This study investigated teacher hiring practices in K-12 public schools during the spring and summer of 2020 when the response to the COVID-19 pandemic required school closures, social distancing, and quarantines. Given that student success is highly dependent on teacher quality, principals must hire only teachers able to facilitate high levels of student growth. Most traditional hiring processes rely on face-to-face interactions to determine teacher skill and fit, but school leaders were forced to create new selection processes when in-person interactions were limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research sought to uncover how teacher selection and hiring changed to accommodate school closures, including technology used, timelines, interview structure, and types of questions asked of candidates. The investigator sought information regarding school leaders\u27 perceptions of the efficacy of their hiring processes, significant challenges, and how the pandemic hiring experience may change future teacher selection processes. The investigator used semi-structured interviews to gather information and perceptions from school administrators. Data were analyzed through a process of coding interview transcripts to identify themes that represented common ideas. Themes were assigned to three groups: expected, surprising, and unusual. Data analysis is currently underway and will be available by the conference date
