CRA consultants conducted an analysis of teacher hiring practices at Greenwich Public Schools (GPS) from 2017 to 2022, finding results to be consistent with a hiring process that is neutral with respect to age. The analysis was part of an investigation conducted by Day Pitney LLP on behalf of the town of Greenwich. Data was gathered from the school system and a third-party vendor and contained information for 11,231 applicants for 732 hiring events.
The team analyzed whether the percent of applicants over age 30 in each teacher posting was similar to the percent of hires in that posting over age 30. Then, the team tested whether there were any statistically significant patterns of over or under hiring of individuals over age 30 across postings from 2017 to 2022. Overall, across the time period just over nine more individuals over age 30 were hired than would be expected given their representation in the applicant pools. This result is not statistically significant, meaning that it could have occurred by chance.
Key findings:
- There were no statistically significant differences in the hiring rates of individuals over age 30 by school level (elementary, middle, high school), with small over-selection for elementary and middle school teachers, and a small under-selection for high school teachers.
- When examining the hiring by year CRA consultants found the annual difference ranges from a shortfall of 4.25 hires to a surplus of 8.52 hires of individuals over 30, with no individual year showing a statistically significant difference.
- All of these results are consistent with a hiring process that is neutral with respect to age.
- The analytical methods used in this study are generally accepted by labor economists examining similar employment outcomes and are commonly used and accepted by courts and other regulatory agencies (e.g., Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)).
