NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL

VOLUME 31, NUMBER 3, 2014

HIRING PERSPECTIVES OF SECONDARY

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS
Katharine Bridget Bourke
Garland Independent School District
Casey Graham Brown
University of Texas at Arlington
ABSTRACT
Federal and state educational accountability mandates and measures have
increased the standards for the hiring of teachers in public schools. Interviews
of public secondary school principals were conducted to determine the
perspectives of public secondary school principals on hiring process and
practices, as well as the perceived impact of those hiring decisions. The
overarching theme throughout this study was the clear desire of public
secondary principals to hire the best teacher candidates available for their job
openings. The process by which the respondents reached that goal included an
application preview; an almost exclusively collaborative interview process; and
a search for the best fit without regard to gender, ethnicity, or major.

Introduction

n an age of high-stakes testing for student achievement, public

school principals are faced with the task of staffing buildings with
certified classroom teachers in order to provide quality instruction
for students (Jensen, 1986; Karp, 2003). Administrators are faced with
a burgeoning accountability system in which hiring decisions may
contribute to a schools overall success or failure. While hiring has
long been a priority to educational leaders, the No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 (S. Res. 110) has brought its significance to a new level.
While there is no single, definitive way to ensure successful hiring,
creating a high-performing learning community through teacher
recruitment and selection remains the most important task of an
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administrator.
The field of education is approaching a serious crisis in the
form of a teacher shortage. U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley
spoke on this very topic, stating that we must follow a new set of three
Rs as we go forward: "recruitment, retention, and respect" (Branch,
2000, p. 13). The first of these Rs is a prominent challenge that school
principals face: hiring the right people for the right positions (Boulton,
1969; Place & Drake, 1994; Young & Prince, 1999). The challenge is
not simply to place enough adults in front of classrooms, but to recruit
and retain teachers who have a strong positive impact on students
learning (Murnane & Steele, 2007, p. 17).
Purpose of the Study
This study sought to offer information related to the hiring of
teachers under an increased level of accountability from both state and
national educational agencies. The purpose of this phenomenological
study was to investigate the views of secondary school principals on
the connection between applicants college majors and student
achievement and the applicant qualities that matter most to principals.
Theoretical Framework
While teaching level is of great importance, so too is the
amount and type of educational coursework a teacher has had.
Whether it is within the framework of an undergraduate major, postbaccalaureate work, a masters program, or even an alternative
certification program, One strong predictor of teaching performance
is the amount of coursework in education. Studies have consistently
found positive effects of teachers formal education training on
supervisory ratings and student learning (Stronge, 2002, p. 5).
Stronge (2002) noted that the coursework considered in teacher
effectiveness studies give great heed to the positive correlations

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between a teachers formal pedagogical preparation and student

achievement, a teachers classroom management skills and his/her
preparation from a school of education, and a teachers incorporation
of experiential learning techniques for conceptual understanding and
the number of methods classes the teacher completed.
In 1996, the report of the National Commission on Teaching
and Americas Future, What Matters Most: Teaching for Americas
Future showed that teachers need more than content knowledge and
that a special blend of content and pedagogy is essential for teachers to
be effective (Thompson & Smith, 2004/2005, p. 74). The
development of curricular practices that accommodate student
diversity, develop the habits of reflective practitioners, and gain a
fuller understanding of the teachers changing roles was also
highlighted as a crucial need in the 1996 report (p. 74). With the
acknowledged need for highly qualified teachers, and the onerous task
of staffing a faculty, determining a starting point may be daunting.
Little and Miller (2003) communicated the concept of fit as
used within education: The field of person-organization fit [is]
. . . extending the traditional concept of person-job fit to define fit
broadly as congruence of personality traits, values, and beliefs of the
employee with the needs, norms, and values of the organization (p.
3). These attributes and aptitudes are rarely seen on university
transcripts or within a candidates resume, but instead during an
interview when prospective employers depend upon both verbal and
non-verbal communications (Broadley & Broadley, 2004).
In addition to a strong work ethic (Barrick & Mount, 1991;
Digman, 1990; Peabody & Goldberg, 1989), Trimble (2001) noted that
top administrators sought out such abstract notions as potential, people
skills, and communication skills. Potential, in Trimbles estimation,
referred to the ability of an applicant to use his or her existing skill set
to blossom into effective teachers through training and mentoring (p.
45).

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The ability to connect with students is paramount to a teachers

success in the classroom. Often this is seen through the quality of
compassion, but the key is that the teacher has to be able to establish a
rapport with students that demonstrates that the teacher cares about the
student. Marzano (2011) noted that the keystone to establishing such
positive relationships with students is for teachers to develop positive
perceptions through their actions.
Method of Procedure
Designed to discover the qualities public secondary school
principals consider most important in light of the requirements of
NCLB of 2001, in-depth interviews were conducted of 13 public
secondary school principals. A qualitative research study with a
phenomenological design was used (Rossman & Rallis, 2012).
Participants were selected using snowball sampling from three
convenience-sampled school districts; the number of participants was
finalized once sufficiency and saturation were reached as related to the
responses and emergent themes. Qualitative description was used to
cultivate a rich understanding of the perspectives of principals
(Lincoln & Guba, 1985).
Open coding (Flick, 2006) and axial coding (Strauss & Corbin,
1990) revealed the themes in principals responses. The transcribed
interviews were categorized by question; answers were scrutinized for
similarities and trends. Coding occurred when topics appeared across
multiple transcripts. Themes, and their outliers, were documented as
they emerged.
Findings
Public secondary principals indicated their desire to hire the
best applicants for their open teaching positions. This overarching
theme was borne through the inherently similar process by which
participants attained that goal across both districts of varying size and

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educational levels: beginning with an application preview; followed by

a largely collaborative interview process; and undergirded by a desire
to find the best fit without regard to major, gender, or ethnicity.
Principals also indicated the characteristics they would like a teaching
candidate to possess.
College Major
In seeking answers to what weight, if any, is placed on an
applicants college major to ensure higher achievement, a theme
emerged: people trump prerequisites including, but not limited to,
college major. No matter the litany of mandates placed upon
administrators, principals felt the bottom line requirement was to hire
the best candidate. This overarching theme was fleshed out with
several sub-themes all tethered to the idea that what mattered most to
principals was finding the highest quality candidate with the best fit
for their campuses.
Fit was often determined, in part, by an applicants subject area
content knowledge. Principals noted that while a major in education
was nice and would help to meet certification guidelines, their greater
interest was in knowing that the teacher candidate possessed a strong
mastery of the proposed teaching subject along with the ability to
communicate their knowledge to students. Thus, if given the choice
between an education major and a subject specific major, principals
chose the latter.
Mirroring NCLBs (2001) current requirements regarding
strength of subject area knowledge superseding educational
coursework, hiring principals noted that content knowledge, and
therefore a core major, would be a greater pull for them in an
application than an education major itself. Holding with the research
of Darling-Hammond (2000), two administrators made key points in
their responses when they dissented from the group by favoring a
background in educational pedagogy over a subject area major. One
school leader said, What I have learned is that knowing is not the

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key, teaching it is the key. Another participant echoed the position:

It depends upon their ability to communicate and articulate to
the student the content. I think you can always teach a teacher
to teach the content, to learn some content [but] if they cannot
relate to kids then they dont need to be in a classroom.
Gender
The school leaders shared a desire for a quality applicant over
an equitable balance of genders. Noting our countrys long history
with a female-dominated teaching profession, dating back to the
innovative and progressive writings and urgings of Catherine Beecher
who espoused not only women obtaining an education but also
becoming educators themselves (Public Broadcasting System, 2001),
principals shared their experiential efforts as well as their real-world
concerns regarding gender equity in secondary schools. Nearly all of
the school leaders indicated that as there are more men at the
secondary school level, gender equity has not been a major emphasis
with a handful of principals, noting one exception being a
predisposition to hiring male coaches for boys athletic teams.
However, several administrators remarked that they probably would
hire more male teachers if the pool of male applicants was larger.
While respondents commented on wanting greater gender equity and
more male role models for their students, they were uncompromisingly
consistent in their pursuit of the most qualified teacher over merely
seeking a male.
Ethnicity
While principals noted a desire for role models of
representative races, an overarching sub-theme that unfolded amongst
respondents was once again a desire for competent candidates above
all else. Diversity within the teaching ranks proved to be a strong
desire for hiring administrators. When asked about efforts taken to
advance toward racial balance, two of the districts referenced current

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66

or previous court-ordered hiring requirements related to race. While

one districts respondents referred to specific hiring percentages
mandated by the district, another referenced its policies and practices
related to recruiting at Historically Black and/or Hispanic colleges to
increase racial balance. The more diverse schools leaders indicated,
on the whole, that they sought out role models for their students with
similar backgrounds, although, as a school leader noted, and others
clearly concurred, competence is number one, above role model and
relationship. . .in the hiring. . .because you dont want a negative role
model. One administrator succinctly said, I do like to hire minority
teachers whenever I can, but by the same token, Im not willing to
sacrifice the initial vision of hiring the best people I can find.
Several school leaders similarly noted that finding qualified
minority applicants is sometimes more of a challenge for some
districts either because nearby districts offer stipends to minority or
bilingual applicants while their district does not, or because there are
so many more Anglo prospects in the pool of applicants. A common
thread across all respondents, however, was that they all fervently
wanted to hire the best applicant without regard to race.
Teacher Applicant Traits
While much of what the respondents indicated regarding how
they went about recruiting and interviewing their prospects was
similar, what they desired in those applicants diverged based upon
their individual campus needs, culture, and climate. Perhaps the best
summation of what these public secondary school principals desired
was provided by the administrator with the least experience who stated
that he looked for the three Cs: character, competence, and
chemistry. Every response provided by research participants fell into
one or more of these categories. The greatest commonality amongst
their responses had to do with the last C: chemistry. Principals wanted
teaching recruits to have chemistry with their campus, their team, their
grade level, their department, their hall, or their pod. In educational
literature this concept is most often referred to as fit.

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Intertwined with the concept of fit, in both the areas of

chemistry and competence, was the principals desire to hire an
individual who was good with kids. We live in a culture that is
remarkably unfriendly toward children in general: A good child is
one who doesnt cause us any trouble (Kohn, 1998, p. 572).
Principals also noted the traits they did not desire. In sharp
contrast to the positive abilities, aptitudes, and attitudes, school leaders
delineated three clear characteristics to avoid in a potential hire:
indifference, ineptitude, and indolence. Such qualities were an
anathema to hiring administrators.
Conclusions
The National Commission on Teaching and Americas Future
(1996) noted, the first premise is one that virtually every parent
understands and a large body of research confirms: What teachers
know and do is the most important influence on what students learn.
Competent and caring teaching should be a student right (p. 6). Since
the onset of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, principals
have had to change the complex task of hiring teachers. While they
were once able to hire teachers with the very qualities of competence
and caring as their guide, they must now first be assured of a
prospects highly qualified certification status. Although there is much
research on teacher effectiveness, a gap exists in the area of hiring
such effective teachers within the parameters set by NCLB.
While the specific terms used to describe an ideal candidate
varied, the traits principals wanted applicants to exhibit could be
fundamentally summed up by one theme: principals sought character,
competence, and chemistry. Harkening back to Darling-Hammonds
(1997) thoughts on creating schools that work, we must remember that
schools should be a source of nurturance for the spirit as well as a
means of reaching understanding (p. 31). Therefore, we must seek to
hire teachers who are able to nurture students by developing positive

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teacher to student rapport and forming educational relationships with

students. Unfortunately, determining an individuals ability to relate
with kids on such a level is difficult to assess scientifically.
Summary
Although administrators noted a desire for greater gender
equity in the form of additional male role models for secondary
students, their demand for a quality applicant superseded their desire
for an equitable balance of genders on their campuses. Respondents
showed an unwavering stipulation for competent candidates above all
else. The leaders longed for role models of representative races but
were unwilling to compromise competency to gain equality.
Without the traits of character, competence, and chemistry,
students will not be receiving the best instruction. While NCLB of
2001 was designed to ferret out one of these traits, competence, school
leaders maintain and existing literature supports that candidates
certification credentials do not always reflect their ability to relate and
communicate their knowledge in a way that students comprehend
and/or care to try. Therefore, principals maintain that teacher
certification will remain just one factual facet in the complex task of
hiring the best teachers. What matters most are the people themselves.

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