Employers need a systematic approach for sorting and selecting the best new hires, and hiring may be enhanced by the use of teachers in the process. This article discusses information-rich job advertisements, behavior-based interview questions, and how to objectively evaluate candidates in preliminary and on-site interviews. Candidates' past…

Based on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance, behavior-based interviewing uses specific questions based on teacher candidates' skills, background, and experience to determine if they can do the job.

School administrators have some tough hiring decisions to make, and an interview to select the most highly qualified applicants is critically important. Even before the mandates of No Child Left Behind, school administrators strove to hire the best new teachers. Competent, caring, qualified teachers are the keys to enhanced student achievement.…

Behavior-based interviewing (BBI) has been used in the business world for decades as a way to select new hires whose past behaviors indicate future success. Behavior-based interviews are based on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance and that interview questions should evaluate the knowledge, skills, and…

In this article, the author shares her mother's teaching career without any college education or teacher training and discusses what it conveys about teachers who are not fully certified. While the author favors more traditional paths to teaching, culminating in full certification, she admits that there are other viable options. Just as 60 years…

Developing best practices in the hiring of new teachers has become a necessity in times of teacher shortages. Personnel directors and principals charged with recruitment must be able to distinguish the most qualified applicants and to hire those with the most potential to succeed and remain in the profession. Behavior-based interviewing (BBI) is a…

The use of behavior-based interviewing in the business world to identify the strongest candidates who are best suited to positions may now be coming of age in the world of education. Because middle school environments must provide strong educational experiences for their students, behavior-based interviewing may help schools hire new teachers who…

This guide provides principals with useful information about hiring teachers, including checklists for organizing the search for qualified candidates, recommendations on how to identify suitable applicants, and sample interview questions. In an increasingly competitive employment environment, school district personnel systems can help, or hinder,…

This work explores the process of devising effective recruitment, hiring, training, and retention strategies for new teachers. Chapter 1, "The Need for New Teachers," documents the growing need for teachers due to growing enrollment, retirement, and increasing specialization. Chapter 2, "Envisioning and Defining the New…