The effects of age, ethnic name and grade point average on screening decisions in teacher selection

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Authors
Luo, Dazun
Advisor
Place, Andrew W.
Issue Date
1995
Keyword
Degree
Thesis (D. Ed.)
Department
Department of Educational Leadership
Other Identifiers
Abstract

This study was formulated around the critical issues of teacher selection, potential discrimination, and candidate competence. This study investigated the effects of teacher candidate's age, ethnic name and undergraduate Grade Point Average (G.P.A.) on the school principals' evaluation of the candidate in the resume screening stage of selection.One hundred secondary school principals from a national random sample rated the hypothetical teacher candidates with different age conditions and resume conditions (ethnic name and G.P.A.). The principals' ratings for each candidate on the six selection criteria on the evaluation form were computed to yield a composite score for the candidate. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the differences among composite scores for the candidates with different age and resume conditions. There was no statistically significant difference found in the principals' ratings for the candidates with different age conditions. This finding indicated that candidate's age did not have an effect on the principals’ evaluation. There was a statistically significant difference in the principals' ratings for the candidates with different resume condition. This finding indicated that candidate's resume condition had influence on the principals' evaluation.A post-hoc procedure, Tukey (HSD), was further used to detect the specifics of the resume condition effect. The data analyses indicated that candidate's G.P.A. had a direct effect on the principals' evaluation only for the Anglo-Saxon name candidates not for the Hispanic name candidates The data analyses also indicated that candidate's ethnic name had an indirect effect on the principals' evaluation, and the effect was in favor of the Hispanic name candidates with a high G.P.A.