With support from the USAID Civil Society Engagement Program, the Center for Civic Integration and Inter-Ethnic Relations (CCIIR) is studying the New School Model currently being piloted in 600 schools throughout Georgia to evaluate its effectiveness and provide recommendations about its wider implementation.
As a component of this study, CCIIR recently published an evaluation of the levels of competitiveness observed in the selection processes for public school directors in Georgia in 2023.
The analysis revealed that only 18.4% of public schools had more than one candidate participate in the competition, while 43.1% of schools had a singular candidate apply for the position. Further, the CCIIR found that 38.5% of public schools in Georgia will have uncertified directors in 2023 due to the fact that no qualified candidates applied in these schools.
The situation differs significantly between urban and rural schools, with 47% of urban schools having more than one candidate apply for director positions, while only 10% of rural schools have a competitive process for selecting directors; nine percent of urban schools and 47% of rural schools did not have a single registered candidate for director.
CCIIR’s research also found that the number of schools with only one eligible candidate did not differ significantly in communities with different population densities: 44% of urban schools and 43% of rural schools reported having only one candidate for their director positions.
More information on this topic can be found in this analytical bulletin, which also reviews the certification process of school directors in Georgia over the last ten years.
