October 2007 — Features
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Help Wanted
Ongoing Support
In the majority of cases, new-teacher attrition is not chalked up to poor career choice. Salary is an issue for some former teachers, but national surveys show that money is not the most critical factor in a teacher’s decision to move on. Rather, the primary culprit is lack of support—from administration, principals, and other teachers. The problem is particularly present in those same schools with high poverty rates and low student achievement where teacher turnover is most acute. In surveys reported in NCTAF’s "No Dream Denied," poor administrative support and lack of faculty influence are identified as the two leading factors for teacher turnover in high-poverty urban schools.
NEW TEACHERS, CLICK HERE
A SPRUCED-UP WEBSITE CAN BE A DISTRICT'S MOST EFFECTIVE, CHEAPEST RECRUITING TOOL.
It's one thing to simply create a pool of teachers to fill a list of available jobs. It's another thing altogether to match highly qualified professionals to the positions and schools they are ideally suited for. Placing print classified ads or traveling great distances to attend recruiting fairs is neither cheap nor necessarily the best strategy for finding qualified job candidates.
Redesigned or expanded district websites have become a cheaper alternative to jumping on a plane. These websites are information hubs for prospective teachers, providing up-to-date, attractive web pages covering everything from basic questions about the district to virtual tours of individual school sites and current job listings. In some instances, district and site personnel also use their sites to expedite the actual hiring process.
In addition to implementing a database for teacher information,
Burbank Unified School District's (CA) Gabe
Soumakian (pictured left), assistant superintendent
for the human resources department, is in
the process of giving his district's HR web page a
serious overhaul. "It's a work in progress, but we've
made significant changes in the last 18 months,"
he says. When potential employees visit the district
website, they can access current job postings,
salary schedules, facts about the district, even a brief tutorial on
how to complete the new online application. "By automating this
process," he says, "the principals and I have immediate access to job
applications, facilitating interviewing and hiring."
