Certify, Blink, Hire: An Examination of the Process and Tools of Teacher Selection

While much is written about the process of employee selection in other occupations, there has been little discussion on the process and tools of teacher selection and why it occurs as it does. To understand this question, we conduct an extensive literature review in which we compare teacher hiring with hiring in other occupations. We also present new findings from interviews with school principals and district administrators in a mid-sized Florida school district. Our results suggest that the screening and selection process in teaching is not much different from occupations with similar levels of complexity. A theory emerges from the review and analysis that explains the choice of process and reliance on certain tools in teacher hiring. The theory focuses especially on the costs of various tools and processes, the types and quality of information that come from them and the distinctive features of nature of teaching as an occupation and schools as organizations.

985_aera2007teacherselection.pdf