The Relationship Between Educator Applicant Essay Quality/Content and Hiring, Retention, and Effectiveness Outcomes

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Six
  In Roundtable Session: Show Me the Honey: Consideration in Attracting Talent to Schools and Classrooms (Table 11)

Abstract

Identifying high-quality teachers at the point of hire can reduce future recruitment costs and minimize the impact of attrition on school organizations and student learning. One low-cost way to screen applicants and learn about their beliefs, values, and pedagogy is through their job application essays. The present study analyses six years of educator applicant data from a large urban school district in California. Using multiple text analysis techniques, we evaluated the quality and topics of essays that applicants submitted. We find that people from different backgrounds write essays with varying quality and content, which affects their hiring outcomes and performance on the job.

Authors

• Yujia Liu, Kansas State University
  Presenting Author

• Emily K. Penner, University of California - Irvine
  Presenting Author

• Sabrina Solanki, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xuehan Zhou, University of California - Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author