Teacher Hiring and Fit Within A Diverse School District

ABSTRACT

Research examining the teacher hiring process is scant and has largely ignored the principal’s role. This qualitative, comparative case study uses Person-Environment fit to explore teacher hiring in two high schools with divergent characteristics in the same district. Findings suggest that fit is a dynamic quality, depending on school context and evolving through the phases of hiring and into job performance. Moreover, the dynamic of fit hinges on teacher experience and subject area taught. Awareness of varied trajectories of fit are crucial to the ability of the principal to design an approach to hiring appropriate to her or his school.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Some recent qualitative research has enhanced understanding of contextual dynamics of teacher hiring, such as constraints principals face (Donaldson, 2013) or discrimination in the hiring process (e.g., Hart & Hart, 2018). However, the six studies outlined in this section are the only recent ones to examine the actors’ (e.g., principals, teachers) actual actions and strategies in use.

2. The Chorus teacher began as a long-term substitute the previous December and went through a series of interviews to gain her permanent position. Her interviews helped triangulate data and inform our findings but her interview experiences are excluded from our findings because our primary interest is in the traditional interview process.

3. ESL and Spanish both report to the World Language department chair at Barnes High School.