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Recruiting and hiring online learning teachers for online high schools

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Recruiting and hiring online learning teachers for online high schools

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RECRUITING AND HIRING ONLINE LEARNING

TEACHERS FOR ONLINE HIGH SCHOOLS

by

Melia L. Abreu

______________________________________________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2016

Copyright 2016 Melia L. Abreu
ii

DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to my family: to Jesse Abreu, the epitome of spiritual and
physical strength and a continued inspiration to us all; Kuʻuʻipo Abreu, for your unconditional
love and care, your passion for the Lord, and your incredible editing knack to say so much in
“what?”; and to my brother, Kalani Abreu, and his family, for their love and support. And lastly,
to my most favorite people in the whole world, my children, Mahina and Kalena. Thank you for
all the love, crazy moments, and incredible laughter that have helped to inspire me to be better
every day. We really are better together.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the many people who have
assisted me in the completion of this study.
First, I want to acknowledge the guidance of Dr. Dominic Brewer, University of Southern
California and now, New York University, Dr. Melora Sundt, University of Southern California,
and Dr. Rodney Chamberlain, Kamehameha Schools. Without your mentorship, this study
would not be published.
Secondly, I want to express my appreciation to the members of the University of
Southern California-Hawaii Cohort of 2012 for your passion for learning which made this
program so enjoyable. Additionally, I want to especially acknowledge Maureen Ikeda who was
such a great help in times of need.
Thirdly, I would like to thank the respondents of this study for participating and offering
your voice to this discussion. Without your voice, this study would not be possible.
Lastly, to all of my colleagues in education, I want to acknowledge your passion for
excellence, your deep exploration to move teaching and learning forward, and your pioneering
spirit to go where nobody has gone before. Never stop pursuing the best in all you do because
our students really are worth it. Fight on!!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication ii
Acknowledgments iii
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii
Abstract 1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study 3
Background of Problem 7
Blended and Online Learning 8
Highly Qualified Teachers 9
Problem Statement 9
Importance of the Study 10
Limitations and Delimitations 10
Glossary of Terms 11
Organization of Study 12

Chapter Two: Literature Review 13
Human Capital and Organization Performance: An Overview 13
Characteristics of the Human Capital Management Model 16
Attraction and Selection of Employees 16
Engagement and Development of Employees 17
Recruitment 18
Recruiting for K-12 Educational Organizations 21
The Current State of Education 21
The Current State of School Structures 22
The Current Expenditure Per Student 23
Blended and Online Learning: A New Educational Horizon 23
The Difference between Technology Integration and… 24
The Difference between Blended and Online Learning 27
The Innovation and Value Blended and Online Learning… 28
Migration from Standardized to Personalized 30
Blended and Online Learning as a New School Structure 30
New KSAOs in Blended and Online Learning 32
Recruitment for Blended and Online Learning 35
A New Employee/Employer Relationship 36
Hiring in Educational Organizations 37
Supply and Demand in Hiring 37
Applicant Screening 38
Hiring Practices in Schools 41
Summary 45
Human Capital Theory 45
Human Capital Management Framework 45
Blended and Online Learning as a Disruptive Innovation 46

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Chapter Three: Methodology 48
Method of Study 49
Sample and Population 49
Instrumentation 50
Interview Protocol 51
Interview Questions 51
Data Collection 54
Data Analysis 55
Conclusion of the Methodology 56

Chapter Four: Results 57
Participant Demographics 57
Research Question #1 and Accompanying Themes 58
Theme 1: Engaging Environment 58
Theme 2: Student Centeredness 60
Summary of Research Question #1 62
Research Question #2 and Accompanying Themes 63
Theme 3: Recruitment Qualifications 64
Theme 4: Misconceptions of Teaching in an Online... 66
Summary of Research Question #2 71
Research Question #3 and Accompanying Themes 71
Theme 5: Knowing Supply and Demand of Online Teachers 73
Theme 6: Hiring Practices 74
Theme 7: Conditions for Hiring 78
Summary of Research Question #3 79
Conclusion 80

Chapter Five: Conclusion 83
Review of the Human Capital Framework 83
Summary of Findings 84
Implications for Practice 87
Improving Misconceptions of Online Teaching 87
Partnerships with Pre-Service Teacher Education Programs 87
Online Certification 88
School Conditions Needed to Recruit and Hire Online Teachers 88
Implications for Research 89
More Research Needed for the HCF in Online High Schools 89
Identifying Online Learning Standards and Practices for… 89
Leveraging Partnerships to Create Quality Online Schools… 90
The Role of Online High School Teachers and Students’ Post 90
Conclusion 91

References 96

Appendices 108
Appendix A: ISTE Standards-Teachers 109
vi

Appendix B: iNACOL Quality Standards for Online Teaching 111
Appendix C: Instrumentation 129
vii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Sample Selection Comparison Matrix 40
Table 2: Participant School Demographics 50
Table 3: Sample Transcription Template 55
Table 4: Respondent Demographic Information 58
Table 5: Recruitment Criteria by Respondent 65
Table 6: Common Misconceptions of Online Learning 67
Table 7: “Soft skills” Respondents Look for in Candidates 70
Table 8: Hiring Practices Matrix by Respondent 75

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Philips and Roper Human Capital Framework 14
Figure 2: Model of Strategic Resources 20
Figure 3: SAMR Technology Integration Framework 25
Figure 4: Blended Learning Models 26
Figure 5: Defining Dimensions of Blended Learning Models 29
Figure 6: States with Statewide Fully Online Schools 32

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ABSTRACT
The focus of this study was designed to identify the recruiting and hiring practices and
the optimum conditions needed to recruit and hire online learning teachers for online high
schools. The Philips and Roper Human Capital Management Framework, Dr. Ruben
Puendetura’s SAMR Technology Integration Framework, the Christenson Institute Framework
for Blended Learning, iNACOL’s (International Association for K-12 Online Learning) Defining
Dimensions of Blended Learning Model, the iNACOL’s Standards of Quality for Online
Programs, the iNACOL’s Standards for Quality Online Courses, and the iNACOL’s Standards
for Quality Online Teaching were used as frameworks for this study.
This study was conducted from a purposeful sampling of eight online learning high
schools; nine online high school directors, principals and hiring staff were interviewed.
Respondents’ statements and responses were coded by category, analyzed, and used to answer
the following research questions:
1. How do online high schools define “distinguished” online education?
2. How do online high schools recruit teachers?
3. How do online high schools hire teachers?
Major themes from the study include:
1. An online learning environment must be an engaging environment.
2. Online teaching must be student-centered.
3. Hiring administrators look for certain recruitment qualifications when recruiting
and hiring online teachers.
4. Many online teaching applicants have misconceptions on what online teaching is.
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5. It is important to understand the supply and demand of online teachers when
hiring online teachers.
6. Hiring practices are similar for online high schools.
7. There are optimum conditions that should be considered when hiring online
teachers.
This study will provide information for those interested in starting their own online high
schools or online training program.

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CHAPTER ONE

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

To keep America competitive, and to make the American dream of equal
educational opportunity a reality, we need to recruit, reward, train, learn
from, and honor a new generation of talented teachers. But the bar must
be raised for successful teacher preparation programs because we ask
much more of teachers today than even a decade ago. Today teachers are
asked to achieve significant academic growth for all students at the same
time that they instruct students with ever-more diverse needs. Teaching
has never been more difficult, it has never been more important, and the
desperate need for more student success has never been so urgent. Are we
adequately preparing future teachers to win this critical battle?
– U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, 2009

The world has evolved in the last century. Globalization, technological shifts, and
demographic changes are elemental factors that have brought about some of those changes that
have evolved our global landscape (Milana, 2012). National leaders, such as U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan, are charging their nations to take a fresh look at the way human capital
is being developed in an effort to keep economically competitive in a global environment. This
focused attention on keeping competitive has spurned global conversations about human capital
and how organizations can streamline their efficiency to more strategically address the hiring,
training, support, evaluation, and rewarding of their human resources (Thompson & Kleiner,
2005; Philips & Roper, 2011). This study will provide a qualitative view on how online high
schools recruit and hire online learning teachers.
Globalization has encouraged these global conversations. The literature is varied in its
definition and understanding of the concept (Scholte, 2005). Globalization has been defined as a
set of transnational structures, which influence geopolitical levels. In turn, these structures,
processes, and policies, which transcend individual national policies, have strongly affected the
4

way people create a basic value orientation and way of living (Milana, 2012). Steger (2009)
defines globalization as a set of social processes that expand and intensify social relations while
interacting with a “consciousness across world-time and world-space” (as referenced in Milana,
2012). The way knowledge is produced, used, and legitimized for the production of goods and
accumulation of capital, and the exploitation of natural resources to reconfigure power relations
between different groups is a marked globalization trait (Scholte, 2005, Dreher et al., 2008;
Kinley, 2009; Castells, 2010).
Demographic changes have had an influence on society. According to the United
Nations and World Bank, the total number of international migrants roll from 154 million to 232
million between the years of 1990 to 2013 and migration patterns accounted for 3% of the
globe’s growing population. The U.S. was the top choice in migrant’s final destination (Connor
et. al., 2013). In addition, the World Bank has estimated that “international migrants sent $529
billion in remittances, funds or other assets to their home countries” substantiating how
migration can influence societies economically (Ratha et al., 2013).
In addition to globalization and demographic shifts, the world’s aging population has led
to a more competitive economy. Baby boomers have turned 65 years of age beginning in 2011,
by 2050 and nearly 83.7 million will be 65 years old allotting for 21 percent of the U.S
population. By the year 2056, the baby boomer population will exceed that of 18 year olds (U.S.
Census, 2014). Internationally, the workforce is also facing the result of an aging population as
the baby boomer generation is coming upon retirement age. According to Stokes (2014), “By
2050 it will be particularly high in Japan, where the United Nations projects there will be 72
elderly for every 100 working age Japanese, up 36 percentage points from 2010” and Korea,
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China, Spain, and Italy are among those who are most poised to experience a dependent aging
population (Stokes, 2014).
As the population ages, so too have expectations to stay competitively in a global society.
Today, our society is driven by information, knowledge, and digital communication (Houle &
Cobb, 2011; Wagner, 2008; Dyer et al., 2011). No longer is it enough to simply mass-produce a
product anymore. Today’s competitive edge comes from mass-producing a product at scale with
highly developed personalized capabilities so that everyone can experience the innovation in
ways that best fit their personal preference (Christenson, 2008; Dyer et al., 2011). Houle and
Cobb (2011) have defined the decade from 2010-2020 as the transformational age in which much
of society’s 20th century thinking and mindsets will have to change to the responsiveness and
newly defined competitive advantage the 21st century has brought (Houle & Cobb, 2011).
In education, demographic changes, technology shifts, and globalization have
consistently influenced fundamental changes in teaching and learning with little systemic
success. As a nation, the U.S. has only recently migrated from an industrial and manufacturing
country heavily focused on mass producing goods with an anthem-like philosophy to one with a
tagline of “one size fits all” (Wagner, 2008). The cohort model where each child is placed into a
grade level by age is an antiquated approach to education and for k-12 education enthusiasts, it is
important to demand a more personalized approach hinged on diversity and choice (Scanlon,
1974; Robinson, 2011; Wagner, 2011) in which the constructivist approach is the underlying
transformer of the role of a teacher to the role of a facilitator (Houle & Cobb, 2011). Learners
construct their own meanings of information and knowledge so that there is a learner-centered
approach to education, akin to changes in other industries incorporating design and innovation in
their processes to personalize products and services for society (Gobble, 2014).
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This idea of personalization is a driving force behind many of today’s innovations and the
education system is slowly playing catch up. Textbook companies have continued to be the go-to
content provider for many K-12 teachers. They have gone to great lengths to try and
innovatively bring their content to their educational customers in the form of e-texts, digital
interactive activities, and mobile apps offering access to content and digital activities. However,
textbook companies are beginning to be rivaled by many for-profit and non-profit content
providers. Companies like K12, Florida Virtual School, Edgenuity, and Pearson are beginning to
become household names when schools are considering introducing blended or online courses
into their students’ choice of courses (Keeping Pace, 2013).
As more and more digital content providers flood the education sector and innovations
are driving the country to be economically competitive, the issue of a teacher’s role in education
is being challenged. This fundamental concept is one of the driving forces behind the rise in
blended and online education. As evidenced by education’s P-20 organizational structure still set
up by cohorts of students by age, many of our public and private K-12 schools and higher
education universities are structured as a model which supports a “one size fits all” approach in a
time when our society has recognized that one size does not fit all (Robinson, 2011, Collins &
Haverson, 2009; Munakata and Vaidya, 2013). If content providers can provide interactive and
stimulating digital content engaging knowledge application activities, why would kids need to go
to school anymore or need teachers anymore?
These questions have posed both challenge and stimulation around the discussion of
personalized learning (Zhao, 2009). One of the driving forces behind personalized education in
the form of blended and online learning has been the desire to see students become competitive
in the 21st century (Collins & Haverson, 2009; Zhao, 2009; Wagner, 2008; Robinson, 2011).
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However, in recent years, there have been efforts to address this issue through the following
ways (Silber and Chondra, 2013 in Education and Training):
1. Technology Integration using the SAMR Framework
2. Standards-based curriculum using the Common Core Content Standards
3. Teacher evaluation systems using the Danielson Framework
4. Smarter Balance Assessments
Despite these efforts, students are still scoring poorly on adaptive standardized tests, our
best scalable measurement of student learning for local, national, and international comparison
(OECD, 2013). Because the federal government does not require one ubiquitous assessment for
core student learning of public, private, or charter students on a national scale, the extant
literature is mixed on which assessment best offers the most comprehensive achievement for
comparison. With the contemporary conversation around personalized education, students are
taking leaps and bounds with showing understanding and learning in varied ways including e-
portfolios and archiving work on popular sites (Personal Interview, 2014).
Background of the Problem
How does the U.S. maintain economic advantage and global edge in this knowledge
driven society? In recent years, online education has proven itself to be a viable solution to fit
the needs of the 21st century learning environment. Currently, there are 50 states with high
school online programs (Keeping Pace, 2013). As of September 2013, four states’ policies have
supported this thrust in online education by requiring all high school students to take at least one
course online by the time of graduation. Two more states are in the process of implementing this
same policy. As online learning trends continue in K-12 environments, predictions, based on past
practice, will continue to increase in scale and complexity (p. 38).
8

Blended and Online Learning
Blended and online education has grown exponentially in the past 10 years in K-12
education (Keeping Pace, 2013). According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools,
of the 4,921 Charter schools in 2009-2010, about 219 or 4.5% were virtual schools and 134 or
2.7% were hybrid virtual schools. According to the NCES, in the 2009-2010 school year, there
was an estimated 1.82 million “enrollments” in distance education courses in K-12 school
districts with approximately 74% at the high school level. In 2001, about 40 states operated or
authorized online schools that students may attend full or part time, with 30% of high school and
19% of middle schools students having taken at least one course either blended or fully online.
Currently, all 50 states have some form of blended or online learning programs while 30 states
and Washington, D.C. have statewide full-time online schools and 27 states have state virtual
schools (Silber and Chondra, 2013).
As there is considerable growth of blended and online learning programs in public
schools, private schools are also starting to enter into the market as well. According to Keeping
Pace (2013), private schools have increased their virtual learning opportunities to “replicate in
online classrooms the intellectually rigorous programs and excellent teaching” (p. 10).
Private schools boast a smaller class size, personalized curricular and overall quality
educational experience compared to public school education and have used these reasons to
justify their lack of need or delay in entering into the blended and online education field as a
form of equity and access for their students (NAIS, 2013). However, even though private
schools boast a quality education, they are also increasingly entering into the popular one-to-one
technology initiatives sweeping the globe (Richardson et al., 2013; Keeping Pace, 2013; Ullman,
2011) as well as blended and online learning environments in attempts to preserve their
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enrollment and maintain a competitive edge over public education (Jim Collins, personal
communication, November 20, 2013; Keeping Pace, 2013).
Highly Qualified Teachers
A lagging area of growth is in teachers’ ability to teach in dynamic online learning
environments. Thus, as the single most important influencer of student achievement in the
school environment (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Danielson, 2007), teachers should reflect best
professional practices. As blended and online education become more ubiquitous in the U.S.,
more and more educational institutions are looking to hire those deemed “distinguished” in
blended and online learning to fulfill their blended and online programs. However, what do
blended or online schools consider to be a “distinguished” teacher?
Problem Statement
Due to globalization, technological shifts, and demographic changes, students are
competing with global candidates for jobs that will allow them to maintain their quality of life in
their own homeland. As the educational landscape evolves, students need to progressively
develop the kinds of competitive 21st century skills to succeed in today’s digital work
environments. Without the skillsets valued in most 21st century models, students will find
themselves hard pressed to realize their earning potential thereby significantly reducing any
chances of home-ownership, career-efficacy, and civic engagement. Many educational
institutions have increasingly adopted 1-1 device environments in an attempt to stay competitive
(Ullman, 2011). Secondary and post-secondary educational institutions have seen an increase in
blended and online learning as a way to achieve higher students learning results and to address
personalized learning needs (Keeping Pace, 2013). However, because this is a new phenomenon
10

across the country, most pre-service and in-service teachers are not equipped to teach students in
a blended or online environment.
In search of identifying existing conditions which best optimizes online learning
environments when hiring and recruiting online learning teachers, this study will address the
following research questions:
1. How do online high schools define “distinguished” online teaching?
2. How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers?
3. How do online high schools hire online learning teachers?
Importance of the Study
This study will contribute to those schools or school administrators looking to recruit and
hire blended and online learning teachers or those educational providers who are considering
starting a blended or online learning program at their school. As a disruptive innovation
(Christensen, Horn, & Johnson, 2008) in the areas of training and professional development, this
study will also benefit business employers who are expanding their business to blended or online
learning opportunities for both clients and/or employees or who are looking to expand their
professional development programs to increase the capacity of their workforce.
Limitations and Delimitations
Due to the innovation of blended and online teaching, the extant literature has not yet
caught up to the innovation and thus, there are limitations in the amount of literature currently
being produced on this topic specific to online high schools with formal online programs.
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Glossary of Terms
1. Asynchronous: not occurring at the same time, (of a computer or other electrical
machine) having each operation started only after the preceding operation is completed
(Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d.)
2. Blended Learning: Blended Learning is a formal education program in which a
student:
(1) Learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of student
control over time, place, path, and/or pace;
(2) At least in part in a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home;
(3) And the modalities along each student’s learning path within a course or
subject are connected to provide an integrated learning experience (Christenson
Institute, 2014).
2. Online Learning: Online learning, also known as virtual or cyber schooling, is a form
of distance education that uses the Internet and computer technologies to connect teachers
and students and deliver curriculum (iNACOL, 2014).
3. One-to-One Initiative: One in which children were given a computing device more
powerful than a smartphone – that is, a laptop, netbook, or tablet computer - and had
access to that device both in and out of school, including evenings or weekends, 24 hours
a day (Richardson et al., 2013). In turn, this definition excludes Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD) initiatives.
4. Synchronous: Happening, moving, or existing at the same time (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, n.d.)
12

Organization of the Study
Chapter One provided an overview of the study. Chapter Two is a review of the literature
focusing on the overview of the Human Capital Management Framework with regards to
recruitment and hiring and some of the disruptive innovations that online environments offer.
Conclusions will be drawn from the frameworks discussed and the disruptive innovations of
online environments and research questions will be formulated based on the analysis of the
literature. Chapter Three describes the design, methodology, and analysis for this qualitative
study. Chapter Four reports the findings from the surveys and interviews, while Chapter Five
presents a discussion the findings and its implications for implementation, as well as future
research questions.
13

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

You cannot look in a new direction looking harder in the same direction.
– Edward de Bono

In this chapter, an overview of at the Human Capital Management Framework and a
focus on the recruitment and hiring strategies and characteristics of the Human Capital
Management Framework will be presented. The disruptive innovations of blended and online
learning environments and teachers’ new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively function
in these environments will be discussed. Lastly, findings from each research questions will be
presented as well as conclusions and identified areas of study.
Human Capital and Organizational Performance: An Overview
Human capital refers to the knowledge, ideas, skills, and health of individuals (Becker,
2002; Eide & Showalter, 2010; Coff, 2002; Flamholtz & Lacey, 1981) and is the most important
form of capital in modern economies (Becker, 2002). The development of human capital is one
of the largest investments organizations make (Schiemann, 2006) and constitutes over 70 percent
of the total capital invested in the United States (Becker, 2002). The Bureau of Labor Statistics
report those earning higher degrees not only make more per week than those less educated but
they typically have significantly less unemployment percentages the more educated they are
(BLS, 2013). The growth in knowledge-dependent goods traded 1.3 times faster than labor
intensive goods in 2012 (Manyika et al., 2014). Maximizing the impact and efficiency of human
capital in organizations is one of the cornerstones of industrial and organizational psychology
inquiry (Ketchen, 2011) and is vital to the economic success of individuals and organizations.
14

Human Capital Management (HCM) is a complex but critical system that can enhance an
organization's success (Joshi, 2012; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Huselid, 1995). The literature
defines HCM as a systematic approach to attracting, selecting, engaging, developing, and
retaining the highest ability individuals (Joshi, 2012; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Huselid, 1995;
Phillips & Roper, 2009; McMahan & Wright, 1992). Phillips and Roper (2009) created a human
capital framework on which this study is based.

Figure 1. Philips and Roper Human Capital Framework.
The HCM framework in Figure 1 consists of five key elements: attracting, selecting, engaging,
developing, and retaining employees. At the center of the framework are the organization’s
values and competencies aligned to the five key elements and the continuous process of
strategizing, executing, and evaluating. McMahan and Wright (1992) emphasizes that all
15

decisions made by the organization must be aligned to one another and linked to the strategic
needs of the organization through human capital management.
The modern usage of human capital took root in the economic growth and societal
changes that followed World War II. Formal economic theories of developing human capital as
a common good date back to the mid-1960s (Becker, 1964; Eide & Showalter, 2010; Schultz,
1961). As contemporary economists in their time, Schultz (1961) and Becker (1964) observed
how increased levels of education and training were creating a knowledge-based economy in
which individuals could better control their destinies. When individuals acquired knowledge,
skills, and attitudes as a form of human capital, those knowledge and skills could not be
separated from them as was possible with other forms of capital. Ultimately, the success of
individuals with knowledge capital would not only impact their own lives, but also have far-
reaching effects on society as a whole (Becker, 1964; Eide & Showalter, 2010; Schultz, 1961).
The benefit to an organization by investing in their workers’ knowledge and skills is
worthy of study. Ample evidence asserts that knowledge, skills, and abilities possessed by
employees at a variety of levels contribute to organizational success (Blair, 2011; Boxall 2011);
Byerly, 2012; Crook, et al., 2011; Guest, 2011; Lepak, Takeuchi, & Swart, 2011; Zimmerman,
Gavrilova-Aquilar, & Cullum, 2013). Boxall (2011) adds to the Human Capital Theory by
describing the configuration of human capital, how managers allocate resources, and the
recognition of potential talent worth investing in is critical to competitive advantage and
organizational efficiency.
However, investment in human capital development of employees is costly and time
consuming. Byerly (2012) calculated the financial costs to an organization through turnover.
Although turnover is not necessarily a bad phenomenon, losing productive employees brings real
16

costs related to exiting and rehiring that interfere with organizational missions and financial
bottom lines (Manyika et al., 2014). Zimmerman, et al. (2013) examined how contingent workers
were increasing in the workplace and greater attention should be focused on their development to
maximize their contribution to organizations despite their temporary status.
Characteristics of the Human Capital Management Model
Attraction and Selection of Employees. Stages one and two, attraction and selection of
employees involve attracting and recruiting the right people for the job as the initial human
resource management goal (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012; Phillips & Roper, 2009). Careful creation
of job descriptions and responsibilities is a key step of the attraction stage to ensure clarity in
recruiting employees. An applicant possessing the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
other characteristics (KSAO) needed for a job position leads to successful integration into the
organization.
Once potential employees apply, the traditional method of selection includes interviews,
reference checks, and an examination of an applicant’s previous work experiences, training, and
education. In the absence of perfect information, these signals represent actual proof that the
employee possesses the KSAO desired by the organization (Ployhart & Kim, 2012). Increasingly
organizations are using socialization activities to assess the person-to-organization (PO) fit of
potential employees or including realistic job previews (RJP) in the pre-selection process (Bauer,
et al., 2007). Beyond KSAOs, an applicant also begins perceiving a sense of belonging and
comfort in the organization during these stages. As antecedents, PO fit and person-job (PJ) fit
both contribute to newcomer adjustment and ongoing organizational commitment (Bauer &
Erdogan, 2012; van Vianen & De Pater, 2012).
17

Engagement and Development of Employees. The third and fourth stages, engagement
and development, can be viewed on a continuum. The employer and employee share the
responsibilities of these stages. Engagement refers to early organizational socialization, the
process in which new employees are acclimated to the institutional structure and job role (Bauer
& Erdogan, 2012; Wanberg, 2012). The organization offers some type of formal onboarding of
varying quality and depth depending on the job position. Numerous activities occur during this
initial period, including reviewing benefits and job responsibilities, orienting to the institution’s
mission, goals, and structure, and orienting to the physical surroundings (Bauer & Erdogan,
2012; Wanberg, 2012). Employees share equally in the engagement stage. The level of
proactivity of the employee in seeking information and connections within the organization,
coupled with the employers’ efforts to onboard the employee, has significant influence on early
organizational socialization (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012).
Engagement should naturally flow into the development stage. Developing human
capital, the continuing investment in employees, has been shown to increase retention of
effective employees (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012; Becker, 1964; Blair, 2011; Wanberg, 2012;
Byerly, 2012; Crook, et al., 2011; Guest, 2011; Zimmerman, et al., 2013). Offering opportunities
for professional development or ongoing training of employees produces increased general and
firm specific knowledge and skills specific to the job, organization, and industry (Bauer &
Erdogan, 2012; Wanberg, 2012; Crook, et al., 2011). Committed employees will use this
knowledge to advance the organizational mission.
Informal socialization is a key part of engagement and development (Bauer & Erdogan,
2012; Bradt, 2012). Initially, this socialization helps newcomers navigate the unwritten policies
in the workplace but ultimately leads to ongoing employee investment. How well an employee
18

can get support for important initiatives, win recognition for their accomplishments, and view
meetings are all ways employees can better get engaged in the company during the onboarding
process (Watkins, 2013). In addition, building respectful and trusting relationships between all
levels of management and workers has been found to profoundly impact employee loyalty and
satisfaction (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012; Bradt, 2012).
Recruitment. As strong determinants in acquiring human resources, recruitment
strategies, policies, and practices play a large role in the selective value of recruitment (Ployhart,
2012). According to Barber (1998), recruitment refers to "those practices and activities carried
on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential
employees". Taking advantage of recruitment strategies and identifying barriers to recruitment
should be a part of every organization’s overall framework for selecting individuals to employ
(Ployhart and Kim, 2014) as it generates applicants, maintains applicant status, and influences
job choices (Cable & Turban, 2001). Competitive advantage and operational performance play a
large role in strategic recruiting.
Competitive advantage is defined as “a situation occurring when a firm is able to generate
above-normal returns from human capital resources relative to competitors” (Ployhart and Kim,
2014; Barney, 1986). Operational performance is defined “as the effectiveness or efficiency by
which a firm or organizational unit accomplishes it strategic objectives” (Ployhart and Kim,
2014). Operational performance is used in strategic recruitment to estimate the relationship
between human resources, human capital, and unit performance (Crook, et al., 2011). In order to
create competitive advantage, organizations must work to achieve excellent operational
performance.
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Operational performance and competitive advantage are causally linked as operational
performance serves to mediate the various variables, both independent and dependent, involved
in achieving competitive advantage (Crook et al., 2011). Some of the independent variables
include: recruiting practices, recruiting sources, and organizational inducements or “a motive or
consideration that leads one to action or to additional or more effective actions” (Backes-Gellner
& Tuor, 2010; Collins & Hans, 2004; Webster Dictionary, n.d.). Dependent variables in strategic
recruitment can include human capital proxies and operational performance (Backes-Gellner &
Tuor, 2010; Collins & Hans, 2004; Williams & Dreher, 1992).
Strategic recruitment positions an organization to gain competitive advantage by its focus
on the prediction of the firm or unit-level outcomes (Ployhart and Kim, 2014). KSAO’s, or
knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics, are often used to define human capital
resources and allow firms the means to gain competitive advantage over its rivals (Ployhart &
Moliterno, 2011). These KSAO’s must be measured at the unit-level of organizations and will
flourish under various contextual and interactive environments (Kozlowski & Klein, 2000).
Currently, despite the vast research surrounding recruiting practices, policies, and strategies,
there is little connection between how recruiting practices specifically relate to and influence
operational performance and competitive advantage (Ployhart & Kim, 2014).
Human capital resources can be tangible (physical in nature) or intangible, those that are
not directly owned specifically by the organization. These kinds of resources can take two forms:
generic human capital resources and specific human capital resources (Ployhart & Kim, 2014).
Generic human capital resources are resources such as cognitive ability and personality or
resources that are considered KSAOs grouped together and measured throughout the aggregated
20

group. Specific human capital resources relevant only to a specific firm can take the form of
knowledge, skills, and specific expertise (p. 12).
Ployhart and Kim (2014) present a model of strategic recruitment distinguished from
other recruitment research (Thompson & Kleiner, 2005). Their model includes six pathways:
Pathway 1 captures the independent and dependent variables in existing recruitment research.
Pathway 2 captures the external factors that may directly influence operational performance.
Pathway 3 identifies ways of the origins of human capital resources and emphasizes the
importance of human capital resource emergence. Pathway 4 and 5 both reflect the growing
literature showing human capital resources and their relationship to operational performance and
competitive advantage.

Figure 2. The Model of Strategic Resources.

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Due to the parallels between the recruiting and marketing processes, organizations are
recommended to consider qualified job seekers as consumers in a market of possible employers
(Cable & Turban, 2001). When attracting specific KSAOs, recruiters will often employ
recruiting-related activities like publicity, sponsorship, word-of-mouth, endorsements, and
advertising (Rice & Goessling, 2005). These recruiting techniques have been around in
organizations including educational institutions, specifically, since 1957 (Walling, 1998) and
have progressed to specifically address turnover rates of hard to fill positions (Ingersoll, 2001;
Ishikawa, Mizuno, & Amundson, 2009). In recent years, with the rise of technology tools and
use, e-recruiting has become popular and has aided in increased favorable perceptions towards
firms with attractive websites (Braddy, Thompson, Wuensch, & Grossnickle, 2003; Cober,
Brown, Levy, Cober, & Keeping, 2003; Thoms, Chinn, Goodrich, & Howard, 2004).
The individual’s ability to navigate through the structure, processes, and social contexts
of an institution will help to determine whether or not an individual is a good fit to the institution
(Goh, 2002; Watkins, 2013).
Recruiting for K-12 Educational Organizations
The current state of education. The state of America’s school systems are of concern
to many stakeholders because of its threat to national competitiveness (OECD, 2013). National
debates over the failing public education system is paramount (Education Week, 2013).
According to the latest PISA results of 2012, “in mathematics, 29 nations and other jurisdictions
outperformed the United States by a statistically significant margin, up from 23 three years ago
and in science, 22 education systems scored above the U.S. average, up from 18 in 2009"
(Chapell, 2013). At the heels of the release of the PISA report findings, Obama proposed $300
22

million in his budget to better prepare high school students for college and a workforce being
reshaped by technology, invention and new knowledge (Wilson, 2013).
Likewise, the numbers for teacher turnover and teacher vacancies are daunting.
According to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (2007), teacher
turnover, defined by the cost of a teacher leaving their school during the school year, costs the
nation an estimated $7.3 billion per year, a higher estimate from Alliance for Excellence in
Education (2005) of $4.9 billion. Teacher attrition has grown by 50% from 1992-2007 and the
national teacher turnover rate hovers around 16.8% for most schools and 20% in urban schools
(NCTAF, 2007, p. 1). These rates are higher than the student dropout rate at 12% in 1990 to 7%
in 2011 (NCES, 2013).
The current state of school structures. Today’s schools look much the same as they
did back in the 1950s because many of them are located in the same school facilities (NCES,
1999). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES),
About one-fourth (28 percent) of all public schools were built before 1950, and 45
percent of all public schools were built between 1950 and 1969. Seventeen percent of
public schools were built between 1970 and 1984, and 10 percent were built after 1985.
The increase in the construction of schools between 1950 and 1969 corresponds to the
years during which the Baby Boom generation was going to school. Although, seventy-
three percent of public schools report having undergone at least one major renovation and
51% of public schools plan on having a renovation completed within the next two years.
(NCES, 1999)
The funding needed to renovate America’s schools is quite sizable. According to the
National Coalition called Rebuilding America’s Schools (2013), due to the allotment of $400
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million for each of 2012 and 2013 calendars from the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 for
Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB), “school districts across the country will have $800
million in federal financial support through QZABs to assist in the financing of much need
school renovations and repairs.” At a cost of typically $12,241,103 to build an additional brick
and mortar school where 67% goes to construction, 14% to furnishings and equipment, 9% to
site development, 8% to fees and other expenses, and 2% to the site purchase, building more
brick and mortar schools have become strains on educational leaders’ budgets in these
economically challenging times (Agron, 2008 via NCES). Julie Young, the director of the
Florida Virtual High School, observes, “With deepening budget cuts, brick-and-mortar schools
will have to make every effort to find creative and cost-effective solutions to continue providing
the same quality of educational opportunities for their students. Distance learning is one of these
solutions” (Winograd 2002 as cited in Mupinga, 2005).
The current expenditure per student. In addition, for the 2007-08 school year, $1368
was spent on capital expenditures per student and $1027 was spent on operations and
maintenance per student (NCEP, 2014). In 2010-2011, there were over 132 thousand public and
private elementary and secondary schools in the United States. In the fall 2010, nearly 49.4
million students attended public elementary and secondary schools and employed about 3.3
million teachers. An additional 5.8 million students were expected to attend private schools and
employed about 0.5 million teachers (NCES, 2012). As these numbers increase, so does the cost
of expenditures per student rise over time.
Blended and Online Learning: A New Educational Horizon
In recent years, K-12 educational institutions have been challenged by technological
improvements, demographic workforce changes, and the ubiquitous power of access to
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information from a globalized perspective (McKinsey Report, 2009; McKinsey Report, 2014;
Manyika et al., 2011) in addition to student performance on standardized tests (Chapell, 2013).
K-12 education, once set up “to provide instruction” is making great strides to be an industry “to
produce learning” (Barr & Tagg, 1995) thereby moving from one paradigm, the “Instruction
Paradigm” to a “Learning Paradigm” (Esterhuizen, Schutte, & Du Toit, 2012; Barr and Tagg,
1995). K-12 educational institutions are hard pressed to increase their students’ international
rankings and school leaders have been exploring different approaches to what competitive
advantage and operational performance looks like for their schools (Manyika et al., 2011).
The difference between technology integration and blended learning. In 1998, the
National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) were created by the International Society of
Technology in Education (ISTE) to help K-12 students leverage technology to learn more
efficiently and be more productive. Three different types of standards were created: students
(NETS-S, 2007), teacher (NETS-T, 2008), and administrator (NETS-A, 2009) with the most
recent revision dates listed accordingly. These standards, along with a strong growth of
educational technology entering into K-12 institutions, helped to articulate how technology
should be integrated into the classroom to increase students’ 21st century skills (Roblyer, 2000;
NETS Project, 2002).
With 1-1 device programs (programs in which one student has access to their own device
24 hours a day) entering many of our schools today, technology integration and blended learning
can be falsely used interchangeably. In contrast to blended learning, technology integration has
been characterized as the implementation process whereby technology is integrated with a
curriculum-base “whereby the 3 Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic) are integrated with the 3 Cs
(communication, creativity, and collaboration) and has implications for future use” (Ertmer,
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1999). For example, using Google Docs to collaborate with other students around a literary piece
is considered technology integration because it is not transforming student learning but has
merely embellished a task using technology. In technology rich educational environments, there
is a growing need for all educators to know how to integrate technology to increase student
productivity and 21st century skills (November, 2015). The SAMR Technology Integration
Framework, created by Dr. Ruben Puendetura, helps to further articulate how technology
enhances learning (Puendetura, 2006).

Figure 3: The SAMR Technology Integration Framework by Ruben R. Puentedura. This
framework delineates the gradation of how technology is integrated into teaching.
According to the Clayton Christenson’s Institute for Disruptive Innovation (iNACOL,
2012; Keeping Pace, 2012; Keeping Pace, 2013, Horizon Report, 2012, Horizon Report, 2013),
blended learning is defined.
The definition of blended learning is a formal education program in which
a student learns at least in part through online learning, with some element of
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student control over time, place, path, and/or pace; at least in part in a supervised brick-
and-mortar location away from home; and the modalities along each student’s
learning path within a course or subject is connected to provide an integrated learning
experience” (Clay Christenson Institute, 2014). See Figure 4 for models of blended
learning.

Figure 4. Blended Learning Models, The Christenson Institute. This figure identifies
different blended learning models in K-12 environments.
In contrast, blended learning is often referred to as hybrid learning and combines
instructional methods, instructional modalities, and online and face-to-face instruction into a
learning experience (Allen, Seaman, & Garrett, 2007; Bock & Graham, 2007). One of the
disruptive innovations (Christenson, 2008) to challenge the way innovation in K-12 educational
functions is conceptualized in the idea of blended as well as online learning.
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The difference between blended and online learning. Juxtaposed to blended learning,
the iNacol Definitions Project (2011) defines online learning as “education in which instruction
and content are delivered primarily over the Internet” (Watson & Kalmon, 2005). The term does
not include print-based correspondence education, broadcast television or radio, videocassettes,
and stand-alone educational software programs that do not have a significant Internet-based
instructional component. (U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation, and
Policy Development Policy and Program Studies Service, 2010). Online learning is used
interchangeably with virtual learning, cyber learning, e-learning (iNACOL, 2011).
According to Clay Christenson (2008), disruptive innovations are products or services
that take root in the bottom of a market and through the process of innovation, slowly but
relentlessly move up in value thereby eventually displacing its rival competitors. In the case of
blended and online learning, the simple yet grossly profound innovations in individualizing
learning have far reaching impacts to those providing and receiving education in this context. For
example, blended and online learning alters education in four ways: time, pace, place, and path.
These four elements are innovative in the following ways:
1. Time: Time allows students to take courses at any time of the year. The concept of
altering the time a student engages with a course personalizes the course to the needs of the
student.
2. Pace: Pacing alters how fast or how slow a student progresses through the material.
The concept of pacing helps to challenge the concept of “seat time” which is often associated
with Carnegie credits (Joyce & Calhoun, 2011) and individualizes the speed of the content which
best fits a student’s need.
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3. Place: Place refers to allowing a student to be anywhere when learning online. It
challenges the idea of needing to be at one location to learn and pushes the concept of learning
beyond a brick and mortar building to learning from any location in the world.
4. Path: Path refers to a student’s learning path and can alter the scope and sequence of
students’ curricular choices in a way that offers students more control over the choices they
make for their education (Christenson, 2008).
The innovation and value blended and online learning environments offer
educational leaders. According to Graham (2004), blended learning blends the traditional face-
to-face classroom in a brick and mortar venue with a digital learning venue. The value
proposition that blended and online learning brings to education is essentially a “flatter
classroom” (Friedman, 2005) or one that offers the enticing ability for universal access to
education across a wide geographical area along with individual productivity and equity
(Christenson, Horn, & Staker, 2013; Ginns & Ellis, 2007). Curriculum is often transformed into
a self-contained series of learning experiences and has the ability to engage learning in and of
itself thereby freeing up the teacher to become a coach and facilitator of learning (iNACOL,
2014).
Just as blended environments offer the innovation of blending traditional instruction with
digital learning, online learning offers much of the same type of innovations. The innovations of
time, pace, place, and path are inherent in online learning however, the platform for all of these
innovations resides completely online in both synchronous and asynchronous ways (Graham,
2004; Christenson, 2008; Keeping Pace, 2013). Teachers are still exploring ways to find the
balance between synchronous and asynchronous ways for their students to best learn. Figure 5
explains the defining dimensions of blended and online learning.
29

Figure 5: Defining Dimensions of Blended Learning Models. This figure provides an
articulated view of the characteristics driven the changing roles in education and with teachers.
30

Migration from standardized to personalized. In the “Flow to the Individual” concept
Houle and Cobb delineate, the power of choice, customization, and personalization is an
additional forefront of our culture, including the world of education (Dolog et al., 2004; Dolog et
al., 2008). Enunciated best by Crockett, Jukes, and Churches (2011), “It’s ridiculous to continue
to embrace standardized learning and standardized tests at the very time our new economy is
eliminating standardized jobs.” This concept is driving the idea of standardization and en masse
of educational delivery away from the norm and is forcing school leaders to see personalizing
education as a competitive advantage they are able to offer through blended and online learning
options.
The important flow towards choice and personalization in education brings with it the
notion that learning is at the forefront of all education and that teaching inherently must embody
learning in this way (Joyce & Calhoun, 2012). A case can be made that teachers’ roles have
evolved from that of an expert to a facilitator, guide, and resource provider as well as an
observer, coach, and learner (Wismath, 2013). Crockett, Jukes, and Churches (2011) refer to this
concept as the “progressive withdrawal” in which they delineate educators’ responsibility is to
ensure that by the time a student graduates, he/she no longer needs them. Thinking and reasoning
is the driver for all stakeholders in the teaching and learning process and challenges teachers’
roles in this new educational environment.
Blended and Online Learning as a New School Structure
Blended learning has gained wider appeal in recent years because of the innovation and
value it offers to education (Keeping Pace, 2013; Ginns & Ellis, 2007; Dykman & Davis, 2008).
Keeping Pace 2012 reported “The total number of students taking part in [online and blended
learning] is…likely several million, or slightly more than 5% of the total K-12 student
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population across the United States. Keeping Pace 2013 looked at blended and online learning
through different lenses but reported overall:
It is clear that an increasing number of districts are making online and
blended options available to their students, and that in SY 2013-14 we
believe that more than 75% of districts have some online or blended
options. It is also apparent that most districts have only a small percentage
of students taking advantage of these online and blended opportunities,
and many of those are in one category (e.g., recovering credit, taking
online Advanced Placement or dual credit courses). Most of these
districts are using a single provider for their online courses, which may
be a state virtual school or a private provider furnishing course content, the
LMS, and perhaps the teacher.
As personalization in education has been reportedly the next wave in education,
educational leaders are interested in exploring the field of online learning in high school settings
(Horizon Report K-12 Edition, 2011; Horizon Report K-12 Edition, 2012; Wicks, 2010, Pink,
2011; Keeping Pace 2014). Figure 6 offers a perspective on how online learning has spread
across the nation state by state.
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Figure 6: States with Statewide Fully Online Schools and the Number of Enrollments by
State (Keeping Pace, 2014).
New KSAOs in Blended and Online Learning
The National Education Technology Plan encourages creating engaging learning
environments for today’s learning through the use of technology. Learning to learn is the new
focus for students in this environment as well (Joyce & Calhoun, 2011). Students are challenged
to exert their thinking by constructing rationality and logical thinking around concepts with
which they are engaged and oftentimes through self-education. The need for literacy is
compounded as more digital technology engages with curricula (p. 53). Students will need to
comprehend more textual information than ever before and equally articulate their thinking in
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written format as more prominent forms of digital communication evolve in the future. Despite
the video phenomenon Ted Ed, Youtube, Khan Academy and other Web 2.0 tools have ushered
into our American educational culture, the ability to learn through literary means and to learn
how to learn through self-education is key to having students be successful in the near and far
future (Houlle and Cobb, 2011; Wismath, 2013; Moon & Moolenaar-Wirsiy, 2008; Joyce &
Calhoun, 2011; Comber & Lawson, 2012).
As a result, in cohort with the U.S. D.O.E.’s efforts to provide all learners with online
access to effective teaching and better learning opportunities (U.S. D.O.E., 2010, p. 49), the 21st
century really does bring in a new educational horizon. In addition to literacy in multiple genres
as starting points for learning to learn, this century will focus on teaching students the ability to
gain fluencies and skills in ways that will allow them to pursue inductive based inquiry thinking
(Joyce & Calhoun, 2011; Kereluik, Mishra, Fahnoe, & Terry, 2013; Zhao, 2009, Wagner, 2008;
Lee, Cockett, & Churches, 2011). As students are exposed to the kinds of experiences that build
cognitive and emotional fluencies and literacies akin to many 21st century models (Lee, Cockett,
& Churches, 2011), their ability to solve problems and critically think about problems will
increase (Wagner, 2008; Joyce & Calhoun, 2011). Fundamentally, this is the new educational
environment on which teachers are being asked to facilitate, engage learning, and curate in
personalized ways for all learners, not just a select few.
iNACOL, or the Institute of North American Council for Online Learning, was created in
2003 as a result of various states inquiring for information about online learning. Today, it is the
leading voice of blended and online learning and serves to advocate for policy, sharing
knowledge, and developing national standards (iNACOL, 2015). iNACOL has created three sets
of standards that address this need in the 21st century: the iNACOL Standards of Online
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Programs (iNACOL, 2009), iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Courses (iNACOL, 2011),
iNACOL Standards for Quality Online Teaching (iNACOL, 2011).
In its second version of The National Standards for Quality Online Teaching (iNACOL,
2011), iNACOL has articulated national standards for online teaching. These ten iNACOL
standards for quality online teaching are relevant to this study as it articulates expectations of
quality around teachers’ knowledge, skills, and attributes in an online environment. The
following offers an overview of these standards:
1. Standard A - The online teacher knows the primary concepts and structures of
effective online instruction and is able to create learning experiences to enable
student success.
2. Standard B - The online teacher understands and is able to use a range of
technologies, both existing and emerging, that effectively support student learning
and engagement in the online environment.
3. Standard C - The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to
encourage active learning, application, interaction, participation, and
collaboration in the online environment.
4. Standard D - The online teacher promotes student success through clear
expectations, prompt responses, and regular feedback.
5. Standard E - The online teacher models, guides, and encourages legal, ethical, and
safe behavior related to technology use.
6. Standard F - The online teacher is cognizant of the diversity of student academic
needs and incorporates accommodations into the online environment.
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7. Standard G - The online teacher demonstrates competencies in creating and
implementing assessments in online learning environments in ways that ensure
validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures.
8. Standard H - The online teacher develops and delivers assessments, projects, and
assignments that meet standards-based learning goals and assesses learning
progress by measuring student achievement of the learning goals.
9. Standard I - The online teacher demonstrates competency in using data from
assessments and other data sources to modify content and to guide student
learning.
10. Standard J - The online teacher interacts in a professional, effective manner with
colleagues, parents, and other members of the community to support students’
success.
Recruitment for Blended and Online Learning Environments
From the flooding of mobile devices and the enticement of gaming as disruptive
innovations in education (Miranda & Lima, 2013; Smith, 2007), personalization through the use
of technology is being touted as the next pathway to get student achievement swinging upwards
(Horizon Report K-12 Edition, 2011; Horizon Report K-12 Edition, 2012; Wicks, 2010, Pink,
2011). However, Joyce & Calhoun (2011) caution against focus on the technology as this type
of myopic focus is the reason for millions of dollars spent on 1-1 initiatives with little to no
student learning gains seen across critical mass. Overall, the rate of return for the money spent
to initiate and maintain a 1-1 device initiative for the sake of increased student learning has not
proven to offer the student outcome results many have hoped for (Zucker & Light, 2009).
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Brandt (2012) affirms that recruitment should not start until all key stakeholders are
aligned with regards to what they are looking for, what the new employee will do, and how the
new hire will interact. As described by Brandt and Vonnegut (2009), a quality recruiting brief
should address the applicants’ mission and responsibilities (why the position exists), a vision of
success (an example or aspirational peer), the talents and strengths required for the position, as
well as motivation (how will this position fit with the applicants’ likes/dislikes, goals, etc.).
Following these basic recruitment guidelines may aid organizations in more efficient recruitment
and hiring practices.
A new employee/employer relationship. The transverse platform between school and
home is an area of more conversation as blended and online learning is adopted in K-12
education at a faster rate (Pykett, 2009). The appeal of blended and online learning environments
lends itself to a myriad of interesting dilemmas between an employee and an employer (e.g.
accountability to work time, engagement in work tasks, etc.). Educational leaders recruiting for
these platforms must consider the kinds of enticements and perks already inherent within the
blended and online learning platform balanced with the classic recruitment strategies
aforementioned as they recruit for operational efficiency and competitive advantage.
In blended learning environments, supervision still revolves around a building or one
geographical area during the f2f courses. In online learning, because teachers and students are
not held to geographical constraints, all supervision of teachers must be done online. Teacher
collaboration and communication is done online as well. These kinds of differences from f2f or
brick and mortar supervisory duties akin to traditional education help to distinguish how the
employee and employer relationship is different in blended and online learning environments.

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Hiring in Educational Organizations
Typically, the current hiring practices of most educational leaders are inherently found in
their day to day realities and follow a similar pattern: the needs of the school based on student
enrollment, screening applicants, hiring practices, and supply and demand of qualified teachers.
The following literature provides insights into these areas of hiring in a palpable way informing
an educational organization’s operational efficiency.
Supply and demand in hiring. In educational terms, teacher supply refers to “all those
in teaching plus those currently not teaching, and those qualified to teach, and would consider
teaching if the conditions were right” (Dolton, 1990). In a teacher supply and demand quandary,
some factors to ponder when considering teacher supply include recruitment, retention, and the
return of qualified people who previously resigned due to salary and non-pecuniary work
conditions (p. 95). Non-pecuniary work conditions include factors like workload, job stress,
physical surroundings, materials/resources, parental/administrative support, onboarding, and
training (Dolton, 1990; Ingersoll, 2001; Tye, 2000, Loeb & Reininger, 2004).
Keesler (2010) suggests that supply is calculated by considering Full-Time Equivalents
(FTE) in each subject assignment within each school. Subject assignments are recorded by FTEs,
or the proportion of each full-time employee assigned to a particular task. For example, a teacher
may teach one subject for half of the day and another subject for the other half of the day. In this
case, the FTE would be reported as 0.5 math, 0.5 science. The important issue is to calculate
supply not by the number of "teachers" but by the total FTE positions needed within each subject
area of the school.
Boe and Gilford (1992) considered the effects of policy changes to the teacher supply and
demand quandary by linking demand and supply estimates to relevant conditions and policies.
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Once demand is estimated for each school and supply is calculated, then one can subtract supply
from demand. Positive numbers indicate an undersupply of FTE in a given subject area whereas
negative numbers indicate an oversupply of FTEs in a given subject area. Boe and Gilford
recommend those dealing with these human resource issues to then designate a threshold point at
which undersupply is determined to be significant and likely to affect practice or operational
performance of a school. This practice will help educational leaders in their hiring practices
when exploring personnel offering competitive advantage.
Because of the nature of blended and online learning programs in which there are
multiple start dates recurring throughout the year, an issue arises in blended and online learning
environments regarding when periods of supply and demand are identified. Many blended
schools operate in traditional time frames accommodating 180 school days per year. In online
schools, the concept of the traditional school year can be altered as content mastery is completed
at a student’s own pace. Thus, it is conceivable for a student to complete his/her education in
half the time it takes others in a more traditional school year. As a result, many online schools
have an open enrollment period, meaning students may sign up for a class at any time of the
years and work towards content mastery at their own pace. This change in schooling forces
teachers to then be 12 month employees so that they are available to students at any time of the
year (Personal Interview, 2014).
Applicant screening. Virtually all employers use some level of applicant screening
which generally includes assessing a prospective applicant’s technical competence or ability to
do the job. Applicant screening can also include screening for motivation or an applicant’s
desire and drive to produce quality work independently, and cultural fitness adaptability, or an
39

applicant's ability to smoothly integrate and adjust to company values, rules, conditions and
environment (Huang & Cappelli, 2010).
Mueller and Baum (2011) propose a 12-step research-based guide to recommended hiring
practices:
1. Conduct job analysis: Study similar jobs and gather and report accurate information to
potential hires.
2. Update job description: Update the posted job description to accurately ensure that it
meets the potentially changing needs of the organization.
3. Source potential employees: Consider finding candidates internally. Promotion or
transfer from within can cut recruitment and training costs and increase employee satisfaction
and career management.
4. Resume/Application review: Resumes and applications can be electronically scanned
and screened for keywords and completion then maintained in a database for easy access and
review.
5. Telephone screen: The telephone screen has the advantage of testing an applicant’s
vocal and listening skills that are major factors in many jobs.
6. Pre-employment performance testing including aptitude tests, personality tests,
achievement or psychomotor tests. According to Heneman & Judge (2009), performance or work
sample tests have a high degree of validity in predicting job performance.
7. Interview #1 (with realistic job preview): Conducted interviews preferably by a
supervisor trained in behavior-based methods will screen for interpersonal skills relevant to the
job and initially assess a candidate’s “fit” to the culture of the organization.
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8. Structured interview #2 (panel): Panel interviews are recommended based on the idea
that potential teammates of the new hire have a vested interest and a right to provide input into
the hiring decision. In panel type interviews, panelists may see strengths and challenges that the
initial interviewer may have overlooked.
9. Office tour: Evaluate the candidate’s motivation and cultural fitness by taking a tour of
the work site and collecting reflections during and after the tour.
10. Matrix comparison: Create a matrix as an equitable and measurable means of
comparing candidates and making the selection decision. These can be weighted, check-marked
or customized to employer needs. See the following table for an example of a Matrix
Comparison for Sample Selection.

Table 1: Sample Selection Comparison Matrix

11. Offer (contingent upon background and reference checks): Regarding compensation
negotiation, Block (2003) recommends paying new hires as much as possible rather than as little
as possible so the new hire is happy about salary and won’t consider other job prospects.
12. Background/reference checks: As a final step, formal background checks are common
and recommended. According to Taylor et al. cited 96% of employers still check references
despite the time and cost that it takes the company and the potential invasion of privacy on the
new employee (as cited in Henemann & Judge, 2009).
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Hiring practices in schools. Given such available evidence and research-based practices
with regard to employee decision-making and hiring practices, one might expect human
resources management professionals to adequately implement and favor these standardized and
evidenced-based approaches. Research suggests, however, that human resources management
professionals often lack knowledge that such models of hiring are available (Frunham, 2008;
Rynes et al., 2002). In school systems, educational leaders aim to hire outstanding teachers and
staff. Mason & Schroeder (2010) investigated how principals screen applicants, what they
specifically look for in potential applicants, and whether or not hiring practices are consistent
across a variety of principal demographic variables.
According to Mason & Schroeder (2008), crucial hiring decisions can increase academic
growth of students and accelerate change in the culture and dynamics of a school. Conversely,
poor hiring decisions can result in declining school culture and problems for years to come.
When investigating specific hiring strategies, research indicates principals initially look at
professional attributes such as grade point average and type of teacher credential before looking
at personal attributes such as enthusiasm as professional attributes can be evaluated more
objectively and provide more defensible grounds for the acceptance or rejection of a candidate
(p. 44). In addition, educational leaders also relied on the interview in order to discern whether a
candidate appeared to be a good “fit” to the school and the school culture.
Educational leaders seek valid and reliable means of obtaining information about
prospective employers and apply three means of data-seeking as identified by Wise, Darling-
Hammond & Berry (2006): low-cost data, medium-cost data, and high-cost data. Low-cost data
is used during the early stages of the hiring process and includes transcripts, resumes and
application forms. The low-cost process of screening applications yields relatively superficial
42

information and serves to reduce the candidate pool to a manageable number. Medium-cost data
includes such items as reference reviews, telephone contacts, formal interviews and personality
tests. The medium-cost process is more time-consuming on the hiring party but yields
information of a much higher quality. High-cost data include teacher observations that some
school leaders require prior to hiring. With online learning, the question may arise: do low-cost,
medium-cost, and high-cost data serve the same purpose or are there any disparate practices that
are applied differently to those teaching in these kinds of environments? Again, because the
nature of online learning is relatively new, the extant research is still very limited in its view of
these practices.
Effective hiring in schools. What are available, highly effective, even extraordinary
human resources management practices for school districts? Thompson & Kleiner (2005)
investigated and drew upon nine years of experience auditing various school districts’ recruiting
and hiring actions. Thompson & Kleiner (2005) affirm that effective recruiting can be achieved
through ongoing communications and research to project the needs of the school and set up
reasonable timelines so that the best possible teachers can be hired. Thompson & Kleiner also
argue that human resource directors should develop environments in which central and school-
level administrators work closely with teachers and draw on the experience and leadership skills
of teachers to get the most out of the human resources potential of the district (p. 42). As many
blended and online learning teachers exhibit teacher leader qualities, the importance of effective
recruiting through ongoing communication continues to be an issue of substance to maintain
recruiting efforts resulting in actual hiring.
The first step to effective hiring is recruitment based on a needs forecast of the school
(Thompson & Kleiner, 2005). Educational leaders should look at area housing developments,
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census and demographic data and feeder institution student numbers to project possible
enrollment figures. Educational leaders should also account for class size when projecting
enrollment since some states may mandate smaller class sizes as stated earlier. While larger class
sizes are considered more efficient because more students are educated with less teacher salary
expense per pupil, districts often strive to maintain or seek out lower class sizes for maximum
attention to each student. Districts, educational leaders, and all stakeholders are called to
consider the rationale for larger or smaller class sizes. Budgetary restrictions or additions may
also be considered when hiring teachers and staff.
According to Seyfarth (2013), the cohort survival method is used most often to predict
future enrollments of students, which would then predict the need for teachers. People who were
born in the same year and are subsequently in the same class in school are an example of a
cohort. Although some students may move away or otherwise leave the district school system,
the cohort survival method is based on the assumption that the future will be like the past.
Districts use this model to determine next year’s student enrollment as accurately as possible for
the sake of hiring needs and to staff their needs appropriately according to their school’s policy.
Hiring practices in blended and online learning. Because blended and online learning
environments challenge the cohort survival method by shifting the concept of the calendar year
through changes in multiple enrollment dates, altering the location in which teaching and
learning take place, and varying the pace a course is taught, more exploration needs to be done to
uncover how enrollment is operationalized and practiced in these such environments.
Barriers to hiring. Teacher shortages are a recurring reality most human resource
administrators must face (Seyfarth, 2013) especially in online learning environments (Keeping
44

Pace, 2014). According to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future
(NCTAF),
Over 50 percent of the nation’s teachers and principals are Baby Boomers.
During the next four years we could lose a third of our most accomplished
educators to retirement. The wave of departures will peak during the
2010‐ 11 school year, when over one hundred thousand veteran teachers
could leave. In less than a decade more than half of today's teachers – 1.7
million – could be gone (NCTAF, 2008, p. 2).
Between 2004 and 2008 more than 300,000 veteran teachers left the workforce for
retirement. Coupled with pension driven retirements addressing most of our experienced teachers
with high performing students, the nation should expect to lose as many as a million and a half of
experienced veteran teachers with 20-30 years of experience due to retirement during the next
eight years (NCTAF, 2008; NCTAF, 2010). Based on the U.S. Department of Education’s latest
Schools and Staffing Survey data, NCTAF projects that “as of this school year (2008-2009) more
than half of the teachers are over age fifty in 18 states and the District of Columbia” while the
average age of a teacher is 59 years old (NCTAF, 2008, p. 3; NCTAF, 2009).
Although many districts have some type of recruitment program in place, especially for
periods of shortages, some school districts are still using inefficient and outdated hiring practices
and as a result, have lost the most promising candidates to other districts (Darling-Hammond,
2000). While the 20th century approach to hiring for these kinds of shortages takes a simple
approach; “recruit new replacements, simply swap veterans for bright young beginners, and
perhaps save money on compensation in the bargain” (NCTAF, 2010), the cost of new teacher
attrition has sky-rocketed to nearly 30% within the first five years of teaching. Filling positions is
45

a costly endeavor according to NCTAF who estimated “that the nation’s school districts spent at
least $7.2 billion a year on teacher turnover and churn”(NCTAF, 2010, p. 4). Thus, the issue
again of recruiting and hiring in K-12 blended and online learning environments come into play
in order to gain the kinds of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors needed to compete with a
global workforce.
Summary
Human Capital Theory. Human capital theory espouses that individuals invest in
activities to help them increase their well-being, more specifically, their economic well-being
(Becker, 1962; Eide & Showalter, 2010). Individuals have been known to take on direct costs
(e.g. tuition and fees) as well as indirect costs (e.g. lost work time or lost earnings during
developmental times) in the quest for future benefits. Many argue the proportional effect of
education; as a person acquires more education, their ability to earn more increases (Page, 2010;
Gunderson & Oreopoulos, 2010; Ashenfelter & Rouse, 1998; Hanushek & Wobmann, 2010).
Human Capital Management Framework. Phillips and Roper (2009) proposed a
comprehensive model that depicts the interrelationship of five stages of human capital
management (HCM): attracting, selecting, engaging, developing, and retaining employees
(Figure 1). Central to the model is that alignment of employee and organizational values and job
competencies and serves as the foundation for effective human capital management (Bauer &
Erdogan, 2012; Phillips & Roper, 2009). This congruence is identified as person-organization
(PO) fit and is an antecedent of entry into a workplace, reflected in positive newcomer
adjustment. PO fit is also an outcome measure tied strongly to long-term organizational
commitment (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012; van Vianen & De Pater, 2012).
46

Linking the five stages to organizational values and competencies are employee
opportunities for learning. Life-long learning, a catch-phrase of 21
st
century educational jargon,
is integral to HCM and must be offered by the organization and embraced by the employee,
especially in blended and online learning environments. Each HCM stage is connected to the
next one by organizational strategic planning and the actual implementation of those plans.
Evaluating the effectiveness of the plan must occur to determine if goals of the stage were met
(Phillips & Roper, 2009).
Blended and online learning as a disruptive innovation. Due to national teacher
turnover rates, changes in teacher demographics and teacher attrition, student achievement rates,
rising costs to build brick-and-mortar schools, and the vast technological connectedness to global
resources many have at their fingertips, blended and online learning is a disruptive innovation in
education which is being implemented across the country and throughout the world as a viable
educational strategy to prepare our young ones for a global workforce. As a result of rolling
enrollment dates (path), changes in where teachers teach and students learn (place),
individualizing education in ways that sincerely challenge the cohort model of admitting and
progressing students (pace), and changing the way time is used to address both asynchronous and
synchronous ways of teaching and knowing, blended and online learning presents the innovative
disruption in education that will change the face of the educational sector.
Recruiting and hiring in blended and online learning environments. Blended and
online learning present interesting innovations to the teaching and learning relationship and
thereby have served to change the role of a teacher and the student in this environment. As a
result of the lack of physical contact and time differences blended and online learning can bring,
there are new teacher KSAOs which need to be taken into consideration when recruiting and
47

hiring teachers for these new learning environments. Although there has been much extant
literature surrounding the recruitment and hiring of teachers in brick and mortar environments,
there has been little done to articulate these practices in blended and online environments. Thus,
this study will help to articulate some of those practices for recruiting and hiring teachers for
online high schools, a common area of growth in the K-12 educational expanse, and shed light
on the dynamics of these practices.
48

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
We interview people to find out from them those things we cannot directly observe…We
cannot observe feelings, thoughts, and intentions. We cannot observe behaviors that took
place at some previous point in time. We cannot observe situations that preclude the
presence of an observer. We cannot observe how people have organized the world and
the meanings they attach to what goes on in the world. We have to ask people questions
about those things. The purpose for interviewing, then, is to allow us to enter into the
other person’s perspective.
– Patton, 2002, pp. 340-341

This new personalized online learning environment, rich in deep thinking, problem-
solving, and self-education choices, is forcing school leaders to reconsider the new roles teachers
will have to play to keep competitive advantage and produce the kinds of student outcomes on
assessments all educational stakeholders are demanding. In turn, the recruiting and hiring
practices school leaders have employed in the past will have to morph to acquire the kind of
talented teaching pool needed to drive competitive advantage and operational efficiency within
their schools. The focus of this study was designed to identify the recruiting and hiring practices
and the optimum conditions needed to recruit and hire online learning teachers in blended and
online high schools.
Each school’s website was consulted to further discover how accredited online high
schools recruit and hire online learning teachers. Each high school was chosen because of its
formally defined online learning program.
In this chapter, the method of study is described, a short description of the schools are
included as well as each school’s basic demographic data, the instrumentation and interview
protocol are delineated. The chapter concludes with a section dedicated to data collection and
data analysis methods.
49

Method of Study
According to Creswell (2009), “qualitative research is exploratory and is useful when the
researcher does not know the important variables to examine. This type of approach may be
needed because the topic is new, the topic has never been addressed with a certain sample or
group of people, and existing theories do not apply with the particular sample or group of study”
(p. 18). Because blended and online learning environments are relatively new in K-12 education,
a qualitative research design was implemented for this study.
The study was designed as a qualitative study to explore how accredited online high
school principals and directors of education recruit and hire online learning teachers. The
qualitative methods used herein were designed to determine the lived experiences of school
principals and directors in schools to determine the type of practices used to recruit, hire, and
conditions needed to hire online teachers.
Sample and Population
To collect purposeful information for this study, a varied sample was specifically chosen
of accredited online high schools and verified through the school’s website and school’s
employees. Technology becomes a non-issue in many blended and online environments as
curriculum and school interaction happens online through the school’s learning management
system and is not platform specific. In keeping with the anonymity of this study, the following
offers more information on the schools selected for this study. Because the very nature of being
an online school means that it exists on the internet, the scope of each school was determined by
where their students live. For example, although each school’s main office is located within one
of the 50 states of the United States, many schools represented in this study, reached over state
lines to service national and international students. Of note, many schools are somewhat newly
50

established as compared to many brick and mortar schools and the participants have occupied
their positions for a relatively short period of time. This indicates how novel the idea of online
high schools are in today’s society.
School
by
Number
Age of
School
Blended
or
Online
or Both
Type of
School
Scope of
School
Type of
Schedule
Type of
Curriculum
Used
Type of Student
Targeted
Type of
Enrollments
1 10
years
Online Public International Year Round Institution No specific
type-open to the
public
Full-time
Part-time
Single Course
2 10
years
Blended
and
Online
Charter State of
Hawaii
Traditional Teacher
created
No specific
type-open to the
public
Full-time
3 19
years
Blended
and
Online
Charter State of
Hawaii
Traditional Teacher
created
No specific
type-open to the
public
Full-time
4 9 years Online Private International Year Round Teacher
created
Gifted and
Talented
Full-time
Part-time
Single Course
5 15
years
Online Charter State of
Hawaii
Year Round Vendor College
Preparatory,
Motivated
Full-time
6 4
years
Blended
and
Online
Private National Traditional Vendor Culture based Part-time
7 15
years
Online Private National Year Round Vendor Targets Schools
and Districts to
expand their
program
Part-time
Single Course
8 25
years
Online Private National Year Round Teacher
created
College
Preparatory,
Motivated
Full-time
Part-time
Single Course
Table 2. Participant School Demographics
Instrumentation
According to Merriam (2009), “having an interest in knowing more about one’s
practice…leads to asking researchable questions, some of which are best approached through a
qualitative research design” (p. 1). To conduct the study, I interviewed a purposeful sampling of
high school hiring administrators using standard open-ended interviews. My samples were
51

chosen because they were formally identified as accredited blended or online high schools with a
national accreditation. Efforts were made to identify key individuals who conduct the recruiting
and hiring in these schools. The respondents of this study will be delineated at the beginning of
Chapter 4.
Interview Protocol
The interview protocol was designed to address the following research questions:
1. How do online high schools define “distinguished” online student learning and
instruction?
2. How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers?
3. How do online high schools hire online learning teachers?
Interview Questions
Sets of interview questions were created to assure the answer to each research question. The
following serves as a list of interview questions organized under each research question.
The following questions were asked to identify each interviewee’s identity and
experience:
1. Please state your name, your title, and your institution
2. How long you have been in your current position?
3. What has been your experience in recruiting online learning teachers?
4. What has been your experience in hiring online learning teachers?
1. Research Question #1: How do online high schools define highly effective or
distinguished online education?
The following served as interview questions regarding the definition of online education:
1. Define effective online teaching.
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2. Does your institution use an assessment tool to assess highly effective or
distinguished online learning curriculum, instruction, and/or assessments?
3. What indicators do you look for in effective online education?
2. Research Question #2: How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers?
The following questions served as recruiting interview questions:
1. Do you have a specific job description for an online learning teacher? If so, may I
have a copy?
2. What are the most pertinent criteria or indicators you use to recruit online teachers
(e.g. degree attainment, experience level, etc.)?
3. Do you have any specific program in place to specifically recruit online learning
teachers? If so, please describe it.
4. What indicators do you use when moving an online teaching applicant from
recruiting to the interviewing process?
5. Are there any identifiable school, culture, or leadership conditions that need to be
in place in order to recruit distinguished online learning teachers?
6. What are the biggest barriers when recruiting online learning teachers?
3. Research Question #3: How do online high schools hire online learning teachers?
The following questions served as hiring questions for the interview:
1. When interviewing, what are you specifically looking for in an online teacher (i.e.
knowledge, skills, or abilities)?
2. How do you go about acquiring that information in the hiring process (i.e.
questions, performance task, certain other conditional criteria, etc.)?
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3. What non-job specific characteristics and attributes are you looking for in the
teachers you hire (e.g. attitude, punctuality, etc.)?
4. How did you determine if the applicant is a “good fit” for your school (e.g.
content knowledge, length in profession, NBCT)?
5. Are there any identifiable organizational school, culture, or leadership conditions
that need to be in place to in order to hire distinguished or highly effective online
learning teachers?
6. What are some of your biggest barriers to hiring online learning teachers?
The following questions served as summarizing questions for the interview:
1. Overall, what are some of the biggest lessons you have learned when recruiting
and hiring online learning teachers?
2. Is there anything else you would like to share on behalf of recruiting and hiring
online learning teachers that you haven’t already mentioned?
Patton (2002) suggests using probes to “deepen the response to a question, increase the
richness and depth of responses, and give cues to the interviewee about the level of response that
is desired” (p. 372) while Glesne and Peshkin (1992) point out that “probes can take many
forms…from silence, to uh huh, to sometimes nodding” (p. 85). To better understand the
interviewee’s experiences, thinking, and practices, probes such as “Can you tell me more about
that?” and “Could you say more about that?” were used during the interviews. These probes
were used to solicit more information from the interviewee beyond what the interview question
called for.
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Data Collection
Each interview was conducted on an individual basis via phone. Each interview was
allotted an hour and offered an opportunity to follow up with the interview if the interviewee
wanted to share more thinking around recruiting and hiring of online high school teachers. For
accuracy purposes, each audio interview was recorded on an iPhone as a recording device and
pen and paper were used to collect evidence from the interview.
All interviewees were informed of the purpose of the interview prior to the actual
interview by e-mail and were informed that the interview was a doctoral candidacy interview to
collect evidence and information regarding how accredited online high schools recruit and hire
blended and online learning teachers. All participants were given the interview questions prior
to the interview via e-mail to help offer time to thoughtfully respond to the questions during the
interview itself. Although Patton (2002) described six different types of interview questions, this
study’s interview questions hovered mainly in the “experience and behavior” category (Patton
(2002 as referenced in Merriam; 2009).
The confidentiality of each of the interviewees were maintained throughout the entire
interview process so that all would feel comfortable reporting their thoughts and practices openly
and with confidence. Although names were used during the interview process to help identify
each interview transcript, all recordings were kept secure on a password protected digital folder
on the researcher’s computer and a passcode protected iPhone. All demographic information
gathered about the online high school as well as the identification of each interviewee was
recorded but stricken from publication to maintain confidentiality. All interviewees were
referred to “recruiting or hiring administrator” in the publication of this study.
55

Data Analysis
As someone wanting to be immersed and fully acquainted with the data of the interviews,
the researcher conducted the transcription of the interviews herself. As each interview was
transcribed, connections about the research questions between interviewees emerged and major
trends and connections were made. Each interview was transcribed on a five-column template in
which the first column included the running time, the second column included the interview
questions, the third column recorded the verbatim responses of the interviewees’ responses, the
fourth column was used as a place for coding and connection making around themes in the
responses, and the fifth column was used to detect any patterns from the coding.
Merriam (2009) affirms that in a dissertation’s findings section, findings should be
compared to what has already been articulated in the research; predominant themes occur
through analyzing the data and trying to make sense of the data in light of one’s research
questions. According to Corbin and Strauss (2007), axial coding is a process of grouping open
codes or pieces of data with other similar data to create categories. This is the methodology that
was used when analyzing and identifying the themes from the data. The transcripts were
reviewed and coded to identify how the HCM Framework was addressed. The responses were
coded into various categories and there were specific delineations and symbolic representations
identified to those categories for data collection purposes and recall. The following table serves
as a sample of the transcription template.

Running Time Interview
Questions
Respondent Responses Codes Themes

Table 3: Sample Transcription Template
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After all responses were coded and separated into individual themes, there was additional
screening of themes in search of specific categories. Patterns were detected in the respondents’
answers to help identify the study’s themes.
Conclusion of the Methodology
By conducting open-ended interviews with a purposeful sampling of high school
principals and hiring managers, information regarding how accredited online high schools recruit
and hire their teachers was obtained. As a result of the qualitative design of the study, the
collection of evidence, and the coding of the evidence from the interviews, categories of themes
arose in which more in-depth analysis could be made to find more pertinent understandings to
the practices of hiring managers and principals for blended and online learning environments.
In Chapter Four, the results of the research are shared explicitly and the major themes are
presented. Chapter Five will follow with a rich discussion of the major findings and their
relationship to the literature review herein, the study’s major outcomes, and the implications the
evidence and findings can bring to those schools beginning their journey to create their own
blended and online environments.

57

CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
Online learning is not the next big thing, it is the now big thing.
- Donna J. Abernathy

As Figure 6 represents (p. 32), online learning is a vastly growing sub-education industry
in the K-12 market. Although some say this phenomenon is simply a trend, many ascribe to K-
12 online learning because of its disruptive nature to the brick and mortar experience through the
alteration of time learning can take place, the pace at which one can learn, the place of learning,
and path of learning for each individual student. Online schools are not necessarily stand alone
schools but may also serve the purpose of supplementing other school’s curricula or increased
student load in specific content areas. Thus, the issue of recruiting and hiring teachers for online
high schools is directly correlated to the mission of the school and the type of students to which a
school markets itself.
Participant Demographics
A total of nine participants were interviewed for this study from eight accredited online
high schools. Each participant served as a recruitment or hiring administrator for his/her
respective school and had experience recruiting and hiring within their schools, despite, for
some, the short length of time they have occupied their position.

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Respondent # Length in Position Title of Respondent
1 10 years Principal
2 1.5 years Executive Assistant
3 15 years Principal
4 2 year Principal
5 2 years Department Chair
6 9 months Principal
7 1 year Principal
8 1 year Director of Education
9 2 years Director of Education
Table 4. Respondent Demographic Information.
Research Question #1 and Accompanying Themes
Research Question #1: How do online high schools define highly effective or distinguished
online education? The interview questions associated with this research question included:
1. Define effective online teaching.
2. Does your institution use an assessment tool to assess highly effective or distinguished
online learning curriculum, instruction, and/or assessments?
3. What indicators do you look for in effective online education?
Theme 1: Engaging Environment
Findings. When identifying what effective online education is, one of the resounding
themes echoed from each respondent was the idea of having an engaging online environment for
students and many respondents defined an effective online education in light of having an
engaging curriculum. For example, Respondent 1, 8, and 9 responded with “having a strong
curriculum accompanied with a strong LMS” or learning management system defined part of
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what a highly distinguished online education is. Respondent 6 commented how the curriculum
needs to “challenge them [students] where they are. It needs to be “interactive so it is an online
seminar, teaching that embraces the seminar model for full class participation.”
Respondent 3 identified a strong curriculum as one that:
has to engage students. It has to take the student further away from pat answers. Many
online companies have a nice pat system and then they tell you that you are getting
better...adaptive systems. That is teaching to the breath of something, not to the depth of
something. We are looking for depth of knowledge because then they become
fundamental pillars of knowledge in order to innovate from there.”
Respondent 2 somewhat saw the curriculum in a different light and the use of it in a
different way than the others yet the idea of engagement was still paramount. “We are looking to
engage students and allow for interaction with their peers. It should no just be a student
following a series of prompts with no teacher direction. It should not be an online learning
system driving the engagement but it should be teacher driven.” The idea of being able to
customize curriculum to better suit students’ needs was mentioned as the motivation for having
a “teacher driven curriculum” and she voiced that many students claim to like having a teacher
driven curriculum. Teaching in online education was characterized by Respondent 8, “You need
to put yourself in a different position...you are partner with the online curriculum...you are a
facilitator and coach more than you are in a traditional program.”
Respondent 3 also referred to other indicators for highly effective online education
besides assessments and instructors. There are “out of the box type of curriculum that is fine but
it is comparable to a textbook series...it is still a resource. Textbooks offer standards, give you
enough practice, give you current relative practices...same with online courses. You look at the
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current, accurate, organized, resource that you will use. But that is not online education, that is
just part of it. Online education is excellent teaching just in a different venue.”
These findings align with the iNACOL Standards for Quality in Online Courses.
Standard A: The course provides online learners with multiple ways of engaging with learning
experiences that promote their mastery of content and are aligned with state or national content
standards and Standard B: The course uses learning activities that engage students in active
learning; provides students with multiple learning paths to master; the content is based on student
needs; and provides ample opportunities for interaction and communication — student to
student, student to instructor and instructor to student.
Theme 2: Student Centeredness
Findings. In an online environment, if there is a strong curriculum and most of the
learning is scaffolded off of the learning management system, online teaching becomes
extremely personalized. Respondent 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 were very clear in their responses
around student centeredness. According to Respondent 1, “student centeredness is the number
one thing we look for in our teachers. It’s the idea of having good customer service. We are in a
customer service industry...don’t react. Don’t say that’s not my job, I’m going to find out for
you…someone who has a real heart for students with good strong pedagogy. We are looking for
teachers who go the extra mile, from 8am-8pm, high numbers on touching students.”
Respondent 4, 5, and 6 commented on variations on how important it is for “teaching that
engages students intellectually”. Respondent 7 identified student centeredness by saying,
“Because it is much smaller than a f2f setting, we can tailor and personalize to their needs and
interests.” Respondent 8 commented in a very similar manner as he reflected on the following:
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“To be an effective online teacher, you have to love teaching kids more than you love
your subject. This model of delivery is more relationship based instead of content based.
In an online environment, because of the independent nature of the students’ work, it
becomes more important...that on the other side of the webinar, e-mail, that there is a
person that really cares about them and that they want to impress.”
The online learning environment is different from the face-to-face (f2f) environment in
giving and receiving feedback. As stated by iNACOL’s standards for Online Teaching, Standard
C: The online teacher plans, designs, and incorporates strategies to encourage active learning,
application, interaction, participation, and collaboration in the online environment and Standard
D: The online teacher promotes student success through clear expectations, prompt responses,
and regular feedback both support this difference.
Feedback often comes in two ways in online environments; synchronously through the
use of audio devices like phones or through video tools like Skype, Google Hangouts, or Adobe
Connect or asynchronously like e-mail or commenting on a blog post. The challenge in
synchronous online environments is that a teacher does not have the luxury of simply receiving
non-verbal feedback from students as in f2f environments. Even though the online environment
may be set up to be synchronous, the student may potentially point the camera only to their upper
bodies while they are texting or playing on another device or be talking on the phone but not
focused on the conversation at hand.
For example, Respondent 5 mentioned that “sometimes, because we predominantly teach
in a synchronous environment, we need to deal with things like kids in the class online dating or
peers not getting along with each other but we wouldn’t know it by class interactions yet it
62

affects the learning environment.” Respondent 2 claimed that “we get more feedback from
students in the way that they prefer to learn...students want teachers to explain things.”
Not only is offering feedback challenging in synchronous environments, it is equally if
not more challenging in asynchronous environments. Respondent 8 commented on how
challenging it is to offer students feedback in an asynchronous (e.g. e-mail or message left on the
LMS) environment.
“Yes, feedback is a really important piece of virtual instruction. The ability, in writing,
to review student submissions and provide instructive feedback for the purposes of the
student to be able to go back and try it again...but what that means is that the
communication between the teachers and the students that happen asynchronously needs
to be very, very good and so the ability for a teacher to communicate in that form is
certainly something we look at.”
Respondent 9 mentioned that feedback is so important that she would have it be its own
stand-alone course of study should an online national certification program ever become
operational. She looks for those teachers who are able to offer constructive feedback to students
and parents in a warm and human centered way. “Communication that is important in an online
environment...that’s so hard for us to see in an online environment. We see that feedback in the
LMS. I could go on a whole tangent on how a smiley face is not feedback. Can they give
effective feedback in a warm and attentive way?”
Summary of Research Question 1
After looking at the responses for defining highly effective online education, two themes
arose with distinction and clarity: effective online curriculum and assessments and a teacher
being student centered. As reflected in the iNACOL Standards of Quality in Online Teaching
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and Standards of Quality in Online Courses, the emergent themes clearly align with the
contemporary literature regarding quality in online learning.
Research Question #2 and Accompanying Themes
Research Question #2: How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers? The
interview questions used to answer Research Question #2 are as follows:
1. Do you have a specific job description for an online learning teacher? If so, may I have a
copy?
2. What are the most pertinent criteria or indicators you use to recruit online teachers (e.g.
degree attainment, experience level, etc.)?
3. Do you have any specific program in place to specifically recruit online learning
teachers? If so, please describe it.
4. What indicators do you use when moving an online teaching applicant from recruiting to
the interviewing process?
5. Are there any identifiable school, culture, or leadership conditions that need to be in place
in order to recruit distinguished online learning teachers?
6. What are the biggest barriers when recruiting online learning teachers?
According to Barber (1998), recruitment refers to "those practices and activities carried
on by the organization with the primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential
employees." Taking advantage of recruitment strategies and identifying barriers to recruitment
should be a part of every organization’s overall framework for selecting individuals to employ
(Ployhart and Kim, 2014) as it generates applicants, maintains applicant status, and influences
job choices (Cable & Turban, 2001). Careful creation of job descriptions and responsibilities is a
key step of the attraction stage to ensure clarity in recruiting employees. An applicant possessing
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the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes, and other characteristics (KSAO) needed for a job
position leads to successful integration into the organization. Competitive advantage and
operational performance play a large role in strategic recruiting.
Theme 3: Recruitment Qualifications
Once potential employees apply, the traditional method of selection includes interviews,
reference checks, and an examination of an applicant’s previous work experiences, training, and
education. In the absence of perfect information, these signals represent actual proof that the
employee possesses the KSAO desired by the organization (Ployhart & Kim, 2012). Increasingly
organizations are using socialization activities to assess the person-to-organization (PO) fit of
potential employees or including realistic job previews (RJP) in the pre-selection process (Bauer,
et al., 2007). Beyond KSAOs, an applicant also begins perceiving a sense of belonging and
comfort in the organization during these stages. As antecedents, PO fit and person-job (PJ) fit
both contribute to newcomer adjustment and ongoing organizational commitment (Bauer &
Erdogan, 2012; van Vianen & De Pater, 2012).
Findings. The theme arising from the inquiry into recruitment revealed a level of
commonality amongst many respondents in the areas of educational background, state teacher
certification, and level of experience; the very criteria that align with what states have identified
as a “Highly Qualified Teacher”. However, there are nuanced variances within the criteria.

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Respondent # Educational
Background Required
Teacher Certificate
Required
Level of Experience Tool Used for Recruitment
1 Bachelors in Content
Area
State Specific
Content
Certification
•Must have online
teaching experience
•School Website
•Teachers-teachers.com
•Word of Mouth
2 Bachelors State Specific
Content
Certification
•Must have online
experience or blended
experience
•Coaching experience
preferred
•Charter School Commission
•School Website
•Word of Mouth
•Online Services
3 Bachelors in Content
Area
State Specific
Content
Certification
•Prefer having taken an
online class or created
an online class
•Word of Mouth
•Nearby University College of
Ed
4 PhD in Content Area Not required •Previous online
teaching experience
preferred
•School Website
•Chronicle of Higher
Education
•Head-Hunter Agency
•Other Universities
•Word of Mouth
5 PhD in Content Area Not required •Previous online
teaching experience
preferred
•School’s Website
•Other Universities
•Word of Mouth
6 Bachelors in Content
Area
State Content
Certification
•F2F Teaching
experience required
•Proficient in Native
Language required
•School’s Website
•Local Newspapers
•Word of Mouth
7 Bachelors in Content
Area
State Content
Certification in any
state
•Online teaching
experience preferred
•School’s Website
•Content Provider’s Website
•Word of Mouth
8 Bachelors in Content
Area
Specific State
Content
Certification
•Online teaching
experience required
•School’s Website
•Content Provider’s Website
•Word of Mouth
9 Masters Degree in
Education
State Content
Certification
•Online teaching
experience required
•Exclusively by Word of
Mouth until 2014
•First posting on School
Website this year
Table 5. Recruitment Criteria by Respondent.

Due to the parallels between the recruiting and marketing processes, organizations are
recommended to consider qualified job seekers as consumers in a market of possible employers
(Cable & Turban, 2001). When attracting specific KSAOs, recruiters will often employ
recruiting-related activities like publicity, sponsorship, word-of-mouth, endorsements, and
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advertising (Rice & Goessling, 2005). These recruiting techniques have been around in
organizations including educational institutions, specifically, since 1957 (Walling, 1998) and
have progressed to specifically address turnover rates of hard to fill positions (Ingersoll, 2001;
Ishikawa, Mizuno, & Amundson, 2009). In recent years, with the rise of technology tools and
use, e-recruiting has become popular and has aided in increased favorable perceptions towards
firms with attractive websites (Braddy, Thompson, Wuensch, & Grossnickle, 2003; Cober,
Brown, Levy, Cober, & Keeping, 2003; Thoms, Chinn, Goodrich, & Howard, 2004).
As a market, students and parents have a vast array of online schools from which to
choose. The oldest school represented in this study is 30 years old while the youngest school is
only four years old respectively. Both are private schools. In such a growing yet young market,
the ability to be nimble and customizable to create competitive market advantage is paramount.
From the table above, each school is trying to create competitive market advantage by recruiting
those teachers with the qualifications they deem best for their market of students. The following
table helps to enunciate these variances.
Theme 4: Misconceptions of Teaching in an Online Environment
The transverse platform between school and home is an area of more discussion as
blended and online learning is adopted in K-12 education at a faster rate (Pykett, 2009). The
appeal of blended and online learning environments lends itself to a myriad of interesting
dilemmas between an employee and an employer (e.g. accountability to work time, engagement
in work tasks, etc.). Educational leaders recruiting for these platforms must consider the kinds of
enticements and perks already inherent within the blended and online learning platform balanced
with the classic recruitment strategies aforementioned as they recruit for operational efficiency
and competitive advantage.
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Findings. Further analysis of the recruiting data resulted in the fourth theme:
misconceptions of what teaching online really is. All nine respondents referred to how
challenging it is to deal with many applicants’ misconceptions of what online learning is. The
following is a list of misconceptions articulated by respondents during the course of this study.

List of Common Misconceptions Mentioned by Respondents of this Study

● Online learning will allow me to work from home.

● Online learning will lend to shorter work hours.

● Teaching online will help me spend less time on grading students’ work.

● I won’t have to plan so much now.

● Teaching online will help me watch my newborn baby and still work.

Table 6. Common Misconceptions of Online Learning Mentioned by Respondents.

Respondents referred to applicant misconceptions in varied ways. For example,
Respondent 2 commented on how challenging it is to get qualified applicants because of the
misconceptions many have about teaching online. She further commented that people look at the
idea of teaching online as only having to work two days a week. “What we need to get them to
understand is who we are and what we do. That means you will be working with students all the
time and you may be in the learning center one more day a week. There is mobility but you still
have to get the work done.” Respondent 3 had a more pointed answer when asked about the
barriers to recruiting. “The fact that they donʻt have a clue...they are timid, they are afraid of the
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computer, don’t know how to engage kids, not willing to learn. We pretty much need to reteach
a lot of their misconceptions.”
Respondent 7 mentioned that there are “misconceptions around what online learning is
which leads to having people who are not qualified to apply. This is still a full time teaching
position. It takes a lot of my time dealing with this kind of thing.”
Respondent 8 spent a fair amount of time describing how much he encounters this one
challenge of misconceptions when recruiting online teachers.
“There are some things that screen out a hire. ‘I want to work from home...I would love
to work for you so that I get to stay home.’ That’s like the teacher who wants to teach
because they want to have summers off. It’s something we hear a lot, a lot, a lot of. And,
I think it is a natural issue especially when expanding virtual programs across the
country, what demographic do you think makes up the full time teaching population in
the virtual school world? Late 20s and early 30s, moms and dads, who want to work
from home and take care of the kids at the same time.”
Respondent 9 claimed the following,
“That’s why they have to have online experience. I think people think that online
teaching is easier because you are not in front of a classroom but it is harder. It really is a
different animal and you are having these one on one relationships with them and you
have to have the time for it. And, if a kid is taking an online class for the very first time,
you need to be walking them through that, sharing your screen with them, and helping
them.”
Brandt (2012) affirms that recruitment should not start until all the key stakeholders are
aligned with regard to what they are looking for, what the new employee will do, and how the
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new hire will interact. As described by Brandt and Vonnegut (2009), a quality recruiting brief
should address the applicant's mission and responsibilities (why the position exists), a vision of
success (an example or aspirational peer), the talents and strengths required for the position, as
well as motivation (how will this position fit with the applicants’ likes/dislikes, goals, etc.).
In addition to the “hard” recruiting qualifications, all nine respondents had their own set
of “soft” skills similar in scope as well however, many respondents said recruiting and hiring an
online teacher is very much, if not the same, as hiring a classroom teacher. Respondent 3 put it
best when she said “It is no different than hiring regular teachers. A good teacher is a good
teacher. It has nothing to do with environment, it has everything to do with the teacher.” Please
refer to the table below for the different variances to these skills.

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Respondent # Want to teach
because they
love students
and teaching
Ability to
Communicate
in both written
and oral forms
Effectively
being able to
use technology
Innovative
with
technology to
further engage
students
Organizational
Skills
Knowledge of
Data and How
to Use It
Flexibility Team Player
or
Collaborative
Contributions
to the School
Culture
1 x x x x x x x x

2 x x x x x

x x x
3 x x x x

x

4 x x x x x

x x x
5 x x x x x

x x x
6 x x x x

x x
7 x x x x x x x x x
8 x x x

x x x x

9 x x x x x x x x x
Table 7. “Soft skills” Respondents Look for in Candidates.
Respondent 8 commented on the importance of some of these soft skills.
“Great teachers, absolutely fabulous, student centered, fail miserably as a virtual teacher
because they don’t have [the soft skills]. Working from home presents unique challenges
for people. Organization skills, the ability to time manage, [and being able to] structure
your own day without bells telling you to go to the bathroom, eat, etc...that students work
throughout the day and that you have break up your day in chunks, is a very important
characteristic of an online teacher.”
While some schools require teachers to work from home, some schools require teachers
to work side by side with one another from an actual school and service students online.
Respondent 2 commented on the importance of flexibility at her school because it services many
transient populations and there are times when teachers’ teaching lines are changed dramatically
based on the supply and demand needed. Respondent 3 commented on how important it is to
have teamwork.
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“They all work in the same place...little offices next to each other. Yes, they are forced to
come into the school site because that is collegial learning and professional development
every single day. It gives the kids one place to come for help. They have a situation
when they can have one day a month to have an off-site day. You won’t grow the
collegial aspect and good innovative ideas if they are working from home.”
Summary of Research Question #2
Online schools recruit students mostly using electronic ways. Although many schools
share a similar job description, their recruitment qualifications are somewhat varied depending
on the type of students they serve. The hard qualifications appear to be very similar in scope as
many require “highly qualified teachers” in which a state certification, bachelors in one’s content
area, and at least three years of teaching are required. However, the type of educational level,
the amount of years of service, and the state in which one is certified varies. In addition, the
types of “soft skills” these different respondents are looking for vary as well.
Every respondent claimed one of the most challenging aspects of recruiting online
teachers are the vast misconceptions applicants have about the learning environment and the job
itself. As a result, many applicants who apply for online high school teaching positions are not
qualified and sifting through the countless applications for the right qualifications is time
consuming to the recruiting and hiring administrator.
Research Question #3 and Accompanying Themes

Research Question #3: How do online high schools hire online learning teachers? The interview
questions about hiring include:
1. When interviewing, what are you specifically looking for in an online teacher (i.e.
knowledge, skills, or abilities)?
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2. How do you go about acquiring that information in the hiring process (i.e. questions,
performance task, certain other conditional criteria, etc.)?
3. What non-job specific characteristics and attributes are you looking for in the teachers
you hire (e.g. attitude, punctuality, etc.)?
4. How did you determine if the applicant is a “good fit” for your school (e.g. content
knowledge, length in profession, NBCT)?
5. Are there any identifiable organizational school, culture, or leadership conditions that
need to be in place in order to hire distinguished or highly effective online learning
teachers?
6. What are some of your biggest barriers to hiring online learning teachers?
7. Overall, what are some of the biggest lessons you have learned when recruiting and
hiring online learning teachers?
Dolton (1990) defined educational demand as being “determined by the number of pupils
and the government’s desired pupil teacher ratio” (as cited in Brewer & McEwan, 2010, p. 253).
Demand issues to consider in the teacher supply and demand quandary include: student
enrollment figures, current aging teacher population, class size, length of the work day, and the
teaching days in a school year. Positions vacated by teachers each year (i.e., attrition,
interdistrict mobility, or retirement). Positions created or eliminated as a result of changes in
student enrollments in addition to adjustments to student-teacher ratios that may affect the
numbers of positions available in schools each year also must be considered as factors affecting
demand (Minnesota Department of Education, 2013; Dolton, 1990 as cited in Brewer &
McEwan, 2010, p. 253).
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Theme 5: Knowing Supply and Demand of Online Teachers
Dolton (1990) defined educational demand as being “determined by the number of pupils
and the government’s desired pupil teacher ratio” (as cited in Brewer & McEwan, 2010, p. 253).
Demand issues to consider in the teacher supply and demand quandary include: student
enrollment figures, current aging teacher population, class size, length of the work day, and the
teaching days in a school year. Positions are vacated by teachers each year for numerous reasons
(i.e., attrition, interdistrict mobility, or retirement). Positions created or eliminated as a result of
changes in student enrollments in addition to adjustments to student-teacher ratios that may
affect the numbers of positions available in schools each year also must be considered as factors
affecting demand (Minnesota Department of Education, 2013; Dolton, 1990 as cited in Brewer &
McEwan, 2010, p. 253).
Findings. Hiring in online high schools is subject to the supply and demand of teaching
positions just like any other employment setting however, the issue of pace and time changes
how supply and demand is calculated in online settings. Online high schools have rolling
enrollment, meaning there is no specific enrollment date or start date for classes. A student can
start a class on any day and at any time. Once a start date has been identified for a group of
students, a teacher is needed. These types of conditions force online high school hiring
administrators to “be at the ready” with teachers vetted and ready to be hired.
Respondent 1, 5, and 9 were the most explicit about this unique challenge. Respondent 1
commented on having a few different pools of applicants ready to go and having three pools of
teachers. Those that they will hire on the spot, those that they will keep in the wings, and those
that they will keep resumes on file in case they need teachers quickly. Respondent 5 articulated
not only having a second tier of applicants but needing to keep up with them and track them as
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they are like the second team on a sports team that need to be ready to step up to play when the
time comes. She claimed that “it is important to keep positive contact with candidates in the 2nd
tier by writing to them. Sometimes it is hard to predict the fit for both students and teachers. For
some, it is hard to know if it is for them until they are in it.”
Respondent 9 commented on the specific need to have a pool of teachers she can turn to
when a large demand comes up. As a school that supplements other school programs with
courses, sometimes there is a demand for classes for which there is not a large supply. For
example, when she received a large order for French Language teachers, she needed to dig into
her pool of teachers and then hunt for additional teachers who were qualified. She mentioned
that there are times when the supply and demand for online teachers are simply unpredictable.
Theme 6: Hiring Practices
Despite the methods used in attracting potential job candidates, it is important to align a
potential job applicant’s fit to the institution, specifically, the culture of an institution. Factors
such as the hierarchical structure of the institution, the horizontal peer-based structure of the
institution, the processes which function with the structures of the institution, the informal
organizational socialization processes, and the values espoused within the processes of the
institution all contribute to the culture of the organization (Walker, 2011; Bosua &
Venkitachalam, 2013; Goh, 2002).
Findings. All nine respondents were able to describe specific hiring practices to their
institution and although each school strives to reach a certain student demographic, there were
many commonalities to their hiring practices. On average, after screening applications for the
right qualifications, hiring administrators will call or Skype applicants and ask them a series of
questions. If they are content with the applicant’s answers, they will typically invite them to
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teach a lesson either f2f or record a lesson and send the link to the recording of the lesson to a
screening committee which may or may not be the same administrators of the hiring committee.
If the applicant impresses the panel, the applicant is either brought in for an interview and will be
asked a series of questions. These questions can either be the same questions screening
committees ask of each applicant or the questions might vary depending on the respondent.
If the applicant impresses the interview committee, there will often be an additional
performance task. This second performance task takes many different forms and thereafter,
some respondents said they screen the applicant with another round of questions before hiring
the applicant. See Table 8 for the commonalities in hiring practices.
Respondent # Phone Screen or
Video
Conference
Screen before
Initial Interview
Initial
Performance
Task
Initial Live or
Synchronous
Interview
Second
Performance
Task
Second Interview Third Interview
or Screening
1 x x x x

2 x

x x

3

x x

4 x x x x x

5 x x x x x

6

x x

7 x x x x

8 x x x

9 x x x x x x
Table 8. Hiring Practices Matrix by Respondent.
Typically, every respondent has an initial interview based on their resume and other
qualifications. However, the variance comes in the types of performance tasks asked of each
applicant. Applicants are often asked to teach a lesson using the learning management system
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the school uses. They are also asked specific scenario questions which are relatively similar
amongst all respondents. Respondents are looking for the way an applicant writes and how they
infuse emotion in their feedback.
Respondent 8 described one of the scenarios he asks of his applicants as such:
“Although in most virtual schools, the curriculum is already developed, the lesson
planning is taken care of. There is a component of live instruction, direct instruction, the
ability to customize the experience for kids. So we ask questions that also have us gain
an understanding of what the teachers’ mindset or process is when developing content or
assignments or lessons for students. We will ask it like here’s an example. You find half
of your class is not understanding the concept. What do you do? What is your next
move? So we want to see if teachers [will say]...’we’ve got the curriculum map and we
need to move on’. You already want to stop the interview at that point. You are really
looking for the interest of students, the personal interest of students and relating to them
in that way or reteaching that subject or a specific topic and that they understand that the
mastery of the concepts are important for each individual student.”
Respondent 9 identified one of the scenario questions in this way, “One [scenario] is a
phone rings at 1:00am from a student you have been working with and you recognize the
number...will you answer the call? Will you treat it like any other call? Compose an email to let
the student know why you didnʻt answer the call.” Respondent 7 said this of one of her
performance task scenarios, “We will give them a set of data, longitudinal data...what are you
seeing in that data set? Highlighting 2 students, how would you support this student who needs
intervention or needs to be promoted to another course? What would you do with these two
students knowing their longitudinal data?”
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Typically, there is an hierarchy to the interviews given to applicants. Because so many
applicants have misconceptions about what online teaching really is, there is an initial interview
or screening to help screen out for specific motivational factors on why the applicant has applied
for the position or for the applicant to have some time to tell the hiring administrator about
him/herself. For example, Respondents 4 and 5 both said they ask questions like “Why
secondary? Why our school? [What is your ] Teaching philosophy? Sample assignments? How
is teaching middle school different from teaching high school? [We] Ask them how they resolve
conflict. [We are] Looking for what questions they ask.”
In the second interview, an applicant can be asked questions about content as well as
questions that will detect whether or not they are a good fit to the organization. Respondent 7
asks questions that pertain to the “knowledge of data to enhance student performance, helping
students select colleges...information about the college admission process, and any contributions
they want to do for our school culture.” To detect for how an applicant will fit with the school’s
philosophy, she asks questions like, “Tell us about a difficult situation [where] they’ve dealt with
a colleague and how did they handle that? Talk through scenario questions and how they deal
with team conflict. How would they contribute to the school outside of their instruction..clubs
they would sponsor, programs they would contribute to…”
In some cases, respondents will also conduct a third interview. Respondent 9 said that
the first interview is to see how they teach, the second is to see how well they know their
content, and the third interview is to see what their philosophy of education is. She put it this
way,
“Then I make a phone interview and that is the last interview they get...do they fit with
the mission and the vision of the school...Iʻm the big picture. My conversation is very
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relational...I try to get stories out of them. Are they a grader or are they a teacher? Are
they going to take the extra time to take a look at the students’ learning profile and
personalize lessons based on that or are they looking for extra money? I’m looking for
that bigger picture on why they want to do this and the bottom line is that my teachers are
the most important thing here because that is what we are all about.”
Theme 7: Conditions for Hiring
Findings. Inquiring about the type of conditions hiring administrators needed to consider
before hiring excellent online teachers engaged respondents in different ways. Respondent 1
described the condition of online learning in this way, “The only thing that is constant is change
in online learning.” As a result, he tries to hire as many part-time teachers as full-time teachers
first before going into the secondary pool of candidates as they have already been trained in the
systems and knowledge of the institution he needs them to be trained in. He also mentions that it
is important for him to coach people to improve their practice rather than simply coach them out
of the job or position because of the immense time that has been invested in his employees. He
claimed it is very time consuming to try and get a new hire up and running than it is to simply
help an employee improve their practice.
Respondent 2 and 6 both come schools which offer a mixture of blended and online
classes and equally impressed the importance for an applicant being prepared for the flexibility
of the job. Respondent 3 commented on how important it is for an administrator to know exactly
what they are looking for in applicants. She described how the fit of an applicant revolves
around what other teachers are left in the department. “You [hiring administrator] have an
obligation to reorganize of some sort when you do teacher lines for the next year…[you are
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looking for] chemistry in the department. You have to shuffle the people who are existing in
anticipation of what the chemistry of what the new person brings.”
Respondent 4, 5, 7, and 9 equally expressed the importance of having a strong school
culture. As hiring administrators of private schools, a main focus of their schools are the school
culture. Respondent 7 asserted, “Positive School culture is the number one condition that needs
to be in place to hire good people. You need to make sure that everyone knows the mission,
agrees with the mission, and is on board with the mission...if your culture revolves around that
mission, then you get the right people and it falls into place.”
Summary to Research Question 3
In answering the question how do online high schools hire teachers, it appears that online
high school administrators need to understand the scope of the supply and demand of online
teachers according to the context of the school and its operations. Some schools are entities unto
themselves and others serve as supplementary schools to other brick and mortar schools who are
not able to provide the services online schools can offer to their students. The context for each
individual online high school is different.
Hiring administrators also exercise similar hiring practices. Hiring starts with an
application to the applicant that screens for motivations and misconceptions around online
teaching. Thereafter, an applicant is typically asked to teach a lesson of their choice within their
content area. They are screened by a committee who asks a series of questions pertaining to the
position. If a hiring administrator needs more information about the applicant, other
performance tasks are asked of the applicants. These tasks typically ask the applicant to perform
different scenarios like giving feedback to students and parents, identifying pertinent data and
responding to it appropriately, or re-teaching concepts and personalizing teaching to struggling
80

students. Some hiring administrators continue to pursue specific “fit” questions with the
applicant to get the right person to organization fit as mentioned in the literature. If the hiring
administrator deems the right candidate for the position, the job is offered to the applicant.
Hiring administrators claim there needs to be some existing conditions that need to be in
place before hiring the right candidates. Having a firm understanding on the supply and demand
of teachers is needed due to the various course start times throughout the year. Without that
knowledge, a hiring administrator is unable to pursue an applicant. There also needs to be a
clear understanding of the fit to one’s school by assessing the existing faculty and staff. A
positive school culture is important as well in identifying the good fit many hiring administrators
are looking for when hiring. Making sure applicants understand what is expected of them in the
job, understand the mission of the school, and is committed to serving students according to the
mission of the school are key elements in finding a strong PO fit.
Conclusion
In this chapter, the answers to the three research questions were revealed. After looking
at the responses for defining what a highly effective online education is, two themes arose with
distinction and clarity: effective online curriculum and assessments and student centered
teachers. These emergent themes directly align to the contemporary literature regarding quality
in online learning as reflected in the iNACOL Standards of Quality in Online Teaching and
Standards of Quality in Online Courses.
Online schools recruit students using electronic means. Although many schools share a
similar job description, their recruitment qualifications are somewhat varied depending on the
type of students they serve. The hard qualifications appear to be very similar in scope as many
require “highly qualified teachers” in which a state certification, bachelors in one’s content area,
81

and at least three years of teaching are required. However, the type of educational level, the
amount of years of service, and the state in which one is certified varies. In addition, the types of
“soft skills” these different respondents are looking for vary largely due to the mission of the
school.
One of the most challenging aspects of recruiting online teachers are the immense
misconceptions applicants have about the learning environment and the job itself. As a result,
many applicants who apply for online high school teaching positions are not qualified and sifting
through the countless applications for the right qualifications is time consuming to the recruiting
and hiring administrator.
How do online high schools hire teachers? Online high school administrators need to
understand the scope of the supply and demand of online teachers according to the context of the
school and its operations. Because some schools are entities unto itself and others serve as
supplementary schools to other brick and mortar schools who are not able to provide the services
online schools can offer to their students, the context for each individual online high school is
different.
Hiring administrators also exercise similar hiring practices. It starts with a contact to the
applicant that screens for motivations and misconceptions around online teaching. Thereafter, an
applicant is typically asked to teach a lesson of their choice within their content area and then sit
for a screening committee who asks either a series of the same questions of each applicant or
mixes questions up depending on the position. If a hiring administrator needs more information
about the applicant, other performance tasks are asked of the applicants which typically ask the
applicant to perform to different scenarios typically experienced in online learning environments
like giving feedback to students and parents, identifying pertinent data and responding to it
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appropriately, or reteaching concepts and personalizing teaching to struggling students.
Thereafter, some hiring administrators continue to pursue specific “fit” questions with the
applicant to get that right person to organization fit as mentioned in the literature. Then, the
hiring administrator hires the right candidate.
Hiring administrators claim that there needs to be some existing conditions that must be
in place before hiring the right candidates. There needs to be a firm understanding on the supply
and demand of online teachers for their specific school’s needs. Without that knowledge, efforts
to secure an applicant will not be efficient. There must be a clear understanding of the fit to
one’s school by assessing the existing faculty and staff. A positive school culture is important in
identifying the good fit many hiring administrators are looking for and making sure applicants
understand what is expected of them, understand the mission of the school, and is committed to
serving students according to the mission of the school.

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CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
In the previous chapters, the rationale to study how online high schools recruit and hire
teachers was outlined. Three research questions were developed to pursue this topic. Each
question focused on recruiting and hiring in online high schools and qualitatively explored how
nine online high school administrators recruit and hire teachers for their schools.
An extensive literature review was conducted on the the Human Capital Framework and
all relevancy to recruiting and hiring in online high schools. Limited extant literature has been
done in this area of study as the growth of online high schools throughout the U.S. is relatively
new in nature thereby validating this study. The following theoretical frameworks served to
ground this study:
1. Human Capital Framework
2. Technology Integration Framework
3. Blended Learning Models
4. Dimensions of Blended Learning Framework
This final chapter synthesizes the key findings of this study and presents discussion of the
results of the research questions. Following the discussion, limitations followed by
recommendations for future research as it relates to recruiting and hiring in online high schools
will be presented.
Review of the Human Capital Framework
Human capital refers to the knowledge, ideas, skills, and health of individuals (Becker,
2002; Eide & Showalter, 2010; Coff, 2002; Flamholtz & Lacey, 1981) and is the most important
form of capital in modern economies (Becker, 2002). The development of human capital is one
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of the largest investments organizations make (Schiemann, 2006) and constitutes over 70 percent
of the total capital invested in the United States (Becker, 2002). The Bureau of Labor Statistics
report those earning higher degrees not only make more per week than those less educated but
they typically have significantly less unemployment percentages the more educated they are
(BLS, 2013) and that the growth in knowledge-dependent goods traded 1.3 times faster than
labor intensive goods in 2012 (Manyika et al., 2014). Maximizing the impact and efficiency of
human capital in organizations is one of the cornerstones of industrial and organizational
psychology inquiry (Ketchen, 2011) and is vital to the economic success of individuals and
organizations.
Human Capital Management (HCM) is a complex but critical system that can enhance an
organization's success (Joshi, 2012; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Huselid, 1995). The literature
defines HCM as a systematic approach to attracting, selecting, engaging, developing, and
retaining the highest ability individuals (Joshi, 2012; Becker & Gerhart, 1996; Huselid, 1995;
Phillips & Roper, 2009; McMahan & Wright, 1992). Phillips and Roper (2009) created a human
capital framework on which this study will be based.
Summary of Findings
After looking at the responses for defining highly effective online education, two themes
arose with distinction and clarity: having an engaging online learning environment using
curriculum and having teachers with a strong student centered philosophy. Having an engaging
online learning environment for students helps to keep students motivated in the course and
ensure cognitive rigor.
In addition, online high school teachers must possess a philosophy of education that is
student centered. Because online curriculum and assessments often are presented on adaptive or
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responsive learning management systems, instruction in online learning encompass more
coaching and facilitating of learning. As coaching is a personalized endeavor, online teachers
need to offer specific feedback to individuals about their learning. As reflected in the iNACOL
Standards of Quality in Online Teaching and Standards of Quality in Online Courses, the
emergent themes clearly align with the contemporary literature regarding quality in online
learning.
Recruitment qualifications emerged as the third theme in response to Research Question
#2: How do online schools recruit highly effective teachers? According to Barber (1998),
recruitment refers to "those practices and activities carried on by the organization with the
primary purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees". Taking advantage of
recruitment strategies and identifying barriers to recruitment should be a part of every
organization’s overall framework for selecting individuals to employ (Ployhart & Kim, 2014) as
it generates applicants, maintains applicant status, and influences job choices (Cable & Turban,
2001). Competitive advantage and operational performance play a large role in strategic
recruiting.
There are specific recruiting qualifications that online high school hiring administrators
expect. Many schools require teachers to be highly qualified teachers or teachers who have a
bachelor’s in the teaching subject, three years of teaching experience, and have passed state
teacher certification exams in their teaching subject. However, these kinds of qualifications vary
according to the type of school, mission of the school, and the type of students the school is
aiming to serve.
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The fourth theme emerged when asking inquiries about recruitment: misconceptions of
teaching in an online environment. Because this is a new movement around the U.S., many
applicants still have misconceptions of what teaching in an online environment actually is.
Being able to teach from home, not having to teach, or having less work to do are common
misconceptions of expectations some applicants have of online teaching. These misconceptions
have led to many applicants not meeting the minimal qualifications for the position.
The fifth theme was constructed in response to how online teachers are hired through
Research Question #3: How do online high schools hire highly effective teachers? Because
online high schools do not operate on the same time frames that f2f schools do, knowing what
kind of supply and demand of teachers is needed at one time may be more complex than initially
thought. Since some online schools serve as supplementary schools to additional district
schools, it is important for hiring administrators to know exactly what kind of supply and
demand of teachers are needed for not only their own school but also for the schools they
service. Thus, it is important for a hiring administrator to have several pools of teachers readily
available in times of need.
The sixth theme offers proven hiring practices of online high schools. Hiring practices
follow a similar theme across most online high schools with slight variances based on the hiring
administrator, the school’s mission, and the needs of the school. Most hiring practices typically
include asking an applicant a series of questions, having the applicant perform various tasks
pertinent to the school’s student body, and then following up with an additional interview. Many
online high schools conduct their hiring practices solely online.
The last theme, conditions for hiring, emerged from inquiring about hiring. Like the
hiring practices, conditions needed to hire highly effective online high school teachers were in
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existence in many online high schools. Some of these conditions for hiring include: the
applicant must have an attitude of flexibility, the school must maintain a strong, positive school
culture, and the hiring administrator must have a very good sense of what kind of person they
would like to hire based on their supply and demand.
Implications for Practice
These findings have many implications for practice. The following are recommendations
on how these findings might be used when recruiting and hiring online high school teachers.
Improving misconceptions of online teaching. Because there are many misconceptions
concerning online teaching, recruiting and hiring efforts can be improved by including activities
which orient applicants to the job. Challenges may arise as one of the logistics of an online
environment changes when anyone in the world can be a student in an online high school and
teachers from all over the world may need to be oriented to a job in another state or possibly,
another country. Allowing recruitment materials to more fully explain the day in-and-outs of
teaching online through various ways may help to mitigate the type of misconceptions applicants
have about online teaching as well as clarify the role of place in global student settings.
Partnerships with pre-service teacher education programs. Many respondents in this
study voiced how colleges and universities are not fully preparing post-secondary students to
teach in a blended or online learning environment. Therefore, much of the training being done to
teach in this environment rests on the employer through the onboarding, training, and support
part of the human capital framework for online high schools. If more online high schools created
memorandum of agreements with college and university partners to teach new pre-service
teachers how to teach in a blended or online learning environment, there would be a greater pool
of applicants who have a clear understanding of the expectations of teaching needed to teach in
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such an environment and allow for less screening on the part of the employers during the
recruiting and hiring processes.
Online teaching certification. Just as high qualified teachers are required to have a state
certification in their area of teaching, one respondent articulated how she advocates for an online
teaching certification for those wanting to teach in online environments. Although online
teaching certifications are cropping up around the country, such as the one offered as a two year
program through Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning program, having a national
certification to teach online would address the issue of “place”. For example, teachers would be
eligible to teach anywhere in the U.S. if they achieved a certification in online teaching allowing
online high schools to continue to recruit nationally from an informed applicant pool. Much of
the time and effort taken to onboard and train online teachers would be mitigated on the
employer’s side and applicant’s would have clear expectations on what teaching in an online
learning environment really is.
School conditions needed to recruit and hire online teachers. The respondents of this
study articulated the importance of having a strong school culture, one that is positive and
remains student centered. As more online schools focus on serving students from a much
broader geographical range, it is important to articulate exactly what kind of conditions need to
be in place for a particular school based on the school’s mission, students being targeted, and
cultural contexts of each student. Differentiating programs to better support students’ social,
emotional, spiritual, and cultural connections needs to be examined in order to retain students
throughout their high school years. Aligning recruitment and hiring practices which take these
kinds of conditions into consideration will lend to a better person to organization fit for each
applicant and school relationship.
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Implications for Research
The following will serve as implications and areas in which this study might extend
research into enhancing online high school environments.
More research needed for the Human Capital Framework in online high schools.
The HCF for online high schools is worthy of study especially in the areas of onboarding,
training, support, evaluation, and rewarding as minimal research has been done in this area.
Identifying a bank of processes and practices, informed by criteria for quality, may allow for
more conversation on what a national online certification might entail in the areas of onboarding
and training. Conducting crosswalks of teacher evaluation frameworks and standards in both f2f
teaching and online teaching may inform efforts in evaluation and support. As many online
teacher contracts are held to 12 months, review literature that studies motivation when
identifying areas to reward online teachers may prove helpful. These efforts may help to
improve the quality of online school programming overall.
Identifying online learning standards and practices for diverse student groups.
More and more schools are recruiting students from international countries. According to their
websites, Florida Virtual School-Global recruits from 57 countries
(http://www.flvsglobal.net/about-us) while Stanford Online High School recruits from 20
countries (https://ohs.stanford.edu/about). In addition, states are starting to create online public
high schools across the country (Bidwell, 2015). When dealing with such diverse student bodies,
leveling out the playing field in the classroom with such multicultural diversity may be an
additional challenge online teachers may experience.
More and more schools are being created to service specific targets of students,
potentially, those from a specific race or gender or, those with special needs. One respondent
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identified how more research is needed to uncover how cultural practices and belief systems
affect online learning environments. In addition, gender and special needs, some which may
revolve around specific land areas and geographic zones and some which may revolve around
social/emotional outcomes are important to learn as many online learning environments focuses
mostly on cognitive development.
Leveraging partnerships to create quality online schools for the 21st century. One of
the driving forces behind personalized education in blended and online learning has been the
desire to see students become competitive in the 21st century (Collins & Haverson, 2009; Zhao,
2009; Wagner, 2008; Robinson, 2011). While some schools may have a better school culture,
others may have a great STEM program, and yet, still others may have a great outdoor education
experience. The idea of quality with regards to education will take on new meaning in the 21st
century. Due to cost and specialization in education, schools will eventually need to pull their
resources to offer high quality programs to serve their students. More research is needed on the
kinds of local, state, national, and international partnerships needed to bring about quality in 21st
century online high schools.
The role of online high school teachers and student’s post-secondary success. Online
high schools focus on competency models of mastery to advance students much like post-
secondary institutions. One respondent at a college-prepatory private school commented on how
important it is for an online teacher to be able to coach students through the college admissions
process and guide students towards post-secondary admissions success. As more students
engage in online learning from a younger age, more students will be able to advance into post-
secondary status earlier in life. More research is needed to explore how the college admissions
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process may play into the role of the typical online high school teachers’ knowledge, skills, and
attributes.
In addition, the role of online high schools in post-secondary partnerships may be of
interest to many students looking for online high school programs. Dual credit and AP credit
courses are offered in many schools and the ability to have students succeed in these courses are
paramount to helping them achieve post-secondary success. As college costs rise, access to high
quality education rages on, and more focus is put on post-secondary success, more research is
needed to explore the kind of partnerships needed to create strong secondary to post-secondary
student pipelines with the goal of students working towards an undergraduate degree in high
school.
Conclusion
With the promise of increased personalization towards competency mastery, blended and
online learning is on the rise in K-12 education. The Human Capital Framework or the
recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, supporting, evaluating, and rewarding of employees was
the theoretical framework used to frame this study. Nine hiring administrators from eight
different online high schools were interviewed in this study to uncover the recruiting and hiring
practices and the conditions needed to hire highly effective teachers.
Three research questions were used to articulate this study’s inquiry. Research question
#1 asked how do online high schools define highly effective online education? Research
question #2 asked how do online high schools recruit distinguished or highly effective teachers
and research question #3 asked how do online high schools hire distinguished or highly effective
teachers?
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An online learning environment must be an engaging environment. Many online high
schools use learning management systems to help deliver highly engaging curriculum that helps
students to gain mastery at their own pace. Curriculum often drives learning based on content
mastery. A distinguished online learning environment is characterized by an engaging
curriculum and interactive learning management system.
Online education must be student-centered. With the increased ability to personalize
education based on altering the pace, time, path, and place of learning, online education offers
many advantages for students to achieve content mastery as compared to brick and mortar
learning environments. This increased ability to personalize education allows online education
to be student-centered.
Similar to brick and mortar learning environments, hiring administrators expect
applicants to be highly qualified teachers or those who have a bachelor’s degree in their area of
teaching, state certification in their intended teaching subject area, and at least three years of
teaching experience. Beyond being a highly qualified teacher as a baseline requirement, online
teaching, or in some cases, online learning experience is also a preferred qualification.
One of the most important recruitment characteristics hiring administrators is a student-
centered philosophy of teaching. They are looking for teachers who are interested in going that
extra mile to make sure a student gains content mastery, who have a clear understanding of how
to differentiate instruction to different kinds of learners, and who is able to give constructive
feedback with warmth and care in an asynchronous environment. Teachers who partner with
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engaging curriculum often turn into facilitators and coaches of learning in online learning
environments. Synchronous environments allow for direct instruction and guided instruction.
Many online teaching applicants have misconceptions of online teaching. According to
the research, many teachers have misconceptions around the expectations involved with online
learning. Many applicants come with beliefs that online education allows for them to stay at
home and watch children, teach only one or two hours a day, and students can manage
themselves in curriculum driven learning environments. These misconceptions cause additional
sifting through applications taking time and effort away from more pertinent applications. These
misconceptions can be averted by more strategic recruitment materials and practices helping to
shed light on the day to day operations to online teaching.
To streamline recruiting and hiring in online high schools, it is important to understand
the supply and demand of online teachers when hiring online teachers. Because online high
schools operate year round and service national and international students, it is important to
understand a school’s needs before recruiting or hiring applicants. Many online teachers are
required to collaborate with colleagues and knowing the chemistry of a department is important
to help strategically hire teachers who will fit with the mission and culture of the school.
Hiring practices are similar for online high schools. Literature revealed a 12-step process
for hiring employees (Mueller & Baum, 2011). These are similar in scope to what the research
of this study has revealed. The nuances of the questions asked as well as the performance tasks
applicants are asked to perform are what differentiate hiring practices in online high schools.
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Questions pertinent to an applicant’s motivations are often the more used questions when
looking for pertinent hiring candidates. Because hiring administrators are not in close proximity
to their employees due to geographic displacements, it is important to hire those who will fit with
the culture and mission of the school. Using data to diagnose a student’s mastery of content and
offering next steps on how to help a student progress is one performance task identified in this
study. In addition, offering feedback asynchronously is another unique performance task asked
of online teaching applicants.
There are optimum conditions that should be considered when hiring distinguished online
teachers. Having a positive school culture, one in which every faculty member is in alignment
with the school mission and has a strong student centered focus is one of the main conditions
needed when hiring distinguished teachers. Having collaborative partnership and mentorship
opportunities and expectations are also important program conditions needed to hire
distinguished teachers. Lastly, leadership conditions in which school leaders are responsive and
make decisions based on a student centered philosophy is key in recruiting and hiring highly
effective online teachers.
As the world of K-12 education becomes affected by globalization, technological shifts,
and demographic changes, more and more institutions are looking to gain a competitive
advantage and operational efficiency in their approach to their student learning outcomes
(Thomas & Kleiner, 2005; Ployhart & Kim, 2014). The research of this study offers themes in
recruiting and hiring online teachers a brick and mortar school may consider when moving to a
blended and online environment. With over 500,000 enrollments already across the United
States alone, only time will tell the journey online education will travel in by 2050.
95

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APPENDICES
109

Appendix A: ISTE Teacher Standards

110

111

Appendix B: iNACOL Standards for Online Teaching

112

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Appendix C: Instrumentation
Melia Abreu’s Dissertation Research Protocol
University of Southern California
Educational Doctorate in Educational Leadership in K-12 Urban Settings
August 2015

Abstract: The focus of this study was designed to identify the recruiting and hiring
practices and the optimum organizational conditions needed to recruit and hire online learning
teachers in online high schools. This qualitative study, based on the Human Capital Framework,
was conducted from a purposeful sampling of ten to twelve online high schools chosen by their
accredited online school designations according to their school websites. High school directors,
principals, hiring staff, and other school level leaders were interviewed, participants’ statements
and responses were coded by category and analyzed for patterns, and key findings were used to
answer the study’s main research question: How do online high schools define quality online
education and recruit and hire online teachers?

Problem Statement: Due to globalization, technological shifts, and demographic
changes, students are competing with global candidates for jobs that will allow them to maintain
their quality of life in their own homeland. Many secondary and postsecondary educational
institutions have seen a rise in blended and online learning as a way to achieve higher student
learning results and to address personalized learning needs in the current educational landscape
(Keeping Pace, 2014). However, many teachers are not equipped to teach students in online
environments. In addition, many hiring administrators are not equipped with the recruiting and
hiring practices needed to create these environments.

Purpose Statement: The purpose of this study is to identify the recruiting and hiring
practices and to further inquire of the optimum conditions needed to recruit and hire teachers for
online high schools.

Research Questions:
1. How do online high schools define “distinguished” online student learning and
teaching?
2. How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers?
3. How do online high schools hire online learning teachers?

130

Methodology: Qualitative Online Interviews-Recorded

Respondents: All respondents will remain anonymous in this study and will be
identified as “a recruiting or hiring administrator of an online high school”. The school’s name
will not be used for publication nor will the administrator’s name be used for publication. Each
interview will take approximately one hour and will be recorded. Once all recordings have been
fully transcribed, all recordings will be deleted.

Interview Questions

Demographic Questions for the Interviewee:
1. Please state your name, your title, and your institution
2. How long you have been in your current position?
3. What has been your experience in recruiting online learning teachers?
4. What has been your experience in hiring online learning teachers?

1. Research Question #1: How do online high schools define highly effective or
distinguished online education?

Interview Questions about Excellent/Effective Online Learning
1. Define effective online teaching.
2. Does your institution use an assessment tool to assess highly effective or distinguished
online learning curriculum, instruction, and/or assessments?
3. What indicators do you look for in effective online education?

2. Research Question #2: How do online high schools recruit online learning teachers?

Interview Questions about Recruiting:
1. Do you have a specific job description for an online learning teacher? If so, may I have a
copy?
2. What are the most pertinent criteria or indicators you use to recruit online teachers (e.g.
degree attainment, experience level, etc.)?
3. Do you have any specific program in place to specifically recruit online learning
teachers? If so, please describe it.
131

4. What indicators do you use when moving an online teaching applicant from recruiting to
the interviewing process?
5. Are there any identifiable school, culture, or leadership conditions that need to be in place
in order to recruit distinguished online learning teachers?
6. What are the biggest barriers when recruiting online learning teachers?

3. Research Questions #3: How do online high schools hire online learning teachers?

Interview Questions about Hiring:
1. When interviewing, what are you specifically looking for in an online teacher (i.e.
knowledge, skills, or abilities)?
2. How do you go about acquiring that information in the hiring process (i.e. questions,
performance task, certain other conditional criteria, etc.)?
3. What non-job specific characteristics and attributes are you looking for in the teachers
you hire (e.g. attitude, punctuality, etc.)?
4. How did you determine if the applicant is a “good fit” for your school (e.g. content
knowledge, length in profession, NBCT)?
5. Are there any identifiable organizational school, culture, or leadership conditions that
need to be in place to in order to hire distinguished or highly effective online learning
teachers?
6. What are some of your biggest barriers to hiring online learning teachers?

Summarizing Questions:
1. Overall, what are some of the biggest lessons you have learned when recruiting and
hiring online learning teachers?
2. Is there anything else you would like to share on behalf of recruiting and hiring online
learning teachers that you haven’t already mentioned?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The focus of this study was designed to identify the recruiting and hiring practices and the optimum conditions needed to recruit and hire online learning teachers for online high schools. The Philips and Roper Human Capital Management Framework, Dr. Ruben Puendetura’s SAMR Technology Integration Framework, the Christenson Institute Framework for Blended Learning, iNACOL’s (International Association for K-12 Online Learning) Defining Dimensions of Blended Learning Model, the iNACOL’s Standards of Quality for Online Programs, the iNACOL’s Standards for Quality Online Courses, and the iNACOL’s Standards for Quality Online Teaching were used as frameworks for this study. ❧ This study was conducted from a purposeful sampling of eight online learning high schools

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Asset Metadata

Creator Abreu, Melia L. (author)

Core Title Recruiting and hiring online learning teachers for online high schools

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 05/02/2016

Defense Date 10/15/2015

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag High School,hiring,OAI-PMH Harvest,online,online learning,recruiting

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Brewer, Dominic (committee chair), Chamberlain, Rodney D. (committee member), Sundt, Melora (committee member)

Creator Email 1melia.abreu@gmail.com,melia.abreu@hawaiianair.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-245796

Unique identifier UC11278969

Identifier etd-AbreuMelia-4395.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-245796 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-AbreuMelia-4395.pdf

Dmrecord 245796

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Abreu, Melia L.

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

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