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Widening the Net<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Experience as a campus principal made me a fervent believer that there were no good hires to be had in July.\u00a0 In those days the local July job fair felt like an open casting call for a new zombie movie. I had no desire to take a chance on the woman whose spearmint gum failed to entirely mask the smell of alcohol or the man in desperate need of a pedicure wearing open-toed sandals.\u00a0 This was the turn of the millennium before alternative certification opened the door to thousands of more applicants and changed teacher recruitment.\u00a0 If I had a vacancy in late July it was time to call in a long-term substitute and give up until December college graduates started applying. When ACP programs became readily available, however, I was able to steer my favorite subs towards them so that I could hire them as teachers.\u00a0 I found seco<\/span>nd<\/span> career people, first-generation college graduates who couldn\u2019t afford\u00a0to dedicate a semester\u00a0to\u00a0student teaching,\u00a0even private school teachers who wanted to transition to public school salaries and benefits \u2013\u00a0in June,\u00a0July,\u00a0and even\u00a0(gulp!) August.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n EQUITY AND REPRESENTATION IN EDUCATION\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that we find ourselves with a deepening teacher shortage, we are searching to find new ways to recruit good teachers at any time of the year.\u00a0\u00a0Most districts recognize the need to pivot in their marketing strategies, but to whom \u2013 exactly \u2013 are they marketing? Data-driven hiring goals usually go beyond the simple subject area needs to seek diversity in race, ethnicity, and gender. <\/span>\u00a0These are critical goals.\u00a0 A 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Education found that 82%\u00a0of teachers are white.\u00a0 Other studies\u00a0have found\u00a0<\/span>that students perform better academically when they see teachers who look like they do.\u00a0 One found that low-income black male students were 39 percent less likely to drop out by high school if they were assigned to a black teacher in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade (Gershenson et al., 2017)\u00a0Failure to\u00a0<\/span>recruit historically underrepresented populations reinforces the status quo.\u00a0 You have undoubtedly recruited at HBCUs, but how else have you marketed to this population?\u00a0 Spanish language radio stations?\u00a0\u00a0Ads on BET?\u00a0 What about canvassing your alumni to find teacher candidates?\u00a0 Even if they aren\u2019t interested in teaching, chances are good that they know someone who is.\u00a0 <\/span>Institutional partnerships with alternative teacher preparation programs, such as Teachers of Tomorrow, also yield more diverse candidates, as they are more likely to serve non-traditional students than typical institutions of higher education.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Generation Z recruits, the youngest generation of teachers,\u00a0have<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a strong commitment to social justice and a desire to make their world a better place.\u00a0 They may not immediately recognize that teaching is a direct path to these goals, but it most certainly is.\u00a0 There is no better way to impact the future of the country than educating its youth.\u00a0\u00a0Help them connect the dots\u00a0between their passion and their\u00a0career path\u00a0with targeted marketing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n TIME FOR A CHANGE\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The Great Resignation has hurt teacher recruitment, but there are signs that it may end up helping fill the resulting vacancies.\u00a0 COVID prompted many people to reevaluate priorities and work schedules.\u00a0\u00a0Many are seeking a second career, one that will provide more fulfillment.\u00a0\u00a0The pandemic has been a visceral reminder that life is too short to waste in a job you hate.\u00a0\u00a0While stories of the challenges of distance learning have undoubtedly scared potential teacher applicants away the past two school years, the dissemination of the vaccine and the development of more effective treatments are enabling schools to return to something resembling normalcy.\u00a0\u00a0Now is the time to target those who are seeking a change, and to convince them that teaching is the change they seek.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is a missed opportunity to assume that people in other occupations have no interest in teaching.\u00a0 They may just not have realized that teaching is a viable alternative for them.\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0a 2018 ASCD article,\u00a0\u201cRethinking Teacher Recruitment,\u201d the author\u00a0notes \u201c<\/span>People tend not to understand or appreciate the complexity, creativity, and challenge that is inherent in teaching, the joy it can bring, or the impact they can have while in the role.\u00a0That is to say, most\u00a0people don’t really understand what it means to be a teacher.\u201d\u00a0 These\u00a0are the passive candidates\u00a0–\u00a0people\u00a0who\u00a0need\u00a0their eyes opened to\u00a0a more nuanced picture of teaching.\u00a0Creative and carefully crafted marketing can provide this.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I hired an ex-engineer, an ordained Lutheran minister, an environmental specialist, and scores of others who sought a change of career or were tired of ignoring the internal call to teaching they had felt for years.\u00a0 With training and coaching they made excellent teachers.\u00a0\u00a0Second career educators come from all walks of life, including the military.\u00a0 Their past experiences have often imparted the soft skills that successful educators need in addition to pedagogy and subject matter expertise.\u00a0\u00a0It is much easier to teach someone how to teach than how to communicate effectively.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n WHERE IN THE WORLD IS A SCIENCE TEACHER?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n While it is true that many teachers end up working a short distance from where they themselves went to school, that too is changing.\u00a0\u00a0Millennials and Generation Z teachers\u00a0are more willing and more likely to relocate for a job. One survey found that 85% were willing to move to a new city for work.\u00a0This\u00a0opens up\u00a0a literal world of candidates.\u00a0 The ability to alternatively certify enabled me to find excellent teachers from California, Georgia, even Spain.\u00a0 One native Texan, longing for\u00a0home, interviewed and conducted a sample teaching session in physics from his apartment in Shanghai.\u00a0\u00a0Sites such as\u00a0<\/span>SchoolSpring<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Teaching\u00a0Jobs<\/span><\/a>\u00a0boost this\u00a0long-distance\u00a0recruitment effort.\u00a0\u00a0If your district isn\u2019t using\u00a0education-specific\u00a0third-party\u00a0sites to list school openings, why not?\u00a0 How else will potential physics teachers living overseas or across the country find out\u00a0about your openings?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n To help seal the deal, host webinars at convenient times (evenings, weekends) to introduce potential\u00a0candidates\u00a0to the district\u00a0and\u00a0highlight your culture.\u00a0\u00a0You can advertise these through social media, any\u00a0third-party\u00a0sites you are using to post vacancies,\u00a0and calculated\u00a0SOE tactics.\u00a0\u00a0A\u00a0good first impression with these webinars\u00a0will go a long way\u00a0to positively\u00a0showcase your district and\u00a0open\u00a0teaching positions, making the transition to the clunky\u00a0application process a bit more palatable and helping you take participants from passive candidate to active recruit.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Buttner, A. (2020, January 14).\u00a0<\/span>Teacher Recruitment Strategies:\u00a0 Tried-and-True Ways to Build Your Applicant Pool.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Frontline Education.\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.frontlineeducation.com\/blog\/teacher-recruitment-strategies\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Gershenson, S., et.al. (2017, March 26).\u00a0<\/span>The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>IZA Institute of Labor Economics.\u00a0 Discussion Paper Series.\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/poseidon01.ssrn.com\/delivery.php?ID=559124089121125008068091101103094124031062077093054032068051103057069062053123004068065001102024022062002075001070072082068127114109084091069126064080123070076093106083087120125096&EXT=pdf&INDEX=TRUE<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Herrmann, Z. (2018, May 1)\u00a0<\/span>Rethinking Teacher Recruitment.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>ASCD.\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.ascd.org\/el\/articles\/rethinking-teacher-recruitment<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Motamedi, J.G. (n.d.).\u00a0<\/span>9 strategies for recruiting, hiring, and retaining diverse teachers.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>https:\/\/ies.ed.gov\/ncee\/edlabs\/regions\/northwest\/pdf\/teacher-attrition.pdf<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n About the Author: Laura Henry<\/p>\n The former Executive Director of Chinquapin Preparatory School \u2013 a college prep boarding school for low-income students who are able and motivated \u2013 Dr. Laura Henry has worked in both public and private education for 30 years as a school leader, college professor, and alternative certification coach and trainer.\u00a0 Laura also serves as the Chair of the North American Boarding Forum for the Boarding Schools\u2019 Association (BSA), and mentors underserved youth.\u00a0 Laura\u2019s doctoral and master\u2019s degrees are both from the University of Houston\u2019s education department and her B.A. in History was earned at Rice University.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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