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…

Persistent and consistent criticism of our nation's educational system has increased pressure on school districts and teacher education programs to improve the quality of teachers in our public schools. While there is research regarding the characteristics of effective teachers, the difficulty is often in identifying and hiring those teacher…

Rural schools are struggling to fill their classrooms with highly qualified teachers. Although the criteria, as per the federal government, for identifying a teacher as highly qualified is quite simple the criteria in the perspective of rural administrators is rather complex. The challenge of identifying teachers as highly qualified to teach in…

Purpose: One bad hiring decision can lead to low student achievement. Research supports that teachers are the most influential factor in student success. As a result, principals' current practice of hiring teachers based on intuition and likeability must change. Given the current high stakes era, principals need reassurance that the teachers they…