ERIC Number: EJ922053
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Aug
Pages: 37
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-161X
EISSN: N/A
New Teachers' Experiences of Hiring: Late, Rushed, and Information-Poor
Liu, Edward; Johnson, Susan Moore
Educational Administration Quarterly, v42 n3 p324-360 Aug 2006
Purpose: Teacher hiring decisions have far-reaching consequences for a school, its students, and faculty. This article examines how new teachers in four states are hired and explores whether the process leads to good matches between these individuals and their schools. The authors conceive of hiring as a two-way process and examine the extent to which the hiring process provides opportunities for prospective teachers and schools to collect rich information about, and form accurate impressions of, one another. Research Methods: This study surveyed a representative random sample of 486 first-year and second-year teachers in California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Participants were chosen using two-stage stratified cluster sampling, and the study achieved a response rate of 65%. Statistical methods used in the analysis include principal components analysis, chi-square analysis, and t tests. Findings: The data reveal that the majority of new teachers in these states are hired through a decentralized, school-based process. Despite the opportunity this provides schools and prospective teachers to explore the potential match between them, most new teachers actually have limited interactions with school-based personnel during the hiring process, and the process is relatively information-poor. Many new teachers are also hired quite late--more than one third of new teachers in California and Florida are hired after the school year has already started. Implications: The results of our analysis suggest that shifting hiring decisions to the school level is not sufficient to guarantee information-rich hiring. They also suggest that schools may need help removing barriers to conducting more information-rich hiring. (Contains 8 tables and 16 notes.)
Descriptors: Beginning Teachers, Teacher Recruitment, Item Analysis, Teacher Selection, Decision Making Skills, Evaluation Criteria, Teacher Attitudes, School Organization, Interviews, Statistical Analysis, Employer Employee Relationship, Access to Information
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California; Florida; Massachusetts; Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A