Making the Cut: The Effectiveness of Teacher Screening and Hiring in the Los Angeles Unified School District

Paul Bruno, Katharine O. Strunk

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Many schools and districts have considerable discretion when hiring teachers, yet little is known about how that discretion should be used. Using data from a new teacher screening system in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), we find that performance during screening, and especially performance on specific screening assessments, is significantly and meaningfully predictive of hired teachers’ evaluation outcomes, contributions to student achievement, attendance, and mobility. However, applicants’ performance on individual components of the screening process are differentially predictive of different teacher outcomes, highlighting challenges and potential trade-offs faced by districts during screening.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)426-460
JournalEducational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Volume41
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • policy
  • policy analysis
  • regression analyses
  • school/teacher effectiveness
  • secondary data analysis
  • teacher characteristics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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