They bring portfolios to interviews. Not nearly as much is done online, in the screening and hiring processes, as it is at within other districts nowadays. The Rio Linda Union School District's still-centralized hiring, according to Barker, allows for greater consistency in hiring. Barker also added, however, that unlike in the past, she now considers it best for principals to select their own new hires from a pool of recently hired candidates, in order to best meet the needs of, and have the best fit with, that principal's own school. This, Barker said, is because unlike in the past, schools today must rely so much on collaboration and teamwork within each school, so a new hire's being the best fit for that school is more important than ever. Barker said she also frequently attends job fairs as part of the district's ongoing recruiting efforts, and takes principals with her to these job fairs.

Recommendations for Improvement of Practice

Measures that the author of this study believes might improve recruitment and hiring practices now used within the Rio Linda Union School District, several...

Instead of teacher candidates' bringing in portfolios, for example, they might give PowerPoint presentations on their attitudes about and practices in teaching. It would be helpful also, to be able to see videos of their teaching.
The author of this study also asked several principals what they believed could improve the current district-wide hiring and recruiting system. Many said that they might like to see job candidates actually teaching in a classroom, that is, either through a demonstration lesson with a class that is unfamiliar to them, or with a class in which they had done student teaching.

References

Barker, B. (October 17, 2005). Interview. Rio Linda Union School District Office,

California.

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