Hiring New Teachers

As many know, the education system, like all things, has its faults. With that being said, how can these issues be resolved? Most importantly, what are the issues? These so called issues range from underfunding, to excessive control by the government, to unattainable standards, to the quality of teachers being hired. Many people have attempted to make the education system perfect. Many attempt to accomplish this in one big effort, which usually ends in failure. The key to successfully fix the education system not only short term, but long term is by taking baby steps. In saying this, a great starting step would be to focus on the quality of teachers being hired. Teachers are an important aspect of the foundation of the education system, and …show more content…
Clement, author of “Hiring Good Colleagues: What You Need to Know About Interviewing New Teachers,” believes that a school’s best resource in the process of hiring in new teachers is their current teachers (99). These teachers have experience in the school and in the classrooms and depending on how long they have been teaching there, they are more likely to have a good idea as to which teachers will or will not work best in their school. These teachers can help to verify the skill level of those applying to work in their related subject. According to Clement, the first step in hiring a new teacher is advertising the position in question (99). Any advertising should include a good description of the position in question along with the levels of skill and experience required for the job. The next step is to evaluate the applications received and to conduct preliminary interviews with each candidate (Clement 100). These interviews usually take place over the phone or online and are short. The main goal in the preliminary interviews is to determine whether or not the candidate is worth bring in for an on-site interview. Those who make it through the preliminary interview are brought in for the on-site interview which will then determine which candidate, if any, is hired. Clements suggests that each stage in the hiring process is important, but the on-site interview is the most important because that is the stage where the schools are able to learn the most about the candidates (Clements 101). This is the stage where questions regarding past teaching experiences and problem solving techniques are better discussed and the school can determine if the candidate is the right fit and has the correct qualifications. In a study run by Dan Goldhaber, Cyrus Grout, and Nick Huntington-Klein, authors of the article “Screen Twice, Cut