Administration | Feature
Can Technology Predict Teacher Success?
Busy districts are turning to technological solutions to help them vet and select applicants for teaching positions
- By Bridget McCrea
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Inundated with job applications and short on time and human resources, school districts across the country are turning to technology to help them sort through possible candidates and determine their potential effectiveness in the classroom. Here’s how three districts are using software to predict and track teachers’ impact on student learning.
With 160 schools to staff and 145,000 students to serve, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (NC) gets a high volume of applications for teaching positions every year. To help streamline the hiring process, the district’s principals have long relied on technology to filter and prioritize candidates before any interviews or follow-up calls take place. Up until October 2012, the district used an applicant-assessment tool that did a fair job of vetting candidates — but didn’t include any parameters related to student outcomes. Feedback from users was lukewarm, said Talla Rittenhouse, executive director of sourcing and onboarding for the district. Eventually the system was mothballed, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg shopped around for a solution that was based on student outcomes. In June 2013, it found what it was looking for in the TeacherMatch platform, which uses Educators Professional Inventory (EPI) assessments to identify top candidates and predict those candidates’ impact on student achievement.
TeacherMatch allows principals to review a list of candidates, prioritize those individuals and then set up interviews based on that prioritization. “They aren’t making hiring decisions on the system,” said Rittenhouse, “but they are deciding which candidates to interview.” TeacherMatch stores a score for each applicant, so if the district is having a tough time finding a middle school science teacher, for example, Rittenhouse can look at recent “finalists” who would be good matches for the positions. “If a candidate has a good TeacherMatch score — but wasn’t ultimately hired — I can go back and give him or her a second look,” said Rittenhouse, “and consider that person for a school that he or she didn’t previously apply to.”
One Piece of the Hiring Puzzle
Another tool designed to help districts hire teachers who will have a positive impact on student learning is Hanover Research’s Paragon K12 solution, which ranks applicants according to the statistical likelihood of their positively impacting student outcomes. The platform also provides information on each candidate that a hiring manager can use to assess cultural fit and to set up in-person interviews. This month, Fairfield Public Schools (CT) will roll out the solution in its 17 schools.
According to Ann Leffert, director of human resources, the 10,000-student district has been using Hanover Research’s products for several years, and was previously using a system that conducted side-by-side comparisons of potential job candidates based on how those candidates “feel” about the teaching profession. “We’ve been using that system for quite a while as part of our application process for certified staff members,” said Leffert. “When Hanover Research approached us about its teacher effectiveness tool, we thought it sounded very exciting and useful for what we were trying to accomplish.”
Once in place, Fairfield’s teacher assessment tool will allow prospects to apply online through the district’s website. As part of that process, applicants will take an online survey that will be used to rate potential hires in several different areas. The survey responses, said Leffert, will help the district determine each candidate’s potential effectiveness in the classroom. “Ultimately,” she said, “we’re hoping it will improve our ability to judge a prospective teacher.”
Leffert is quick to point out that the district doesn’t plan to begin making hiring decisions based solely 