executive staffing competencies relating to human resource practices

Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education 10:161-172, 1996 © 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston - Manufactured in The Netherlands

Executive Staffing Competencies Relating to Human Resource Practices

WEN-RONG JERRY HO Chaoyang Institute of Technology, Taiwan, ROC

BEN M. HARRIS The University of Texas at Austin, College of Education, Austin, TX 78712

I n t r o d u c t i o n

This study focused on the ability of the superintendent of schools to affect at the local school district level certain human resource practices believed to be directly related to teaching and learning.

The link between the leadership of the superintendent of schools and recruitment, selection, assignment, and retention of teachers are not at all well understood. Instructional leadership as exercised by principals and other administrative and human resource personnel is widely believed to influence learning. Leithwood and Steinbach (1993) argue, however, for recognizing the complexities in leadership, especially distinguishing between transactional and transformational patterns of leadership and their effects.

No one facet of leadership can be expected to be highly predictive of classroom outcome. However, the focus on human resource practices as a core of organizational events directly related to both superintendent leadership behavior and the quality of teaching in classrooms offers promise for new insights.

Background

Superintendents of school districts, as influential leaders in U.S. education have been conceptualized in various ways over the years. Griffiths (1966) reflected on early efforts to categorize responsibilities of superintendents focusing on four areas:

1. Improving students' educational opportunity 2. Recruiting and developing staff 3. Providing and maintaining financial resources and facilities 4. Supporting sound relationship with the community

162 W.-R. J. HO & B.M. HARRIS

More recent efforts of define, categorize and describe superintendent leadership have focused on traditional functions in more detail (AASA, 1987); however, a more rigorous study by Hoyle, English, and Steffy (1985) emphasized skills rather than functions in eight categories:

1. Designing, implementing, and evaluating school climate 2. Building support for schools 3. Curriculum development 4. Instructional management 5. Staff evaluation 6. Staff development 7. Resource allocation 8. Educational research and planning

Instructional leadership as well as various aspects of staffing for instruction are most clearly emphasized in this study. Furthermore, Hoyle, et al., shift the emphasis from function to skill and competencies. In a restudy of these skills by Sclafani (1987) and another by Collier (1987), 1000 U.S. superintendents' responses to a survey also involved a comparative analysis with 100 outstanding superintendents. These studies provide the basis for new emphasis on both instructional leadership and on skills and competencies of superintendent leaders.

A series of studies pursuing the concept of instructional leadership as a distinct domain of superintendent performance has recently been completed under the auspices of the Executive Leadership Program of the University of Texas at Austin. Five task areas identified as essentially instructional have been defined operationally as tasks, subtasks, and competencies (Harris and Wan, eds., 1991). The framework for these studies has utilized descriptors of superintendent performance in tasks relating to instructional planning, staffing for instruction, organizing for instruction, human resource development, and evaluation of instruction. The studies of Muller (1989), Hord (1990), Wan (1991), and Fasnella (1993) are among the most recent of more than a dozen studies utilizing a common instructional leadership competencies framework to describe U.S. superintendent leadership behavior and explore related organizational correlates. The study reported here is the first to focus upon only a single-task area--staffing for instruction--analyzing competencies estimated in detail, and exploring specific human resource management practices related to these superintendent capabilities.

Theoretical Framework

This study was designed to improve the understanding of relationships between superintendent competencies in staffing for instruction and leadership influence on organizational life at the school. The theoretical framework of Ramsey, Bredeson, Smith, and Andres (1984) is used in part. The key elements of that framework for explaining successful human resource practices include the following:

EXECUTIVE STAFFING COMPETENCIES 163

1. the executive's staffing skills 2. the district's human resource management practices, 3. the district's ability to maintain positive staff job satisfaction, and 4. the district's ability to retain quality staff in the classroom.

According to Ramsey, et al. (1984), successful human resource practices are necessary in assuring effective academic learning. Ramsey also noted that it is imperative that school executives learn new human resource management practices to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of school district operations.

Bredeson (1985) postulated that human resource management practices as they relate of effective employment of quality staff would in turn influence teaching and learning. Smith and Andrews (1989), in reviewing available research, found a positive relationship between student academic achievement and staff job satisfaction. Similarly, and American Association of School Administrators (AASA) report found substantial evidence for retaining qualified staff in the classroom as necessary for academic learning (1988).

The focus of these authors on the relationships between superintendent leadership, human resource management practices, employment of effective instructional staff, and student learning is as yet highly problematic. Studies on teaching and student learning relationships clearly support the teacher of quality as an important link to learning. However, Muller (1989) found very low relationships overall between a superintendent's instructional leadership and student achievement in seventy school districts. The strongest relationship found was between competence in "organizing for instruction" and student achievement at the elementary school level.

Figure 1 utilizes the general theoretical frame of reference suggested by these researchers and identifies the more narrowly defined relationships that are under investigation in this study. Executive level leadership as a manifestation of the superintendent of schools limits this study and assumes that the capabilities of this one individual are important influences on teaching and student achievement. Staffing for instruction competencies is the focus, excluding other numerous capabilities of superintendents that might be of importance. Human resource practices most directly presumed to be related to staffing are identified as recruitment and selection, policy and procedures, and active superintendent involvement in both practices.

The distinction between human resource practices and management outcomes provides for exploring link between practices and teaching and learning, using motivation and staff turnover as critical outcomes of intervening kinds.

Focus of the Study

This study focuses on superintendents' self-perceived competence in staffing for instruction (SIC), and the extent to which selected human resource practices and outcomes are operational in the school systems they lead. A related focus is on the self-perceived competence (SIC) of exemplary superintendents as compared with a random sample.


Figure 1. Conceptual framework for relationships.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP Superintendent of Schools

Staffing for Instruction Competencies

HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN OPERATION Superintendent Involvement

Y "a Recruitment and Po l ic ies and Se 1 ect ion Procedures

"a J

SELECTED HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES

Y Pro less iona 1

S ta f f Motivation

\ \

",a Professiona

S ta f f Turnover

/ /

\ 7 Teaching Effect iveness

V Student Achievement

Statement of the Problem

Exploration of technical aspects of staffing for instruction exhibited by superintendents of schools is part of a broader problem of effective leadership enhancing the quality of education through human resource management practices in loosely coupled school operations. Human resource management practices are widely delegated among school personnel, especially in large districts and in those decentral- izing toward site-based management where faculty and community share the decision making. Under such circumstances, superintendents' educational leadership may not relate at all well to the quality of those practices controlled by others.

The problem involves seeking to better understand how the technical competence of the superintendent manifests itself as an influence on the actual operations of a human resource management system in a district. If superintendents were directly in control of or exclusively involved in recruitment, selection, assignment, and other aspects of


human resource decision-making, then one would expect their competence to deter- mine quality outcomes. However, one perplexing feature of "loosely coupled" organi- zations is the discrepancies between what is expected and what transpires both horizontally and vertically in the organizational hierarchy. For the superintendent of schools, most aspects of human resource work are shared (Harris and Monk, 1992) by directors, supervisors, principals, department heads, and sometimes with staff and school board members and college professors. Increasingly, parents are also becoming involved.

Leadership for good staffing practices might be viewed as a matter of communica- tion, or monitoring, or reinforcement. However, to some extent leadership as the capacity for influencing behavior of others in a complex organizational structure is presumed to require technical competency in related areas. If no such associations exist, then the utility of professional education in these areas and expectations of governing bodies are to be questioned.

Purpose of Stucly

The purpose of this study was to improve our knowledge and understanding of the relationships between executives, perceived competence in instructional staffing and selected human resource management practices and outcomes. Two purposes are addressed as follows:

1. To test the relationships between executive SIC scores and the organization's human resource management practices and selected outcomes.

2. To test the relationship between SIC scores of "exemplary" superintendents and those not so recognized.

These purposes guided the study exploring specific relationships.

Design of the Study

This study was designed utilizing self-perceptions of staffing for instruction competence reported by over one-hundred school district superintendents in a single state in the United States. Related measures of specific selected human resource management practices and outcomes were derived from survey reports of human resource directors and managers in each superintendent's district. Self-estimate scores for each superintendent were analyzed in relation to measures of human resource practices in the operations of each district.

Research Questions

Four major questions guided the study. Six subquestions represented specific variables utilized.


1. To what extent do self-perceived composite SIC scores of superintendents relate to practices in operation? A-1 To implementation of quality recruitment and selections processes? A-2 To implementation of high-quality staffing polices, practices, and procedures?

2. To what extent do self-perceived composite SIC scores of superintendents relate to superintendent involvement? B-1 In recruitment and selection processes? B-2 In formulating staffing polices, practices, and procedures?

3. To what extend do self-perceived composite SIC scores of superintendents relate to selected human resource outcomes? C-I Absenteeism rates of professional staff? C-2 Turnover rates of professional staff?

4. To what extend are exemplary superintendents SIC scores higher than those of other superintendents not recognized as exemplary?

The Independent Variable (SIC)

The independent variable called composite (SIC) scores was derived from self- estimates of individual superintendents utilizing a Likert-type scale for responding to 22 subtask descriptions for this area of instructional leadership. The composite SIC score for each superintendent was the sum of the 22 ratings, self-estimates of competence on each subtask for staffing. The seven tasks embraced in the instrument as the frame of reference for the subtask descriptors are briefly described below:

Task 1. Maintains adequate staffing (2 subtasks) Task 2. Oversees recruitment process (2 subtasks) Task 3. Provides for screening process (3 subtasks) Task 4. Provides for selecting process (5 subtasks) Task 5. Provides for staff orientation (2 subtasks) Task 6. Implements a placement system (3 subtasks) Task 7. Directs human resource operations (5 subtasks)

Dependent Variables

Six dependent variables were derived from survey reports for each school district using data provided by a personnel manager or director designated by the superintendent involved. These variables were selected as indicators of quality practices and outcomes believed to have implications for effective teaching and learning. The selected dependent variables are briefly described as follows:

A-1. Quality recruitment and selection A-2. Quality staffing polices, practices, and procedures


B-1. Superintendent involvement in recruitment and selection processes B-2. Superintendent involvement in developing staffing polices, practices, and

procedures C-1. Absenteeism rates reported among professional staff C-2. Turnover rates reported among professional staff

Other Variables

A dichotomous variable was utilized relying of formal recognition processes that designated a subsample of the superintendents as exemplary. Thirteen of the 107 superintendents respondents had previously been recognized as exemplary, permitting comparison between the two subsamples.

Other variables given some attention beyond the central focus of the study included those of district size and length of tenure of superintendent.

Methodology

The quasi-experimental design of the study involved a sample of 107 superintendents of school districts in the state of Texas and their designated human resource management contact persons. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to control for extreme variations and skewed distributions of school districts by size. Two hundred sixty-six districts were randomly selected from three size groups--large (10,000 or more students); medium (1,600 to 9,999 students), and small (500 to 1,599 students). Extremely small districts were not included.

Superintendents who responded by mail to the invitation to participate with complete and usable data were approximately 40% of the designated sample. Exemplary superintendents were those occurring naturally among the participants. Exemplary recognition for superintendents was predetermined by a peer review process and reported in a study by Kennedy (1989). Thirteen exemplary superintendents were included among the 107 respondents and no special screening was undertaken for the purpose of this study.

Instrumentation

Two instruments provided the data for constructing all variables. A Likert-type scaled inventory of 22 descriptions of staffing tasks was completed by each responding superintendent. A special questionnaire was completed by a designated contact person other than the superintendent. This questionnaire provided specific information on human resource practices and outcomes with as much objectivity and independence of judgments as possible.


Table 1. Correlation Coefficients Between Composite SIC Scores and Selected Human Resource Management Practices and Outcomes.

Correlation Significance Dependent Variables Coefficient Level

Practices A-I Quality of recruitment and selection A-2 Quality of staffing policies, practices, and procedures B-1 Superintendent involvement in recruitment and

selection B-2 Superintendent involvement in staffing policies,

practices, and procedures

Practices C-1 Absenteeism in professional staff C-2 Turnover in Professional Staff

-0.06 .511 -0.04 .652

0.40 .000

0.46 .000

-0.38 .000 0.13 .187

Analyses

Data f rom each ins t rument were scaled to generate a set of scores for each school distr ict for each variable. Corre la t ions were comple ted be tween SIC compos i te scores and each dependent variable. Linear regress ion analyses were also employed . Top and bot tom quart i le groups of super in tendents were ana lyzed separa te ly to further test re la t ionships be tween competence and pract ices and ou tcomes at the extremes. Compar i sons were also made be tween exempla ry and nonexempla ry subsamples to de termine the re la t ionship of this recogni t ion to staffing compe tency scores. The Chi- Square test is repor ted for this last compar ison . Variat ions among respondents by district size and tenure in posi t ion were also analyzed.

Findings

Correlat ions

The six dependent var iables cor re la ted with SIC compos i t e scores are shown in Table 1. Three o f these corre la t ions are h ighly s ignif icant , while three others are not. Involvement of super in tendents in both recru i tment and select ion ( B - l ) and staffing po l icy and procedures (B-2) are most s t rongly cor re la ted with super in tendent SIC scores. The rate of absen tee i sm among profess iona l s taff is found also to be h ighly s ignif icant but nega t ive ly corre la ted with SIC scores. Hence, it appears that low absentee rates are associated with higher SIC scores.

The three var iables not s igni f icant ly corre la ted with super in tendent compe tency scores were all nearly zero with only turnover rates (C-2) being even sl ightly posi t ively correlated.


Table 2. The Analyses of Two Sample Tests of Proportions on Human Resource Management Outcomes for the Top Quartile and the Bottom Quartile of Executive.

Mean of Top Mean of Bottom Human Resource Management Outcomes Quartile Quartile Significance

c-I Absenteeism in professional staff 4.3400 5.9261 .032 C-2 Turnover in professional staff .126886 .088267 .653 A-I Quality of recruitment and selection 4.3704 4.5556 .511 B-2 Superintendent involvement in recruitment

and selection 32.8148 24.6296 .025 A-2 Quality of staffing policies, practices,

and procedures 8.0741 8.1852 .789 B-2 Superintendent involvement in staffing policies,

and procedures 63.7778 51.2593 .022

Top and Bottom Quartile Comparisons

Compar i sons of mean dependent var iable scores for super in tendents with the h ighest and lowest SIC scores are shown in Table 2. Vir tual ly no difference were found for the three var iables A - I , A-2, and C-2; conf i rming the f indings for the cor re la t ions / ana lyses for all super intendents . Contras t ingly , s ignif icant d i f ferences were found be tween high and low SIC super in tendents ' extent of involvement (B-1 and B-2) and for absentee ism rates (C- l ) . In each of these comparisons , the mean scores were higher for super in tendents with h igher se l f -percept ions of their s taff ing for ins t ruct ion

competence. The s igni f icance levels for the three var iables conf i rmed in the analys is were more

modes t than for the correlat ional analyses shown in Table 1. When the high, medium, and low levels of execut ive SIC scores were examined to

de te rmine if execut ives with h igher SIC scores were more l ike ly to be nomina ted as exemplary , the Chi -Square value was found to be not s igni f ica t ion at the .05 level of s ignif icance . That is, execut ives with h igher compos i t e SIC scores were not more l ike ly to be nomina ted as exempla ry execut ives than were those with lower compos i t e

SIC scores.

Discussion

The f indings of the s tudy have impl ica t ions for prac t ic ing school super in tendents and their cont inuing educat ion; for adminis t ra tor training p rogram design; and for scholars consider ing the re la t ionship of technical skil ls to school operat ions improvements .

The f indings of this s tudy ind ica ted that execut ives who had higher compos i t e SIC scores tended to have bet ter human resource opera t ions and outcomes in a number of

areas.


1. professional staff absenteeism 2. superintendent involvement in recruitment and selection 3. superintendent involvement of staffing policy, practices, and procedures

Overall, the superintendents' composite SIC scores were able to predict from 15% to 28% of the variance in these human resource management operations and outcomes at the 95% level of confidence.

These data also indicate that executives who have higher competency scores did not necessarily have better operations in some of the following important human resource management areas:

1. professional staff turnover rates 2. quality recruitment and selection processes 3. quality of staffing policy, practices, and procedures

These findings are less than fully supportive of Ramsey's belief (Ramsey, 1984) that it is imperative for a school superintendent to learn the skills and practices necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of staffing. However, they do lend support to a more limited view that such relationships do exist and an array of specific technical staffing skills do make some contributions.

The findings also indicate that superintendents who possess the highest competency scores were not more likely to be identified as exemplary than superintendents who possess the least of these attributes. This finding may imply that exemplary superintendents may possess skills in areas other than staffing for instruction, and this accounts for their recognition as exemplary. As such, this finding raises questions for further research of different kinds of skills than those explored in this study.

The findings of this study have implications for both pre-service and on-the-the job superintendent training programs. Assuming that superintendent skill in creating an environment that motivates, values, and rewards teachers and staff is related to the effective academic learning of students (AASA, 1988), there is a clear need for superintendent-training programs with some emphasis on instructional leadership roles in staffing. Some tasks are stressful such as those labeled Provides for an Adequate Wage/Benefit Schedule, Monitors to Maintain Staff Adequacy, Administers Personnel Policy, and Assesses Needs for Staffing Changes.

In summary, the positive findings have the following implications:

Absenteeism is one of the problems most directly related to student learning and is surprisingly strongly related to executive competence or involvement in staffing. Involvement, not surprisingly, appears to be the key to high-quality staffing outcomes relating to absenteeism but also to recruitment and selection. The fact that such involvement seems strongly related to perceived competence in a wide variety of staffing tasks gives support to the notion that such tasks are relevant and can be effectively employed at the executive's level in promoting good staffing practices throughout the district.


The negative findings have implications of various kinds also:

The strong lack of any clear relationship to turnover rates is most interesting in some ways. One implication might be that the staffing practices and competencies focused on in this study were not those most directly related to turnover. Indeed, it is worth nothing that personnel evaluation tasks are not included in this set. Instead they are included in Evaluating Instruction. In a similar vein, the study focuses only on instructional leadership and hence does not attend to salary, fringe benefits, or working conditions that might be expected to better predict turnover.

References

AASA (1988). Challenges for school leaders. The American Association of School Administrators, Arlington, Virginia.

Bredeson, P.V. (1985). The teacher screening and selection process: A decision making model for school administrators. Journal of Research and development in education 18(3), 8-15.

Collier, V. (1987). "Identifications of Skills Perceived by Texas Superintendents as Necessary for Job Performance," doctoral dissertation, the University of Texas at Austin.

Downey, G. (1981). One hundred reasons to take pride in school administration. The Superintendents educator, February. A2-A28.

Duke, D.L. (1987). School leadership and instructional improvement. New York: Random House. Fasanella, E.A. (1993). A study of the Diagnostic Capability in the Instructional Leadership Domain of an

Assessment Center for School Executives," doctoral dissertation. The University of Texas at Austin. Griffiths. D. (1996). The school superintendent. New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education. Harris, B.M., and Monk, B.J. (1992). Personnel administration in education, 3rd edition, Boston, MA: Allyn

and Bacon Inc. Harris, B.M., and Wan, Y. (Eds.) (1991). Performance criteria for school executives: instructional leader-

ship. The University of Texas at Austin, 1991. Heneman, H.G., III, Schwab, D.P., Fossum, J.A., & Dyer, L.D. (1980). Personnel~Human Resource

Management. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, Illinois. Ho, W.-R. J. (1992). A Study of Relationships between Instructional Staffing Competencies of Super-

intendents and Selected Personnel practices, doctoral dissertation. The University of Texas as Austin. Hord, S.M. (1990). An Investigation of Instructional Leadership Perceptions Among District Level

Superintendents, unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. Hoyle, J.R., English, EW., & Steffy, B,E. (1985). Skills for successful leaders. The American Association of

School Administrators, Arlington, Virginia. Kennedy, B.L. (1989). "Critical Incidents in the School Superintendency," doctoral dissertation, the

University of Texas at Austin. Leithwood, K., & Steinback, R. (1993). Total quality leadership: Expert thinking plus transformational

practice. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education 7 (December, 1993): 311-17. Lewis, A. (1989). Restructuring america's schools. The American Association of School Administrators,

Arlington, Virginia. Littleton, M., & Turner, A., (1984). A descriptive study of the role of the superintendent as viewed by school

board members in Texas. Commerce, Texas: East Texas School Study Council. McKnight, C., Crosswhite F., Dossey, J., Kifer, E., Swafford, J., Travers, K., & Cooney, T. (1987). The

underachieving curriculum, Champaign, II: Stipes Publishing. Muller, R.W. (1989). "Instructional Leadership Superintendent Competencies Related to Student

Achievement," doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.


Pringle, EG. (1989). "Relationship of General Administrative Leadership Skills to Superintendent Selection and Contract Renewal, doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.

Ramsey, R.D., et a., (1984). Management techniques for solving school personnel problems. Parker Publishing Company, Inc., West Nyack, N.Y.

Smith, W.F., & Andrews, R.L. (1989). Instructional leadership: How principals make a difference. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Alexandria, Virginia.

Wan, Y. E (1991). "Instructional Leadership Competencies: Self-Estimated Capabilities and Importance as Perceived by Executive-level Educators," doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.

Wayson, W.W., Mitchell, B. Pinnell, G.S. & Landis, D. Up (1988). Up From excellence: The impact of the excellence movement of schools. Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Blooming, Indiana.

executive staffing competencies relating to human resource practices

Documents