School Personnel Administration: A California Perspective

School Personnel Administration: A California Perspective (sixth edition) was written by Arthur J. Townley and June H. Schmieder-Ramirez. The first edition was printed in 2001 and this sixth edition was printed in 2007.


School Personnel Administration: A California Perspective (sixth edition) is a text that provides the reader with a brief but detailed history of the personnel position in the educational field particularly in California. In addition, this text provides the reader with a comprehensive look at the roles, responsibilities, and governing laws that surround the personnel administration position.

This text is fifteen chapters and comes with a companion CD. The CD is nothing more than an outline of the text, however, it does provide some additional information in some sections of the text. The fifteen chapters focus on the personnel administration position within California. These chapters cover the following topics: history of personnel administration, the chief personnel officer, process of selecting personnel, process of evaluating personnel, process of discipline, staff development, collective bargaining, certificated personnel, classified personnel, organizational culture/climate, and the legal aspects of school personnel administration.

MY TWO AND HALF CENTS

For those of us who are looking to learn about the personnel administrative role within the educational field in California, this is a book for you. School Personnel Administration: A California Perspective contains a great deal of information about the personnel administrative position. This information is concise and easy to read. However, it is not light reading. When reading this textbook, I highly recommend you read 1-2 chapters per sitting. The text is so rich with information, it can be overwhelming and you may miss vital information if you rush through the text.

I found this textbook to be very informative and worthy of my professional bookshelf. As I read through the text, many of the questions and misunderstandings surrounding the personnel administrative department were answered. This text will help all of those who have worked or are currently working in the educational field gain a better understanding of how the personnel department functions and why they do what they do. I recommend this text for those who have become interested in a position within the personnel administration department.