New research from the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) yields insights into the supply side of the teacher labor market by assessing patterns in job postings and applications for teachers in both traditional public-school districts and charter school organizations. The study finds that earlier postings attract more candidates, applicant pools shrink sharply late in the hiring season, and charters receive more applicants per opening than traditional districts.
Using data from nineteen public school districts and twenty-four charter school organizations, the researchers link data from Nimble—a K-12 applicant tracking system—with district-level information on job descriptions and student demographics. They then identify and compare key trends in job posting timelines, application volume, and variation in applicant pools across sectors.
First, they find that traditional public-school districts and charter organizations are both likely to post openings “early” (two or more weeks before the end of the school year) or “late” (fewer than two weeks before the start of the school year). But traditional public-school districts post a far larger share of openings during the peak hiring season of March to October—71 percent of openings, compared with 54 percent among charter organizations.
Second, timing strongly affects applicant interest: positions posted in the six weeks before the start of the school year receive only about half as many applications as those posted earlier across both sectors. This decline was even greater for districts offering higher salaries and those serving fewer free/reduced lunch-eligible students.
Third, charter organizations attract substantially larger applicant pools, averaging 6.1 unique applicants per opening compared with 3.3 in traditional districts. Across subject areas, special-education positions receive the fewest applicants in both public-school districts (2.4) and charter organizations (5.0), though charters still draw nearly twice as many applicants. Among traditional districts, those serving higher levels of student poverty receive fewer applicants, while those offering higher salaries receive more. But in charter organizations, applicant supply is not significantly related to student poverty levels or salary.
The researchers caution that the data do not differentiate between high- and low-quality applicants, nor do they assess whether larger hiring pools translate to better hiring outcomes. Yet noting the descriptive nature of the study, the researchers emphasize that their findings “add depth and specificity to an underexplored intersection of job posting practices and teacher applicant behavior.”