Introduction
While students and teachers are out for the summer, that might be different for many school administrators. Oftentimes, school leaders have to deal with the “summer vacancy crisis,” where they have to find a way to fill teaching positions that open up unexpectedly or become vacant over the summer months. This situation might leave many administrators under pressure as they scramble to find qualified teachers before the new school year starts. Unfortunately, this is a very familiar situation that many of our administrators have to deal with every year.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it made the situation even worse.
While the COVID-19 pandemic is a fading memory, its shadow lingers over education. “Teacher shortage” has been one of the constant buzzwords in education headlines in public and private education, including Christian schools. With the hope of a solution to this issue, studies have sought to focus on this niche issue of teacher shortage or teacher hiring in the past few years. However, most of the studies mainly focus on the public school sector, leaving a significant gap in the literature on the issue in the Christian school sector.
Given the pivotal role of teachers and parents as shapers of young minds, it is crucial for us to gain a deeper understanding of how to attract, identify, and hire high-quality teachers for our students. This issue is of paramount importance, as K-12 students spend the majority of their time in school with their teachers. Teachers not only significantly impact students’ academic achievement but also play a crucial role in their spiritual formation. As teacher hiring is a key responsibility of school leaders, this study focuses on their perspectives—the characteristics they seek in the hiring process and how they navigate the summer vacancy crisis as Christian school leaders. We believe that these findings will not only inspire but also provide invaluable insights to many more school leaders who grapple with this situation on a yearly basis.
Methodology
In this qualitative work, we interviewed a group of 12 leaders from 10 member schools in the Association of Christian Schools International. We used purposive sampling to recruit a sample that represented the diversity of the organization in terms of school size, location in the U.S., and mission (covenantal versus missional, i.e., their admissions policy regarding the family’s faith background), as well as the administrator’s sex, years of experience, and race/ethnicity.1 Once we transcribed the interview, we then used thematic analysis to identify commonalities and differences across the interviews.
Key Takeaways
- How does teacher hiring in Christian schools look like?
Christian schools use a multifaceted hiring process that blends traditional recruitment methods with a focus on faith-based elements. Similar to public schools, Christian schools use internal job postings, interviews, and background checks. However, they also emphasize candidates’ spiritual backgrounds, including their faith, beliefs, and church involvement, and consider cultural fit for the school.
- What qualities do school leaders look for during this process?
These are some qualities that Christian school leaders look for, starting from the most fundamental to more specific attributes:
- What if the summer vacancy crisis persists?
While providing the students with the most qualified teachers remains the priority of many Christian school leaders, in the event that the summer vacancy crisis persists, all of the school leaders express their unwillingness to hire anyone, especially those who do not meet their faith qualifications. This quote from one of the school leaders summarizes it nicely:
“… part of God’s goodness to our institution … is He’s always filled the roles for us. It’s not like a magical HR strategy. He puts the right people in front of us for the right time, and He’s been so good to us and who he’s brought to our school.” (School Leader #12)
Parting Thoughts and Reflections for School Leaders
This study shows that navigating the complexities of teacher hiring and summer crisis vacancies in Christian schooling is not merely about filling positions. It extends beyond addressing immediate staffing needs since school leaders are also tasked with the more important issue of ensuring the new hires align with school missions, visions, and, most importantly, Christian values.
If anything, this study shows an encouraging story of how our Christian school leaders remain steadfast in their commitment to pursue academic excellence and, most importantly, the spiritual development of the students. In addition, strengthening in-house training for new hires and all the remaining teachers, as well as more in-depth collaboration with many Christian schools and teacher training programs, can be some avenues that school leaders might want to focus on. In this new academic year, we hope and pray that God, the source of wisdom and strength, helps us to always engage in this critical reflective question of “How can Christian school leaders deepen their commitment to aligning new hires with the school’s mission and values, even amidst the pressures of filling vacancies?”
About the Author:
Alison Johnson is a research fellow at ACSI. Previously, she taught in public and Christian schools.
Rian R. Djita, Ph.D., ACSI’s Director of Research, serves as managing director of ACSI’s Research in Brief. Rian is a Fulbright scholar from Indonesia and the author of peer-reviewed research articles on the topics of Christian education, international education, immigrant students, and their postsecondary outcomes. He is also one of the Emerging Education Policy Scholars (EEPS) 2022 – 2023 from The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
Matthew H. Lee, Ph.D., is Senior Fellow at ACSI, a clinical assistant professor at Kennesaw State University, an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, and a non-resident scholar at Baylor University.