Teacher Hiring: The Disconnect Between Research Based Best Practice and Processes Used by School Principals

Abstract

Student success is dependent on teacher quality; therefore, it is imperative that principals hire the teachers most likely to experience success as measured by the impact on student outcomes. This study investigated teacher hiring processes to determine the extent to which practices that are supported by selection science and teacher quality research are utilized by school principals. Data were gathered using a survey e-mailed to principals in ten states in the southern and western regions of the United States. Analysis indicated that principals do not use consistent processes and vary the hiring approach based on their opinion of conditions. Principals favor traditional interviews as the primary teacher selection instrument and are unlikely to utilize predictive screening tools or research-based structured interviews. In most cases, principals do not make final hiring decisions based on measurable data or research-based qualities known to be predictive of high teacher performance. Most principals reported extremely limited teacher selection training through one-time workshops and graduate courses. This research is limited by the participation of principals in only ten states but implies that there is a disconnect between research-based best practices for teacher hiring and the actual processes used by principals.

Perceived Fairness of Teacher Selection Process in Turkey

“…However, numerous studies have found striking inconsistencies between the rationale of the proposed selection methods and their actual implementation or practice (Hextall, Mahony, & Menter 2001). More importantly, research reveals that school principals with autonomy in the teacher selection process may follow different strategies (Engel & Curran 2016) and that research-based practices are not followed in actual teacher selection (Kimbrel 2019). For example, in a study of teacher selection for 31 public schools in Chicago, Engel and Curran (2016) found that the most frequently used strategic hiring practices were referrals from and outside schools, and that some school districts engaged in very few strategic hiring practices.…”

“…This is largely because it has important advantages over other employee selection methods, such as providing in-depth information, encouraging a good fit for the required position, allowing both applicants and schools to exchange information and expectations, and mutual evaluation (Liu and Johnson 2006). Generally, interviews are preferable teacher selection methods by schools and administrators (Schaefers & Terhart 2006;Mertz, 2010;Kimbrel, 2019). However, this method might be unfavourable for decision makers because of disadvantages, such as time consumption, cost, bias of interviewers, and interpretation.…”

The Impact of Virtual Employment Interviews on the Teacher Hiring Process

“…School leaders were faced with many unknown factors during the pandemic related school closures, and they finished the 2019-2020 school year not knowing when and how their schools would reopen. The undetermined length of school closures forced principals to rethink teacher hiring processes, which typically rely on face-to-face interactions and in-person, conversational interviews (Kimbrel, 2019a). The traditional employment interview is the most commonly used tool for the selection of employees in industries and organizations across the United States (Crosby, 2000) and the field of I education is no exception as most principals rely on interviews as their primary source of information regarding a candidate (Cannata et al, 2017).…”