A new working paper by Brown University researchers Jessalynn James, Matthew A. Kraft and John Papay demonstrates that the timing of job postings is important to the quality of new hires that school districts receive.
Using data from Boston Public Schools, the researchers explore how teacher labor supply is affected by types of positions, schools, and time of job postings. The findings showed that when schools have earlier job postings they tend to hire more effective teachers. The researchers also looked at the size of applicant pool and found that more applicants did not correlate with higher quality hires.
These findings correspond with results that the District of Columbia Public Schools realized when it began its recruitment process earlier in the school year. The research suggests that districts should reduce late teacher hiring as a means of increasing teacher quality.
-Robert Nishimwe