Gordon Donaldson, Jr. said, “The best opportunity a principal has to improve teaching and learning in a school is when a teacher is hired.” This is the basic premise from which this study began, and it suggests, that in addition to the day-to-day teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom, the next most important activity of a school district is the hiring of talented, skilled, knowledgeable, and effective teachers. In the next five years, educational leaders will have the opportunity unlike any other in the past to have a dramatic impact on the educational process. Anecdotal information is backed by the statistical data that there will be a major turnover of teachers and a dramatic need for new teachers. This study examined the hiring practices of a sample of Indiana public school principals to determine the components that school administrators use and consider most critical in hiring effective teachers, and to compare the components to what research indicates is effective practice. This examination identified the most commonly used components of the teacher hiring process across the state of Indiana, identified the most commonly involved stakeholders in the process, and identified what factors, skills, or characteristics principals utilize and look for most often when making teacher hiring decisions. Respondents completed a survey with questions based on the related literature to quantify the desired target areas focusing on strategies used in the five steps of the teacher hiring process. The questions were centered on research-based components of an effective hiring process, as well as questions focused on gaining insight from school principals into the steps they utilized and deemed important in the teacher hiring process. Principals were asked to report the extent to which they utilize each strategy as well as the degree of importance they place on each strategy. The data were presented using descriptive statistics. The findings were discussed and compared to what the literature indicates is best practice in the teacher hiring process. Recommendations for further research were offered as well as recommendations to administrators for practical strategies for creating a strategic and systemic process for recruiting, hiring, and retaining high quality teachers. / Department of Educational Leadership

Since one of the most important responsibilities of school administrators is the selection and appointment of teachers, this study was made to attempt to determine what factors most affect teacher selection in Texas and what techniques are employed in making these selections.

For the past 25 years, many high schools have taken several different approaches to educating students. These changes have been based on the conditions that we find many of our high schools in across the nation, particularly in our high poverty, urban areas. Crime is on the rise, drop out rates are at an all-time high, students are leaving high school with test scores that quite simply embarrass our nation as a whole, and many, if not most of our students in overcrowded high schools, (some topping 5,000 students) are making it through their four years without much true contact with a meaningful adult. Many families, educators, researchers, non-profit organizations, school districts, states, and even some governmental agencies have teamed up to try to find solutions to our students not being adequately prepared for college or the work force. Several high schools across the nation have taken one of many innovative approaches to educating students. These include, but are not limited to, charter schools, Schools-within-a-school models, the Big Picture Schools model, the Coalition of Essential Schools model, the America's Choice model, alternative schools, focus or theme-based schools, and small learning communities. Statistics have shown that these types of schools are making positive strides in educating high school students as well as preparing them for the work force and making them productive members of society. This study takes an in-depth look at several small high school models of choice. In addition, the researcher looks at teachers and at some of the reasons why they chose to work at a small innovative high school. The themes that emerged from the data were used to develop a profile of those teachers. Moreover, a list of recommendations is given for administrators who may be interested in recruiting teachers for a small school of choice.

One of the trends in modern public schools has been the establishment of some type of orientation program for new teachers. When the yearly increase of the number of new teachers to many systems reached. into the hundreds, the need for an organized plan of teacher induction increased. Some of these formal programs of induction appear to have been planned from projected objectives or needs previously experienced by new teachers. Other program.s of induction apparently evolved without any advanced organized plan. Studies of induction programs made by the Research Division of the National Education Association indicate that formal induction practices have been more efficient and effective than informal induction programs.

This paper is concerned with the professional preparation of teachers and seek to set forth and evaluate the ideas which teachers in the field think would improve the chances of success for the teachers now in training. Obviously, the person to realize the advantages and disadvantages if the preparation which he has had. It is apparent also, that our present system of educating teachers is out of step with present day needs in some respects. A small number of responses were received from the elementary group and therefore the conclusions which will be set forth in this article are predicated very largely upon the answers received from the others. Nevertheless, a high percentage of the suggestions and criticisms which the survey produced may be applied directly to the elementary schools. Evaluation of answers was made somewhat difficult by the fact that in some cases a given answer was not that or an individual but of a committee of teachers. Of course, such a response is really entitled to more consideration, but to know just how much more is something belonging to speculative rather than mathematical thinking. Many replies did not bear directly upon the question. Where replies do not seem to bear directly on the question considered, these will be placed at the end of each group under the heading of "Miscellaneous Replies". The responses from the committees especially, showed that the thinking was clear, concise and well organized. In many cases several answers were grouped under one heading in the compilation. Perhaps there is a need for further grouping under basic fields, but in some cases we do not have the word or words to name the basic field. This is true especially, concerning basic traits for teachers.

The purpose of this study was to give a prospective teacher some insight into evaluation criteria an employer might consider important in assessing personal qualities and professional qualifications. The study problem posed for solution was to determine the viewpoints held by Superintendents or Personnel Director, and Principals, in selected California counties, toward the screening process for selecting beginning high school Physical Education teachers; and, subsequently, to compare the viewpoints of the two respondent groups.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which elementary principals are involved in teacher selection and to determine the opinions of principals on : (a) procedures used in the selection process, (b) current status of their involvement, (c) who establishes teacher selection processes, (d) involvement of teachers in teacher selection, (e) their current level of preparation to effectively select teachers, and (f) the role of decentralized governance in teacher selection.The study sought to determine if principal involvement in teacher selection was governed by policy or superintendent regulations. Also, the study sought to determine if there was variance in teacher selection practices within a school district and possible reasons for such variance. Finally, the study sought to determine if any of three demographic variables (school district regional classification, school district enrolment, and governance structure) influenced principal involvement in teacher selection.Data were collected from 188 randomnly selected elementary principals in Indiana via a survey containing 28 items divided into 4 categories. Data were analyzed using an analysis of variance, and research decisions were based on the .05 level of significance.In general, the level of involvement of Indiana elementary principals in teacher selection is relatively high. Demographic variables incorporated in this study appeared to have little effect on principal's involvement. There were three exceptions. Where variance of practice occurred within a district, significance was found in paper screening of candidates, interviewing of candidates, and making recommendations for employment. Principals' involvement in teacher selection was not affected by regional classification, enrollment of the school district, engagement in decentralized governance, existence of regulations, or established board policy on teacher selection.Findings in this study suggested that principals were highly involved in many aspects of teacher selection with one exception, writing of the job vacancy announcement. It was also found that there was a majority of schools that did not have existing school councils. Principals believed that their involvement in teacher selection was important, yet their training in this area appeared to be limited.Based on the outcomes, recommendations for further study included assessing teacher selection practices at sites where school councils exist, examining discrepancies between perceived selfconfidence and formal training, and evaluating the role of the principal in writing job vacancy announcements. / Department of Educational Leadership

The goal of this survey was to determine if a list of skills, activities, and competencies could be developed to aid in setting uniform guidelines for recruiting and selecting prospective mid-management instructor-coordinators. The data were amassed using a questionnaire which was sent to all mid-management instructor-coordinators and to three administrators at each participating college to ascertain the opinions of those persons closely involved with mid-management. The original mailing plus follow-up mailing resulted in a return of 72.50 per cent from mid-management instructor-coordinators and a return of 68.46 per cent from administrators. The results of this study show that the participants agree on a complex set of criteria, indicating a real need to formulate new guidelines for selecting instructors, guidelines which include definite skills, activities, and competencies mutually acceptable to administrators, teachers, and the TEA.

In their efforts to make the selection and hiring process more efficient, school administrators utilize teacher selection instruments such as the Web-based TeacherInsight™ assessment tool (The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ). Tools such as these instruments are now used regularly by school systems across the nation to assess teachers regarding their knowledge, talents, skills, attitudes, and values. According to Gallup, the TeacherInsight is a predictor of teacher talent and is based on 12 themes. This study utilized 132 elementary and secondary teachers and approximately 4,500 students currently enrolled in Grades 3 through 11 to determine if the TeacherInsight is a predictor of student achievement. This study considered: (1) the relationship between the TeacherInsight and student achievement as measured by the Texas Growth Index (TGI); (2) the relationship between teacher characteristics (years of experience, level [primary or secondary], gender, age, degree) and the TeacherInsight instrument; (3) the relationship between teacher characteristics (years of experience, level [primary or secondary], gender, age, degree) and student achievement as measured by the TGI; and (4) the relationship between student classifications (limited English proficient, economically disadvantaged, at-risk) and student achievement as measured by the TGI. The analyses found a very weak positive relationship between the TeacherInsight and student achievement using the TGI in the subjects of English/ reading and math. Additional analysis based on levels (primary and secondary) between TeacherInsight scores and TGI values were not significant. Teacher characteristics were poor predictors of scores on the TeacherInsight. Of the characteristics, years of teaching experience was the strongest predictor of scores on the TeacherInsight. Although the overall analyses indicated significant relationships, they were very weak for both English/reading and math. Teacher characteristics were also poor predictors of student achievement. Again, the overall analysis indicated a significant but weak relationship for both English/reading and math. When considering the relationship between student classifications of LEP, economically disadvantaged, and at-risk, only at-risk had a weak relationship to student achievement. The findings provide little support to the validity of TeacherInsight in terms of its ability to predict student achievement scores and its usefulness as a tool for the selection of teachers by school systems. Until more extensive research is completed on the TeacherInsight and its impact on student achievement, no definitive answers for school systems can be made. Suggestions and recommendations for future studies are provided in the discussion section.