Tensions Between What Principals Know and Do: The Role of Labor Market Conditions on Teacher Recruitment and Hiring

Teacher hiring is a critical lever for improving school outcomes. However, the availability of supply is a significant barrier that affects principals’ processes for teacher staffing. Drawing on sensemaking theory and concepts of fit, this study investigates how principals make sense of recruitment and hiring in a local labor market with severe teacher shortages. Findings illustrate labor market conditions constrained principals’ attempts to hire strategically and shaped new practices and hiring behaviors. By presenting a conceptualization of these hiring arrangements – strategic, creative, and transactional hiring – this study reveals the micro-negotiations principals make when recruiting and hiring in teacher shortage environments.