We continue sharing inside information about how Gilbert Public Schools turned any idea of fairness and impartiality upside down in their quest to make GPS a cash cow for a select group of insiders who were allowed to become principals.
From all appearances, the people who were at the helm were themselves promoted by the same methods and philosophies. It sure looks like they “paid it forward” to other *special* candidates who got their own piggy banks principalships. Maybe this is why GPS is so fast to circle the wagons whenever one of the anointed ones gets into hot water for any reason.
We reviewed data from six interview cycles from 2009-2013. GPS provided data on candidate age, gender, interview score, and success. Some principals were hired after the date that our data cuts off. We crunched numbers in our earlier Gut Check posts; today we look at the interview teams for ten positions. To the very effective, accomplished and sincere principals that we know in Gilbert Public Schools, we understand your humiliation at being associated with this hiring process and style of management.
Some years, it appears GPS just didn’t bother with the charades of interviews and candidates. Jason Martin, the quintessential Mini-Me must have been just so golden, it looks like he just got served up a brand-new school on a silver platter.
Some interview teams were more biased than others, but all were biased. The data, taken as a whole, shows a clear pattern of scoring men better than women. On average, all interview teams but one rated men higher than women. The only interview team that did not show a scoring bias against women nevertheless showed a selection bias against them: the Towne Meadows/Harris/Islands team did not choose one female principal despite the fact that seven women scored better than two of their chosen candidates, and a woman was the highest-scoring candidate.
Overall, interviewers scored men scored 11% higher than women. The Gilbert Elementary interview team was most biased, with men scoring 39% higher than women. The Towne Meadows/Harris/Islands team was the least biased against women in the scoring process, but they hired no female candidates.
The data shows a clear bias for younger principals. The Towne Meadows/Harris/Islands may not have shown bias in rating candidates under 40 better, but it did show bias in picking them—two of its three successful candidates were under 40. EIGHT CANDIDATES scored BETTER than those two under-40s chosen. The Pioneer/Ashland Ranch rated under 40s 27% higher on average; Houston and the SupSprings/ValVistaLakes team rated them 18% and 17% higher on average.
Assistant Superintendent Jeff Filloon served on 5 of 6 interview teams. Assistant Superintendent Shane McCord served on all interview teams. Both men were principals when they were under 40: at time of interview, Shane was 30 and Jeff was 37. The teams they served on filled 8 positions. Of those, half went to male candidates under 40.
Despite scoring 3rd lowest of all male candidates and in the bottom half of all candidates, MD was chosen to be an interviewer for Superstition Springs/Val Vista. Nine out of ten candidates in that interview cycle scored higher than the 227 MD managed in his interview. The Towne Meadows/Harris/Islands team was the only one with more than 2 women on the team. They had 4 women and 2 men. They scored women highly, but didn’t choose a single one.
Let’s examine these interviews, honing in on questions asked by Assistant Superintendent Shane McCord. Compare the powder-puff questions asked of principal candidates with the rigor of questions on standardized tests that students must take each year. As you’ll see, it doesn’t take much critical thinking to parrot the answers sought by the interview teams. Even then, if the person “the GPS gut” wanted to choose didn’t score very well, interview teams had plenty of GC points to award to their favorites.
Funny thing, though, interview teams didn’t bother to make sure to award the highest number of points to the person “the GPS gut” wanted to choose. Some interview teams went back and rescored and recalculated, but didn’t bother to make sure their new numbers added up to the score they awarded. Yeah, the process sure looks corrupt. That’s part of how GPS got to where it is today.
Pioneer Elementary School /Ashland Ranch Elementary School
Interview Team: Andrew Szczepaniak, Jason Martin, Nikki Blanchard, Shane McCord, Vicki Hester.
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your educational and professional background.
2. Please tell us about your leadership style.
3. Gilbert Public Schools is very proud of the many different types of special education programs we offer on our elementary campuses. If you had a choice between two models of special education, pull out or inclusion, which one would you choose and why?
4. Evaluation is an important aspect of a principal’s job. What do you consider the 3 most important aspects of teacher evaluation and what experience have you had in the process?
5. How do you tell someone they are not doing their job effectively?
6. What is the role of support staff & how would you integrate support staff with the instructional team?
7. What role do you think technology should play in the classroom and in the school? How important is the integration of technology into the curriculum?
8. What discipline standards or procedures have you found to be effective when dealing with students?
9. As the instructional leader on your campus, what is your role in working with your staff?
10. Please describe the role you feel parents should play in the operation of the school and highlight how you will engage parents of high-risk students in the school process.
11. How do you measure the success of the school?
12. Schools tend to take on personalities of their own that are generally influenced by the leadership style of the building principal. Based on this, what would elementary school look like if you were named principal?
13. As a new principal in a school, how would you go about building relationships of trust and collaboration with staff, parents, and students?
14. What questions do you have for us?
Houston Elementary School
Interview Team: Colin Kelly, Jeff Filloon, Missy Udall, Nonda Chomokos, Shane McCord, Tammy Callison
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your education and professional background.
2. Why do you think you are qualified to be the principal of Houston Elementary School?
3. What are the three most important qualities you look for when evaluating a teacher’s lesson?
4. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest, please rate your knowledge of technology and why?
5. Scenario: a student walks up to you and said they “heard” a student in their class has a knife in her backpack. The student also “heard” that the student showed the knife to another student. How would you handle the situation?
6. If you had a choice between two models of special education, pull out or inclusion, which one would you choose and why?
7. Scenario: a parent calls you to complain about a grade their daughter received on science report. The parent has not phoned the teacher about the grade. How do you proceed from here?
8. Stress is the number one reason for teacher and administrator burn out. How do you handle stress?
9. If chosen as the principal how would you go about getting acquainted with the students, staff and the community of your school?
10. If we were to ask your current principal to tell us three of your best leadership characteristics, what would they say?
11. How would you incorporate volunteers into Houston elementary?
12. What process would you use to evaluate the achievement/success of your school?
13. Do you have any questions for us?
Gilbert Elementary School position
Interview Team: Colin Kelly, Jeff Filloon, Lyndsey Heizer, Missy Udall, Nonda Chomokos, Shane McCord
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your educational and professional background.
2. Why do you think you are qualified to be the principal of Gilbert Elementary School?
3. Evaluation of teachers is one of the most important aspects of being a principal. Please identify 4 qualities or skills that you look for when evaluating a teacher.
4. Gilbert Elementary is a Title I school and has been for several years. What is your knowledge of Title I rules and regulations on how would you use Title I funding on your campus?
5. Scenario: it’s open house tonight and a parent walks up to you and they are very upset. They have discovered that their 4th grade child has a teacher that the parent has heard horrible things about. They demand a teacher changed immediately. What would you do?
6. Gilbert Elementary has an above-average number of students in their special education programs. Those students with special needs range from learning disabled to students with autism. Please tell us your knowledge of special education and the IEP process.
7. Scenario: a parent calls and reports that their son 6th grade teacher touched their son in an inappropriate manner yesterday after school in the classroom while no other adults or students were around. What do you do?
8. The visibility of a principal on a campus is extremely important. Please list the ways in which you would make yourself visible to students, staff and parents of Gilbert Elementary.
9. Gilbert Elementary has had the same principal for the past 20 years who is admired by all over those years. The culture and traditions of the school run very deep in and are valued by the parents, staff and community. Knowing this, how would you begin to embrace the culture and traditions of the school?
10. Please tell us your 3 best leadership qualities and 1 area you need to improve as a leader.
11. The GPS Governing Board has declared this school year to be the Year of the Volunteer. With that being said, what are the most effective ways to use a volunteer on an elementary campus?
12. What process would you use to evaluate the achievement/success of your school?
13. Do you have any questions for us?
Superstition Springs Elementary School/Val Vista Lakes Elementary School
Interview Team: Geane Flournoy, Jeff Filloon, John Maas, Mike Davis, Shane McCord
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your education and professional background.
2. Why do you apply for this position?
3. What are the traits of an effective principal?
4. How might you use staff evaluation as a tool in order to help teachers and support staff develop new competencies and explore innovations in instruction?
5. Describe what you consider to be a good teacher and how do you make sure teachers are living up to your expectations.
6. If you had a choice between two models of special education, pull out or inclusion, which one would you choose and why?
7. If you became aware of a teacher that is having difficulty with instructional techniques and classroom management, what would you do to help?
8. Stress is the number one reason for teacher and administrator burn out. How do you handle stress?
9. If chosen as the principal how would you go about getting acquainted with the students, staff and the community of your school?
10. Please describe the role you feel parents should play in operation of the school?
11. What do you feel are the key components of maintaining high staff morale?
12. What process would you use to evaluate the achievement/success of your school?
13. What role should technology play in an elementary school and how can it support teaching and learning?
14. Discuss your knowledge of current trends and best practices in reading, writing and mathematics and how do you plan to keep your staff involved with the current and changing educational trends?
15. Do you have any questions for us?
Highland Junior High School
Interview Team: Jeff Filloon, Lana Moore, Shane McCord, Shawn McIntosh
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your educational and professional background
2. Why did you apply for this position?
3. What are three traits of an effective principal?
4. What is the purpose of staff evaluations?
5. Describe the characteristics of a classroom in which nearly every student is successful in his/her learning.
6. The Common Core Standards were designed to prepare all students for college or career success post high school; however, the standards are not self-implementing. As principal, what would you do to facilitate teacher understanding and instructional alignment to the new standard?
7. What are some ideas you have for working with the most capable and least capable teacher on campus?
8. What specific ideas do you have for delivering a more global perspective in today’s curriculum?
9. If chosen as the principal how would you go about getting acquainted with the students, staff and the community of your school?
10. Please describe the role you feel parents should play in the operation of a school.
11. How would you improve staff morale?
12. Name three ways to evaluate the achievement/success of your school.
13. Explain why you feel technology is an important part of education and list three ways in which technology is used in a classroom.
14. Each of our junior high schools has an advisory period. What role does advisory period play in student achievement?
15. Do you have any questions for us?
Towne Meadows/Islands/Harris Elementary Schools
Interview Team: Carol Keough, Jeff Filloon, Karen Coleman, Shane McCord, Sheri Hummel, Vicki Casso
Questions by Shane McCord:
1. Please tell us about your educational and professional background.
2. Why did you apply for this position?
3. What are the traits of an effective principal?
4. How might you use staff evaluations as a tool in order to help teachers and support staff develop new competencies and explore innovations in instruction?
5. Describe what you consider to be a good teacher and how do you make sure teachers are living up to your expectations.
6. If you became aware of a teacher that is having difficulty with instructional techniques and classroom management, what would you do to help?
7. Please describe the role you feel parents should play in the operation of a school.
8. What do you feel are the key components of maintaining high staff morale?
9. What process would you use to evaluate the achievement/success of your school?
10. The Common Core Standards were designed to prepare all students for college or career success post high school; however, the standards are not self-implementing. As principal, what would you do to facilitate teacher understanding and instructional alignment to the new standard?
11. What is your understanding of Professional Learning Communities and how would you implement PLCs on your campus?
12. If you had a choice between two models of special education, pullout and inclusion, which would you choose and why?
13. If chosen as the principal how would you go about getting acquainted with the students, staff and the community of your school?
14. Do you have any questions?
You know there’s still a LOT more to come! Chirp, chirp!