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Hiring for diversity: practices of human resource administrators in minority majority school districts in Texas

The focus of this study was on hiring practices in Texas school districts of over
500 students containing ethnic minority students as the majority of the student
population. It examined differences between the practices of districts with ethnic
minority teachers as the majority of the teaching population as compared to districts
with ethnic minority teachers as the minority of the teaching population. The study
compares the role and title of human resource administrators, method of attracting a
candidate pool, and if a formal statement of intent to hire a diverse staff existed.
Surveys were mailed to human resource administrators in 227 Texas school
districts. The following practices have been observed at a statistically significant
level: There is an administrator responsible for teacher recruitment employed 100%
for human resources and that individual does not have the title “Superintendent.”
There is a formal statement of intent to have a diverse or reflective staff. Posting job
vacancies through local newspapers and major statewide universities were the
methods used by a statistically significantly higher proportion of districts with a
diversified staff. Posting at the Texas Education Agency Service was used by a statistically significant higher proportion of districts where the teacher population is
less diverse and reflective of the student population. In districts where the teacher
population is more diverse and reflective of the student population, there is a
significantly lower proportion of districts that utilize statewide universities in
recruiting and obtaining a pool of candidates to hire. The difference between the
proportions of districts that utilized all other types of specific postings, including
technological methods listed in this observational study, was not statistically
significant.
The traditional practices of hiring teachers for our school systems must change to
reflect the pluralistic society of today. The findings of this research support that
leadership, as expressed by a clear mission statement with intent to hire a reflective
staff and the assignment of an administrator whose sole responsibility is for human
resources, can and will overcome barriers toward hiring a reflective staff.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2339
Date15 May 2009
CreatorsVaughan, Donna Alonzo
ContributorsHoyle, John
Source SetsTexas A and M University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeBook, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text
Formatelectronic, application/pdf, born digital

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