Recruitment and Selection

This report examines five urban school districts and the challenges they face in identifying, selecting, and recruiting school leaders. The report suggests that districts need to reimagine the role of a principal, with the dual goals of making the role attractive to talented leaders and equipping leaders to execute their role successfully.

In this report, the Center for American Progress looks at the increasing demands placed on principals in today’s schools, which are leading to growing rates of attrition in the field. The report includes an examination of the changing landscape of school leadership and the increasing demands of teacher evaluation and development and instructional improvement, which coexist alongside more traditional administrative duties.

This publication reports the results of the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) of 100,000 teachers and leaders in 34 countries and economies. To inform efforts to recruit, retain, and develop teachers worldwide, the survey examines how teachers are recognized, evaluated, and rewarded. The report includes a summary of findings and recommendations for teachers and leaders on areas of improvement, including school leadership, teacher appraisal and feedback, school climate, professional development and teaching practices.

Published by the Center for American Progress, the report focuses on the need to build a more racially and ethnically diversified teaching workforce. The study looks at the obstacles that limit the supply of highly effective teachers of color and the difficulties in retaining teachers of color. The impact that the disproportionate number of teachers of color has on the growing body students of color in the United States is addressed. The report contains recommendations aimed at increasing the teachers-of-color pipeline at the federal, state, and district levels.  

This report, published by Gallup, includes data from 5th- to 12th-grade students, together with material gathered over several decades from studies focusing on the key qualities of high-performing teachers and principals. With an end goal of improving student engagement and achievement, the report looks at how principals can create high-quality learning environments within their schools and includes sections on attracting, engaging, and retaining highly effective teachers.

This webpage, published by New Leaders, includes a series of briefs that encourage a greater focus on school leadership at the federal level. The five-part series encourages policymakers to consider how various policies will impact a principal throughout his or her career. The briefs focus on creating a shared vision of leadership, pipeline development, preservice preparation, evaluation and management, and retention and rewards.

This report, published by the Asia Society, examines the strategies used to develop and support strong teaching and school leadership workforces in three very different contexts: Melbourne, Australia; Singapore; and Toronto, Canada. The report contains a cross-city analysis and three in-depth case studies examining each of the cities. Best practices identified across these cities include a shared emphasis on systemic approaches, strong recruitment initiatives, increasingly thoughtful preparation and mentoring, purposeful support for ongoing learning, and proactive leadership development.

This report—published by the Alliance for Excellent Education and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education—provides a set of case studies that examines best practices for cultivating teacher and leader effectiveness from around the globe, honing in on Finland; Ontario, Canada; and Singapore. The areas featured in this report have well-developed and effective systems in place for recruiting, preparing, developing, and retaining teachers and school leaders.

Published by the National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities, this brief highlights best practices—from across the country—for utilizing technology and social media (including Facebook and Twitter) to recruit and retain special education teachers and specialists.

Published by the National Center to Improve Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Personnel for Children with Disabilities, this case study researches the approaches three states have taken to “grow their own” special education personnel. Grow Your Own programs enable local education agencies (LEAs) to recruit and train special education employees from their own communities, often targeting high school students with an expressed interest in education careers, paraprofessionals, and/or rural educators seeking a career change. Approaches from Arizona, South Carolina, and Utah are highlighted.