National Survey of Secondary Education. Bulletin, 1932, No. 17. Monograph No. 12: Selection and Appointment of Teachers

Office of Education, United States Department of the Interior.

N

124

Secondary Schools; Principals; Superintendents; Urban Schools; Secondary School Teachers; Teacher Salaries; Teacher Competencies; Preservice Teachers; Teacher Selection; Counties; Work Environment; Teacher Effectiveness; Check Lists; National Surveys; Administrator Attitudes; Research Methodology; Teacher Persistence; Teacher Recruitment

The study of the practices in the selection and appointment of teachers indicates that the specific methods employed in locating, selecting, and appointing teachers differ considerably in cities of various sizes, in different regions of the country, and in the various types of schools. In 1930 about 8 per cent of the secondary-school teaching staff and about 15 per cent of the teaching staff of elementary schools were newly appointed in the city school systems reporting in this study. In the independent secondary schools and county systems the proportion of the staff made up each year of new appointees amounts to more than one-fourth of the total number of employees. The fact that many new teachers are needed each year makes it necessary for school executives to exercise very great care in the selection of teachers. Poor teachers are, in the long run, expensive teachers. Through the careful selection of personnel, provision for satisfactory working conditions, and adequate salary schedules the teaching corps may be continually improved from year to year. With proper procedures good teachers can often be retained and new teachers of high quality selected to fill vacant positions. This and other studies show that new teachers are located, selected, and appointed by a variety of procedures. As yet, however, little real evidence has been published to show which of the methods are most effective in obtaining competent teachers. The data for this study have been secured primarily from three sources: (1) literature dealing with methods of teacher selection and appointment; (2) check lists sent to superintendents of school systems and to principals of public secondary schools; and (3) materials sent to the survey by the superintendents and principals responding to the inquiry forms. The study is an investigation of both status and of innovating practices. In this respect, it differs from the majority of the projects of the National Survey of Secondary Education since most of these projects have been concerned with practices in innovating schools only. This bulletin is divided into nine chapters, as follows: (1) The Problem and Methods of Investigation; (2) Employment of Teachers; (3) Types of Teachers Appointed; (4) Locating Prospective Teachers; (5) Methods of Collecting Information about Prospective Teachers; (6) Procedures in Appointing the Teaching and Administrative Staff; (7) Illustrative Plans for Selecting Teachers; (8) Methods of Retaining Teachers of High Quality; and (9) Summary and Implications. (Contains 32 tables, 9 figures, and 60 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]

ERIC

2013

ED543466