One of the most important ways that administrators influence student achievement is by recruiting and hiring (and ultimately retaining and sustaining) highly effective teachers. Having tools to assist administrators in identifying such teachers is essential, yet the traditional mechanisms used to identify highly effective teachers fall short. At Snow Elementary, Principal David Lewis is charged with hiring the best candidate for a teacher opening in third grade; however, the principal is faced with a dilemma of two equally qualified candidates that present with very different dispositions about teaching and learning. Readers will reflect upon existing tools for hiring, have conversations about ways to improve the process and tools, and consider how dispositions can be used to identify highly effective or potentially highly effective teachers.
BerlinerD. (2011). Rational responses to high stakes testing: The case of curriculum narrowing and the harm that follows. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41, 287–302.
2.
Cain-CastonM. (1999). A survey of opinions of North Carolina school administrators regarding factors considered most important in hiring teachers for their first teaching position. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 26(2), 69.
3.
CannataM.EngelM. (2012). Does charter status determine preferences? Comparing the hiring preferences of charter and traditional public-school principals. Education Finance and Policy, 7(4), 455–488. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00076
4.
CannataM.RubinM.GoldringE.GrissomJ. A.NeumerskiC. M.DrakeT. A.SchuermannP. (2017). Using teacher effectiveness data for information-rich hiring. Educational Administration Quarterly, 53(2), 180–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x16681629
5.
ClotfelterC. T.LaddH. F.VigdorJ. L. (2007). Teacher credentials and student achievement: Longitudinal analysis with student fixed effects. Economics of Education Review, 26(6), 673–682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.10.002
6.
Cohen-VogelL.LittleM.FierroC. (2019). Evidence-based staffing in high schools: Using student achievement data in teacher hiring, evaluation, and assignment. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 18(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2017.1326146
7.
CollinsonV.KilleavyM.StephensonH. (1999). Exemplary teachers: Practicing an ethic of care in England, Ireland, and the United States. Journal for a Just and Caring Education, 5(4), 340–366.
8.
EngelM. (2013). Problematic preferences? A mixed method examination of principals’ preferences for teacher characteristics in Chicago. Educational Administration Quarterly, 49(1), 52–91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x12451025
GrissomJ. A.EgaliteA. J.LindsayC. A. (2021). How principals affect students and schools: A systematic synthesis of two decades of research. The Wallace Foundation. http://www.wallacefoundation.org/principalsynthesis
11.
GuoY.ConnorC. M.YangY.RoehrigA. D.MorrisonF. J. (2012). The effects of teacher qualification, teacher self-efficacy, and classroom practices on fifth graders’ literacy outcomes. The Elementary School Journal, 113(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1086/665816
12.
HarrisD. N.RutledgeS. A.IngleW. K.ThompsonC. C. (2010). Mix and match: What principals really look for when hiring teachers. Education Finance and Policy, 5(2), 228–246. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.2010.5.2.5205
13.
HattieJ.ZiererK. (2018). 10 mindframes for visible learning: Teaching for success. Routledge. (Original work published 2017).
14.
HensonR. K.KoganL. R.Vacha-HaaseT. (2001). A reliability generalization study of the Teacher Efficacy Scale and related instruments. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 404–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131640121971284
15.
Hinnant-CrawfordB. N. (2019). Legislating instruction in urban schools: Unintended consequences of accountability policy on teacher-reported classroom goal structures. Urban Education, 58(1), 3–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085938004
16.
IngleK.RutledgeS.BishopJ. (2011). Context matters: Principals’ sensemaking of teacher hiring and on-the-job performance. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(5), 579–610. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231111159557
17.
JacobB. A.RockoffJ. E.TaylorE. S.LindyB.RosenR. (2018). Teacher applicant hiring and teacher performance: Evidence from DC public schools. Journal of Public Economics, 166, 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.08.011
KraftM. A.LyonM. A. (2024). The rise and fall of the teaching profession: Prestige, interest, preparation, and satisfaction over the last half century. American Educational Research Journal, 61(6), 1192–1236. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312241276856
21.
LiuE.JohnsonS. M. (2006). New teachers’ experiences of hiring: Late, rushed, and information-poor. Educational Administration Quarterly, 42(3), 324–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316X05282610
22.
LoebS.KalogridesD.BéteilleT. (2012). Effective schools: Teacher hiring, assignment, development, and retention. Education Finance and Policy, 7(3), 269–304. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00068
23.
MasonR. W.SchroederM. P. (2010). Principal hiring practices: Toward a reduction of uncertainty. The Clearing House, 83(5), 186–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098650903583727
PerroneF.MeyersC. V. (2023). A review of the research on teacher hiring in the United States (2001-2021). Journal of Education Human Resources. https://doi.org/10.3138/jehr-2022-0041
26.
PlayerD.YoungsP.PerroneF.GroganE. (2017). How principal leadership and person-job fit are associated with teacher mobility and attrition. Teaching and Teacher Education, 67, 330–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.06.017
27.
SandersW. L.RiversJ. C. (1996). Cumulative and residual effects of teachers on future student academic achievement (Research Progress Report). University of Tennessee Value-Added Research and Assessment Center.
ThorntonH. (2006). Dispositions in action: Do dispositions make a difference in teacher practice?Teacher Education Quarterly, 33(2), 53–68.
30.
Vasquez HeiligJ.Darling-HammondL. (2008). Accountability Texas-style: The progress and learning of urban minority students in a high-stakes testing context. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 30(2), 75–110.
31.
WayneA. J.YoungsP. (2003). Teacher characteristics and student achievement gains: A review. Review of Educational Research, 73(1), 89–122. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543073001089
