Job Queues, Certification Status, and the Education Labor Market

Abstract

This research explores the interaction between training programs and certification status in one education labor market to examine the micro-level interactions that shape the recruitment process. Using job queue theory, it is found that the information available to novice teachers operates to stratify and shape their worksite choices in addition to stratifying workers by their certification status. Traditionally trained teachers use the formal and informal knowledge garnered during training to identify preferred worksites, citing poverty levels, student achievement, and the administration as important factors in the decision-making process. Conversely, alternatively trained teachers are channeled into disadvantaged schools and, constrained by limited occupational knowledge, select a worksite based on personal interactions. Accountability policies and teacher training programs interact to stratify schools and teachers in the education labor market.