A Study Of The Effectiveness Of The Applitrack Teacherfit Hiring Selection

Abstract

Many scholars indicate that the hiring of teachers is one of the most vital tasks of a school district. This is because hiring the best candidates can be extremely impactful on student achievement. Utilizing data in all aspects of a school organization is taking on a more valuable role, as many states require reporting metrics on student achievement and teacher evaluation. The increasing cost of teacher turnover is presenting school districts with financial burdens as teacher retention is becoming a major issue for many school districts; especially urban school districts that may not receive as many applicants to their district. Moreover, with a teacher shortage facing school districts across the nation, it is critically important to hire the best teachers and avoid the costly teacher contract cancelation process when making a poor hire. A screening tool such at the Applitrack TeacherFit can be of service to a school administrator responsible for hiring by examining behavior based characteristics measured by a research based teacher selection tool. The purpose of this study is to determine if the Applitrack TeacherFit selection assessment tool has a statistically significant relationship with a teacher’s summative evaluation gathered for all new teachers hired at an Indiana urban school district during the 2013-2014 school year. Overall results of this correlational study yielded a non-significant relationship between the TeacherFit selection tool and a teacher’s summative evaluation; however, there were practical significant points shared in this study that can be beneficial to school districts when considering a teacher selection tool as part of their hiring process.