Michael DeArmond

Is It Better to Be Good or Lucky? Decentralized Teacher Selection in 10 Elementary Schools.

In this article, the authors explore how school-based hiring reforms play out among schools serving different students in different locations within a single district. In particular, they consider how the intersection of school-based capacity and local school context affect teacher selection practice and outcomes. The analysis is based on a qualitative field study that describes recruitment and interview practices in 10 elementary schools in a large, decentralized urban school district. In addition to conducting interviews with school and district personnel, the authors observed a district-run training session for school-based interview teams and examined district and school documents, including district administrative data on vacancies and assignments for the 2006-2007 school year. All of the schools followed a common hiring procedure, but the authors found striking differences in the extent to which the schools actively recruited teachers and articulated consistent hiring priorities. The authors argue that these differences and the schools’ subsequent hiring outcomes are contingent on a complex interaction of school-based knowledge, resource constraints, and each school’s relative standing in the district’s internal labor market.The article highlights contingencies that offer an important caveat to the premise that school-based hiring will, by virtue of empowerment alone, lead to more effective teacher recruitment and selection.

How Do Charter Schools Compete for Teachers? A Local Perspective

Charter schools are held up as examples of the benefits of a freer approach to hiring teachers. Most studies of charter school personnel policies, however, overlook important variation in personnel practice within the charter school sector. Examining how charter schools use recruitment timelines and teacher compensation to complete for teachers in their local context, the authors found that charter schools most often distinguish themselves from their local districts by experimenting with merit pay. Despite competitive efforts, the schools performance—and not competitive recruitment or compensation practice—appears to be the strongest predictor of both the quality and quantity of applicants to a school.

From the Billboard to the School Board: How Many Leaders Does It Take to Reform Fort Worth?.

This case covers the period 1993 to 2003. It tells the story of the challenges the Fort Worth Independent School District board faced when the state accountability system revealed extremely poor student achievement and a stark achievement gap. To address the problem, the board hired a dynamic superintendent, Dr. Tom Tocco, who initiated aggressive instructional changes, particularly around reading instruction. Throughout this time, Tocco worked closely with Gary Manny, longtime president of the school board, to maintain district and community support. Manny’s death in March 2002 led to internal board turmoil and questions about the role of the board president and how board leadership should be selected.