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Artifact #2

Human Resources Final Paper

EA 8820
Corey Porterfield
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Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy (NDPMA) is an International

Baccalaureate independent Catholic, co-educational day school, which includes three divisions:

Lower (JK-5), Middle (6-8), and Upper (9-12). NDPMA was founded by the Marist Priests and

Brothers in 1994. Having experienced remarkable growth over 24 years of its existence, the

school today has more than 1,100 students and over 150 faculty and staff members. NDPMA is a

young school that has had remarkable success over the years. After a thorough review of the

current human resource practices, the following recommendations have been made to improve

the overall function of the school.

Notre Dame’s human resource department consists of one person, the human resource

and payroll manager. The functions of this role are more clerical than administrative. The more

administrative practices that come along with human resources are placed on principals and

directors. The finances and more business office functions of the human resource department

responsibilities lies with the chief financial officer for the school. With this untraditional

arrangement, there are strengths and weaknesses that will be discussed.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Notre Dame offers a very competitive benefits package for employees. Employees have a

great medical insurance plan through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan. The employee

contributions, premiums and deductibles are affordable. Notre Dame also offers a tuition

reimbursement program for employees. Teachers who are currently attending a graduate program

at an accredited university can request tuition reimbursement for up to 1 class per year. Lastly,

full time employees receive free tuition for their 1st child and half off tuition for the second,

third, fourth, or more. This is a great benefit since tuition prices are $15,708 for the upper

division, $14,057 for the middle division, and $10,929 for the lower division.
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Another strength of NDPMA human resource function is the professional development

and training that is offered to faculty and staff. All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend

professional development throughout the school year and over the summer. Professional

development topics may be recommended to employees by their supervisor or they can request

to attend a conference of their choice. Most of these professional developments are in form of

conferences that are hosted by Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS),

Independent School Management (ISM), or International Baccalaureate (IB). Notre Dame sends

teachers to conferences locally and out of town. When conferences are held out of town, Notre

Dame coordinates all travel and lodging arrangements. Teachers also are given a daily meal

allowance. This is a great function to help employees continue to grow and develop in their

career.

On the other hand, Notre Dame has a few weaknesses to address within the functions of

human resources. Through my first interview with the human resource manager, it was revealed

that Notre Dame does not have an approved salary schedule for staff members and

administrators. Since administrators and staff members do not have a salary schedule, the hiring

managers for each department can start an employee at any salary. This can create variations in

pay for employees with similar job functions and cause low morale amongst employees. This can

also have an adverse effect on the school budget over time.

Another weakness discovered is the lack of a formal teacher evaluation program at Notre

Dame. Notre Dame has not adopted a teacher evaluation program to evaluate all teachers.

Principals at the lower and middle divisions do evaluate their teachers but do not use the same

evaluation tool. Teachers in the upper division are not formally evaluated each year, some
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informal walk throughs are conducted throughout the year, but no formal evaluations on a

consistent basis.

The final weakness is the lack of support and guidance given to new teachers at Notre

Dame. When new teachers are hired at Notre Dame, they are given minimal amount of support to

begin their new job. New teachers are essentially placed in their new roles and must navigate

through the system to seek support as needed. Thankfully veteran teachers and staff are willing

to give new teachers a helping hand. Currently there is not a systematic structure to offer support

for beginning teachers at Notre Dame.

Recommendations

My first recommendation for Notre Dame is to create a salary schedule for all salary

employees at Notre Dame. This will include teachers, administrators, and staff members. The

board of directors, human resource manager, and chief financial officer need to develop a salary

schedule for administrators and staff members. Since Notre Dame is a private school and has no

union, there is not a group that can bargain for these employees. The benefits of a salary

schedule are that it can be used as a tool for attracting and retaining quality educators and

employees, and a way of equalizing pay among employees with similar job functions.

The second recommendation is to adopt formal teacher evaluation tool for all teachers at

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, lower division, middle division, and upper

division. According to Cicchinelli (2013), “Teacher evaluation systems are designed to allow

administrators to discriminate between levels of teacher performance fairly and objectively.” By

implementing a formal teacher evaluation tools, administrators will be able to improve policy

and decision making within the school, select the next generation of school leaders, create a

record of performance on all teachers, and assess the school’s performance. Teachers will be able
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to benefit from a teacher evaluation tool by it will create a faster start for teachers to accelerate

the learning curve that comes with a new job. Timely feedback will enable teachers to reflect on

their practices and to make appropriate changes to increase student achievement. Connection

with personal growth and professional development will be created, and it will serve as a tool to

increase retention.

The last recommendation is to implement a new teacher induction program at Notre

Dame. According to the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association

(2016), new teacher induction programs play a pivotal role in improving teacher retention,

classroom instructional practices, and student achievement. When teachers are hired at Notre

Dame, there is not a new teacher orientation to discuss school policies, procedures, or common

expectations. Implementing this program will create new teacher workshops to support new

teachers, and a mentoring program. A mentoring program will supply new teachers with

practical information, guide teachers as they develop instructional skills, and offer feedback and

opportunities for reflection.

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a young school that has had

remarkable growth and success in the last 24 years. Some of their human resource practices

benefit the entire community as a whole and some of the practices need to be revisited. Notre

Dame offers a great benefits package and provides top notch professional development

opportunities. Notre Dame needs to focus more attention to improving teacher evaluations,

employee pay, and supporting new teachers. The recommendations listed above will support

Notre Dame in improving the human resources functions in these areas of difficulty. With a

hard-working leadership team, proper planning and research, the implementation of these

recommendations will help Notre Dame maintain their success, give employees the support and
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guidance they need to stay motivated and grow as professionals, and improve student

achievement.
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References

Best Practices in Teacher and Administrator Induction Programs. (2016). California County

Superintendents Educational Services Association. Retrieved from http://ccsesa.org/wp-

content/uploads/2016/06/Best-Practices-in-Teacher-and-Administrator-Induction-Programs.pdf

Cicchinelli, L. F. (2013). Speaking Out: The Value of Teacher Evaluation. National Association of

Elementary School Principals. Retrieved from https://www.naesp.org/principal-

septemberoctober-2013-early-learning/speaking-out-value-teacher-evaluation.