Publications

Designed around the job models of an Opportunity Culture, this toolkit includes job descriptions, behavioral competencies, and companion tools to select, evaluate, and develop teachers and staff.

This book by Signe and Lyle Spencer summarizes several decades of experience using the Behavior Event Interview method for selecting job candidates who are more likely to succeed in a particular role, based on the research of David McClelland, a pioneer in competency research and testing. The book includes a competency dictionary with scoring criteria for the competencies that predict superior performance in many jobs, including teaching. 

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board wrote this report to the president and Congress to help federal agencies improve how they assess job candidates. In addition to summarizing existing research on the effectiveness of various assessment methods, including work sample demonstrations, the report examines how training and experience is assessed, identifies challenges in obtaining accurate and useful information from applicants, and provides strategies for improving assessments. 

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board wrote this report to the president and Congress to help federal agencies improve how they assess job candidates. In addition to summarizing existing research on the effectiveness of various assessment methods, the report examines how training and experience is assessed, identifies challenges in obtaining accurate and useful information from applicants, and provides strategies for improving such assessments.

This research review examines studies on the effectiveness of employment interviews in predicting future job behavior, including candidate and interview factors that may affect the interview process.  

This article reviews research on the selection tools and recruitment strategies that work, and which staffing and recruiting methods lead to positive applicant perceptions. It reviews the gaps in knowledge and implementation in these areas.

This report from the SHRM Foundation turns research findings and expert opinion into specific advice on how to conduct effective human resource practices, including selection of successful candidates.

This tool from the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession can be used for selecting teacher leaders as well as for designing training and development support.

In this book, Teach for America distills what it has learned about effective teacher practice into six principles, such as setting goals and investing students and families in the work; it also explores the competencies that set apart highly successful teachers in low-income communities, which is useful for districts in screening candidates. 

This classic book on the power of teams emphasizes a results-oriented approach to team leadership. According to the authors, teams respond more effectively to specific performance expectations than to general exhortations or soft skills. Great team leaders, they suggest, are accountable for organizational goals, build trust and confidence in the team’s ability to accomplish its mission, and help their team members get past individual hurdles.