Page 30 - EdViewptsSpring2020

Hiring Fast and Slow: The Road

to the Very Best Teaching Staff

By Dr. Michael Hinman, Director of Curriculum, Galloway Township
Public Schools

The Road We Are On protocols such as screening criteria or openings (Clement, 2013), and the

Teacher effectiveness is the greatest interview procedures (Cranston 2014) importance of the selection (Engel
engenders an ongoing problem of
& Finch, 2015) it would be expected
predictor of student success (Darling- practice: sub-optimal decision-making that hiring practices would be deeply
Hammond, 2010; Stronge, Ward, & in the process of teacher hiring. It is researched, carefully and consistently
Grant, 2011). The importance of the imperative the most effective teachers practiced. This is not the case (Liu &
selection of teachers should not be are selected from the candidate pool Johnson, 2006). Schools engage in
underestimated, for as Hanushek as teachers have a profound and long- ongoing professional development,
(2011) suggests, “Replacing the bot- reaching impact on schools (Rutledge, observation, and evaluation, all with
tom eight percent of teachers with an Harris, Thompson, & Ingle, 2008). the goal of ensuring the faculty is ca-
average teacher would bring the U.S. pable of meeting the challenges of the
up to the level of Finland” (p. 475). According to the 2016 Educator Pro- profession. However, ongoing profes-
The debate over teacher evaluation vider Performance Report from the sional development or the addition of
continues, but where is the discussion New Jersey Department of Education, graduate degrees offer little impact on
of the selection process that results only a portion of trained teachers are teacher effectiveness. As it turns out,
in teacher hiring in the first place? employed in the field; of the 9,284 the relatively few hours spent screen-
Of all the decisions made by school New Jersey 2014 graduates with a ing and selecting good teachers are
principals, the hiring of teachers may certificate of eligibility with advanced far more important than the years of
be the most important task (Mason & standing, only 65% were employed training that occur after hiring (Chin-
Schroeder, 2010); however, the biases in the profession in 2016 (NJDOE). gos & Peterson, 2011).
and heuristics involved in decision- Given that the pool of teacher can-
making uncorrected by the supports of didates is greater than the available Surgeons are some of the most

Educational Viewpoints -28- Spring 2020