenge.
Donna Rensick pulled her luxury sport-utility vehicle into the parking lot of Southside High School (SHS), shut off the engine, and quickly checked her appearance in the rearview mirror. As one of three candidates for the position of Southside principal, and the only female, she wanted to make the best possible impression with the interview committee.
Dr. Jason Harrison, Superintendent of Prairie Glen Community School District, had telephoned her last week to schedule the interview. During their conversation, Donna learned that Dr. Harrison was completing his first year as superintendent and was seeking an innovative change agent to fill the Southside vacancy. Dr. Harrison indicated he would provide more details during her interview with him, which would occur immediately after the session with the interview committee. This committee, selected by the superintendent, consisted of three Southside teachers, one parent, and the assistant superintendent.
Although she had no administrative experience, Donna believed she was well prepared to assume the challenges of a principalship. For the past nine years, she had taught speech and dramatics courses in the state's most prestigious private high school, and her students regularly were finalists in state speech competitions. She sometimes joked among her friends that she felt guilty cashing her paycheck, since only the most academically gifted were accepted into the school, and all her students were motivated to do their best work in order to attain admission into the nation's best universities. She had served for two years as chair of her school's site-based council, and she completed an internship experience with an individual who was widely regarded as the most effective high school principal in the local public school district. Now, with her Master's degree and principal certification newly in hand, the only obstacle in her way to a promising administrative career was landing "the job."
Driving to her interview that morning, Donna noted that this region of the state consisted mainly of family farms, small towns, and the occasional farm-related industry, all very different from the suburbs where she grew up and now resided. Southside High School (SHS) was located in the town of Prairie Glen , population 2000, the largest of the three towns that were included in the Prairie Glen Community School District . As she walked toward the SHS building, Donna stopped to survey the building and grounds. She immediately became aware that her new SUV seemed out of place among the pickups and older cars in the faculty parking lot. Feeling slightly embarrassed, she turned her attention back to the building. The district's only high school, Southside was built in 1962, a typical "cookie cutter" school of that era. The school housed 400 students in grades 9-12, in addition to 25 teachers, two teacher aides, two secretaries, and three custodians. Approaching the entrance doors, Donna observed that the building could stand a new coat of paint in places, as well as some landscaping to make it seem more inviting.
The front door sported the familiar "Visitors Must Report to. . ." sticker, although the remaining words had been peeled off, either through age or abuse. A faded sign in the main lobby proclaimed, "Welcome to Southside!" with several letters scratched away, leaving the message, "come out side." A few flowerpots hung from the ceiling, their plants apparently having expired several months ago. Several wadded papers danced like tumbleweeds, forming an interesting visual display amid the unwaxed broken floor tiles and graffiti on the walls. One piece of artwork adorned a lobby wall-a painting of an old white gentleman Donna assumed might either have been the institution's first principal or an overly generous benefactor. A thick coating of dust covered the athletic trophies in the trophy case; the most recent one was five years old.
Upon entering the office complex, Donna was overwhelmed by a feeling of being transformed back to the 1960s. These images confronted her: a high front counter, tattered lime green chairs in the waiting area, and a mimeograph machine in the back. Running down the center of the office, and dividing the counter in half, was a paneled wall added after the building was built, apparently to separate the two secretaries' work areas. On the dingy yellow wall behind the mimeograph machine, a poster sported two cartoon men laughing ecstatically and saying, "You want it WHEN?" Donna was certain that if she looked in the magazine rack she'd find a 1965 issue of Life magazine. A bulletin board on the paneled wall displayed a banner boldly stating, "We're Proud of Southside!," which was probably a gift from the PTA. Competing for space on the board were several notices which, upon closer inspection, dated back to the previous school year.
Seated behind the cluttered desk visible on this half of the office was a secretary whose nameplate introduced her as Mrs. Adele Ross. Evidently, Donna forgot to slam the door upon entering, because Mrs. Ross did not look up from the newspaper until the buzzing intercom interrupted her crossword puzzle. After yelling, "What?" into the intercom microphone and deftly handling the latest crisis, Mrs. Ross rolled her eyes as if to say, "Ignoramus." Finally noticing Donna, she gave her a glaring expression that not so subtly implied, "Now what do YOU want?" Usually a gifted speaker, Donna managed to stammer out that she was here to interview for the principal vacancy. Mrs. Ross immediately transformed into the secretarial version of Mother Teresa, sweetly summoning the interview committee chair by intercom and offering Donna a cup of coffee from a pot that had not received a good cleaning since Ronald Reagan was in office.
Roger Wilburn, mathematics teacher and chair of the interview committee, quickly arrived and, after a cordial greeting, proceeded to give Donna a brief tour of the building. Through Mr. Wilburn's running commentary, she was able to learn a lot of information concerning Southside. Eldon Johnson was retiring at the end of this school year after serving 20 years as Southside's principal. As a member of the "old school," he had primarily managed the building in an autocratic fashion and was uninterested in educational reforms. Since he was responsible for hiring most of them, the teachers generally saw Mr. Johnson as a likable father figure, but they noted he has been "coasting" the last few years. "Teacher evaluations around here are a joke. I can't tell you the last time any teacher got less than an excellent evaluation," Mr. Wilburn stated.
Mrs. Ross assumed many of Mr. Johnson's administrative tasks as he neared retirement, including building the master schedule and preparing the budget. It was widely known among the teaching staff that "you don't cross Mrs. Ross." Those unlucky enough to find themselves out of favor received the worst teaching schedules, as well as usually discovering their materials requests "must have gotten misplaced somehow." Mr. Wilburn stated that a lot of the students, the other secretary, and a sizable portion of the faculty were afraid of her.
The population of this region of the state had dwindled in recent years, prompting the management of the local meat processing plant, which was undergoing an expansion, to aggressively recruit Mexican immigrants from the border states in order to fill their low-wage positions. The ethnic percentages in this formerly homogeneous Caucasian community were now 65% Caucasian, 30% Hispanic, and 5% African-American. The school's standardized test scores, which traditionally hovered around the state average, dropped 15 percentile points and have remained at that level the past two years. Approximately 30% of graduating seniors, only a few of whom are minority students, enrolled in post-secondary education after high school.
The veteran faculty have been having difficulty managing what they perceive to be increased numbers of at-risk students, many with limited English language proficiency, in combination with a growing number of racial conflicts. The faculty received only limited staff development on effective methods for teaching diverse students. Although they did appreciate Mr. Johnson's list of 25 all-school rules recently posted in every classroom, the teachers generally feel he has not "backed them up" when students were referred to the office. A few influential members of the faculty recently began lobbying Dr. Harrison, asking that an assistant principal and an additional ESL teacher be hired for the high school. According to Mr. Wilburn, "Most of us think Dr. Harrison wants to improve the quality of education in the district, but we also think he's too good to stay around here for too long. Some rich suburban district will snap him up in a year or two." Citing increased stress, low morale, and the fact that they have received only minimal pay increases in the last few years, many teachers adhere strictly to contractual work hours and refuse to volunteer for additional duties.
As she continued the tour through the dimly lit, barren hallways, Donna noticed that several students-mostly Hispanic-were sitting in chairs in the halls, apparently the latest classroom casualties. She overheard more than one teacher yelling to the classes, "For the LAST time, I said SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"
There were a few bright spots. Five new teachers were hired this year, including the school's first minority teacher. The new teachers had been attempting to interest the veteran faculty in the use of cooperative learning strategies, active involvement of students in the learning process, integration of technology, and changing from the traditional six-period schedule to some form of block scheduling. A group of parents had been actively lobbying for increased involvement in school affairs (they had traditionally been kept at arms-length), and Dr. Harrison indicated a willingness to approve a one-time allocation of $5,000 to give the building a much-needed facelift. "It looks like this job will be a bigger challenge than I thought it would be," Donna thought to herself. "There are a lot of questions I'll need to ask the superintendent before I make up my mind about taking the job, if I'm offered it." At the conclusion of the tour, Mr. Wilburn escorted Donna to the library, where the interview session was to be conducted, and introduced her to the four remaining committee members.
During the interview, the committee asked several questions from a prepared list-most of them routine-and the time seemed to fly by. Judging by the smiles on their faces, Donna believed she was making a positive impression on everyone except the assistant superintendent, Mr. Bryan Parker. He remained stone-faced throughout the interview process. As the session came to a close, the committee members turned their attention to the assistant superintendent, who acknowledged the district administration's concerns over the current state of affairs at Southside High School . He then said,
"Mrs. Rensick, we need a strong, confident individual who can turn around this school. I just have two questions for you. First, how would you go about making the learning climate at Southside more positive and productive? Secondly, why do you believe you are the type of person who can meet this challenge?"
Donna Rensick took a deep breath and thought for several moments before answering. . .
Teaching Notes
Donna Rensick is a candidate for the Southside High School principalship. When she arrives for her interview, she learns more details concerning issues the school has been experiencing, including: racial strife prompted by changing demographics, sagging achievement scores, low teacher morale, a poorly maintained building, and a leadership void. At the conclusion of the interview, she is asked how she would improve the school's learning environment and whether she is capable of accepting this challenge.
Course Discussion Suggestions
This case study covers multiple issues that an individual may face as he/she assumes a principalship and may be used in courses on the principalship, organizational theory, or public relations. The case would be particularly useful in helping aspiring principals prepare for scenarios they may face in administrative interviews. The case includes concerns related to leadership styles, organizational theory, cultural diversity, student achievement, instructional leadership, public relations, school culture, and gender issues. Potential discussion questions include the following:
Biographical Statement
Donald Hackmann is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University . He is a former middle school and high school principal.
ERIC Descriptors
Principal Preparation
School Culture/Climate
Cultural Diversity
Student Achievement
Instructional Leadership
