ERIC Number: ED658551
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Aug
Pages: 62
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Improving Hiring Decisions: Experimental Evidence on the Value of Reference Information about Teacher Applicants. Working Paper No. 306-0824
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER)
Professional references are widely used in hiring decisions, yet their effectiveness remains largely understudied. This study analyzes structured ratings collected from the professional references of teacher applicants and conduct an experiment to see whether the ratings influence hiring managers' assessments of applicants and hiring decisions. There is little evidence that providing reference ratings to hiring managers influences their evaluations of candidates or hiring choices in productive ways. However, the analysis suggests that reference ratings are predictive of future job performance independent of other applicant information available to hiring managers. The result is a paradox: reference ratings offer potentially low-cost, high-value information, but hiring managers do not appear to make productive use of them.
Descriptors: Personnel Selection, Job Applicants, Teacher Employment, Teacher Recruitment, Social Networks, Rating Scales, Influences, Public School Teachers, Employment Practices
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007. Tel: 202-403-5796; Fax: 202-403-6783; e-mail: info@caldercenter.org; Web site: https://caldercenter.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) at American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Identifiers - Location: Washington
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A170060