Abstract
Research problem. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher recruitment practices in selected California unified school districts. Specific purposes were to: (1) describe the educational and professional backgrounds, related to recruitment, of personnel administrators; (2) determine the degree of importance assigned to teacher recruitment efforts and if a significant difference exists related to the size of the district based on total general fund budget; (3) determine districts' usage of the components of a comprehensive teacher recruitment plan; (4) identify and compare the teacher recruitment practices used by districts in relation to the size of the district based on the total general fund budget; (5) rate the personnel administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of specific recruitment practices for attracting teachers in general in relation to the size of the district based on the total general fund budget; and (6) rate the personnel administrators' perceptions of the effectiveness of specific recruitment practices for attracting underrepresented ethnic teachers in relation to the size of the district based on total general fund budget. Research methodology. This study was both descriptive and "ex post facto." A researcher-developed questionnaire was administered to personnel administrators with the title "director" or higher in California unified school districts with ADA of 50,000 or less. Statistical treatment of data in this study involved descriptive statistics, the parametric Analysis of Variance, the Scheffe post hoc test, and the nonparametric Pearson chi-square. Major findings. The findings of this study included: (1) personnel administrators are well informed regarding a variety of recruitment practices; (2) personnel administrators consider teacher recruitment to be a priority among their professional responsibilities; (3) only three of the twelve components identified as being essential in strategically planning for recruitment are being used by 60 percent or more of the districts; (4) districts are using a limited number of sixty-one specific recruitment practices; (5) for attracting teachers in general, only two of sixty-one practices were considered "highly effective," with three practices indicating significant difference related to district size; (6) for attracting underrepresented ethnic teachers, no practices were considered "highly effective." Seven practices showed significant difference related to district size. Conclusions. (1) Districts are using a limited number of teacher recruitment practices; (2) districts are not maximizing their recruitment efforts by taking advantage of long-range, strategic planning nor allocating adequate resources to support recruitment tasks; (3) the size of the district, based on total general fund budget, does not significantly impact which recruitment practices are used; (4) currently used recruitment practices are viewed as "moderately effective" in attracting qualified candidates; (5) district size is not related to the effectiveness of recruitment practices with the exception of three of the sixty-one practices; and (6) districts are not maximizing the use of promising practices for attracting underrepresented ethnic candidates. Recommendations may be inferred from the conclusions. Recommendations. (1) conduct a longitudinal case study of districts using nontraditional practices such as long-term, student-focused "grow your own" programs; (2) design a similar study to examine the use and effectiveness of teacher recruitment practices from the perspective of the principal; (3) examine the role of incentives in attracting highly qualified teachers; (4) investigate legislative reforms for long-term solutions to teacher shortages.