Successful secondary career and technical education programs are highly dependent on the effectiveness of the instructors tasked with preparing high school students for post-secondary employment. Many of these instructors, especially those hired straight from industry, are experts in their field of study, but lack pedagogical training. Thus, the hiring practices for selecting career and technical education teachers from industry may differ from traditional teacher hiring practices. To explore educational leaders' different approaches, a qualitative study comprised of semi-structured interviews of eight career and technical education leaders in North Texas was conducted to determine whether research-based hiring practices are being used to select teacher candidates who are most likely to succeed in the field of education. Each participant expressed using some, but not all of the research-based hiring practices. Many leaders acknowledged the challenges they face while hiring non-certified teachers, but recognized the benefits of hiring individuals with practical, real-world expertise in their perspective industries. These findings may be useful for CTE leaders as they attempt to re-evaluate their hiring practices to attract and retain highly qualified industry professionals into secondary career and technical education programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]