Talented leaders are essential to building and sustaining successful organizations. This is especially true for schools, where principal leadership plays a major role in fostering student success. Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. Like other types…

Talented leaders are essential to building and sustaining successful organizations. This is especially true for schools, where principal leadership plays a major role in fostering student success. Research shows that principals are a significant school-level factor affecting student achievement, second only to classroom teachers. Like other types…

This report serves as a quick reference guide for elected officials to compare key education policies and data in their states to the rest of the nation. The first section highlights major state policies for all 50 states in both table and chart formats (see Summary Charts ). The second section provides key state data, such as per-student spending…

Many districts struggle with multiple--and often incompatible--data systems for tracking payroll, collecting teacher evaluations, recruiting and hiring. Aligning these systems and annually assessing where a district stands is the first step towards developing a smart human capital strategy. This checklist outlines the goals, data and questions a…

Accompanied by several charts and tables, this study examines differential salary increments for veteran and novice teachers in 43 New York State school districts. Awarding larger percentage increments to experienced rather than to beginning employees is less common in comparable professions and may discourage new teaching recruits. Includes 17…

With the possible exception of No Child Left Behind, no federal law has posed a greater compliance challenge to public school districts in the past ten years than the Fair Labor Standards Act. Unfamiliarity with the Act and its application in the school environment has resulted in millions of dollars in payment of settlements to school district…

A salary-administration plan involves job descriptions, job evaluation, salary surveys, salary structures, and communication. A carefully constructed and administered salary plan will guarantee external equity (jobs will be paid at a competitive rate) and internal equity (similar jobs will be assigned the same grade and salary range). (MLF)

Chief school business officials are retiring at an unprecedented rate. Board members should analyze the reasons why a business manager left and correct any circumstances that hampered job performance. Lists skills and salary range for the position. (MLF)

Presents survey results that identify the occupation of school-district-level technology director: their salaries and educational levels, length of service, budgetary demands, and job responsibilities. Results show the following: average technology director budgets are between $200,000 and $399,000; their average salaries are between $50,000 and…

After describing the concept of comparable worth and reviewing arguments for and against the idea, the author proposes seven cautions for district administrators to heed when faced with the need to respond to the comparable worth issue and suggests a seven-step plan for taking action to improve pay equity. (PGD)

Identifies federal reporting obligations that govern school districts' human resources management in the following areas: (1) Internal Revenue Service filing requirements; (2) Fair Labor Standards Act recordkeeping; (3) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reporting; and (4) Family and Medical Leave Act recordkeeping. (MLF)

Presents data from the American School & University's annual Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Cost Study for the 1997-98 school year. Data include trends in building-operations-staff salaries and M&O costs expressed in dollars per student and per square foot. Results indicate an underfunding of M&O that may not provide students…

Recent proposals to implement teacher incentive pay or merit pay plans have failed to recognize that in most states such plans must be negotiated and administered through collective bargaining at the local district level. The traditional collective bargaining process makes major changes difficult to enact; both sides must bluff, threaten, and make…

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 covers six major topics: minimum wage, overtime, child labor, equal pay, retaliation, and record keeping. Most cases filed against school districts involve overtime and record-keeping requirements. Outlines steps to ensure district FLSA policies are legal, communicated, and enforced. (MLF)

Administrator compensation in North Carolina schools has traditionally been based on experience and preparation, independent of the level of performance. The development plan adopted addresses this issue by recommending five levels of differentiation for each administrator job classification. A person may stay in one classification for an entire…