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
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:123456789/193418 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Atha, John Fitzgerald. |
| Contributors | Sharp, William L. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xiv, 159 p. : digital, PDF file, ill. |
| Source | CardinalScholar 1.0 |
| Coverage | n-us-in |
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