Date of Award

Fall 9-13-2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Executive Ed.D. in Education Leadership Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Elaine Walker, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Daniel Gutmore, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Patricia Madeira, Ph.D.

Keywords

teacher hiring, teacher screening process, interview, teacher application, teacher credentialing, teacher training, teacher effectiveness, Pennsylvania, educational policy

Abstract

Hiring the most effective teachers not only has an impact on America’s children, but on America’s economic future as well. For two decades, much research about the failings of America’s schools has been conducted. Since the advent of No Child Left Behind (2002), never has more focus been applied to teaching quality. Hiring the best teachers for our children leverages the single largest in-school influence on achievement. James Coleman, in his seminal work, The Coleman Report (1967), notes that a child’s home socio-economic status and race are more significant influences than any in-house school influence. Subsequent research on teacher quality indicates that it is more influential than originally published in his study, although race and socio-economic status remain huge negative influences on student achievement scores. In this study, the Pennsylvania policies for training, credentialing, hiring and evaluating teachers were analyzed for their coherence with what is known in the body of research about effective teachers, and how hiring administrators utilize these policies to inform their decisions on which teacher candidates were offered interviews.

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