Staffing ClassroomsHow New York’s School

Districts Find Their Teachers

Dana Balter and William DuncombeCenter for Policy Research

Syracuse University

November 19, 2004

Introduction

Staffing classrooms is becoming more difficult

Quality teachers are critical to academic success

Researchers have made numerous policy recommendations to address the problem

Most existing literature is prescriptive

Objectives of Study

To document teacher recruitment and selection practices in New York

To collect information on the types of training and resources school districts would find valuable

To share information collected regarding potentially “innovative” practices

Organization of the Presentation

Survey methodology Difficulty recruiting certified teachers Organization of the hiring process Teacher recruiting practices Conclusions

Methodology

Mail and internet survey Sent to superintendents in 684 districts 488 usable surveys returned Response rate of 71.3% Survey was sponsored by NYSCOSS.

Methodology – Topics Covered

Teacher recruitment:

• Difficulty of recruiting certified teachers

• Use of media, internet, BOCES, and colleges for recruitment

• Use of strategies to increase supply and recruiting incentives

Screening and selection of teachers:

• Application and screening process

• Interview process

• Selection process Resource needs and comments

Districts DistrictsIn Survey Not in Survey

Enrollment Variables: Enrollment 2,681 2,479 Percent nonwhite enrollment 10.9 13.0 Percent Hispanic enrollment 4.1 5.3 Percent LEP students 1.2 1.8 Percent of free lunch students 29.0 30.3 Child poverty rate (2000) 11.5 12.1

Financial Variables: Per pupil spending on teaching $8,420 $8,839 Per pupil income (AGI) $137,845 $154,467 Per pupil market property values $688,163 $580,604

Teacher Variables: All teachers: Salary $46,694 $45,890 Adjusted salary index 1.00 1.00 Total experience 16.6 16.2 Percent with graduate degree 73.2% 74.5%*Bold indicates statistically significant differences (5% level) between two samples.

Evaluation of the Representativeness of the SampleResponding to Teacher Hiring Survey

Difficulty of Recruiting Certified Teachers

Responses (n)

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Subject Area:Mathematics 477 41.7 38.8 46.3 43.0Science 478 41.2 36.6 47.5 42.2English/language arts 470 19.8 2.3 23.0 2.7Special education 475 30.3 10.5 33.6 11.7Foreign language 474 24.5 57.6 28.6 67.4Social studies/history 476 9.5 0.8 11.4 1.0Computer science 469 19.0 6.8 46.9 16.8Music or art 472 33.7 8.9 41.8 11.1Vocational 468 19.9 22.7 38.0 43.3ESL 469 16.2 18.1 34.5 38.6

All Responses Without NA Responses

Difficulty of Recruiting Certified Teachers

Responses (n)

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Type of School:Elementary 439 2.5 0.2 2.7 0.2Middle/junior high 426 53.1 4.7 56.8 5.0High school 423 55.3 16.6 59.7 17.9Low income 373 18.5 5.1 48.3 13.3Minority students 368 6.8 2.2 38.4 12.3

All Responses Without NA Responses

Difficulty of Recruiting Certified Teachers

Responses (n)

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Somewhat Difficult Very Difficult

Demographics of Teachers:Latino 417 12.2 33.1 24.5 66.3African-American 416 12.5 37.0 23.5 69.7Male 411 37.2 5.4 50.2 7.2

All Responses Without NA Responses

Staff Involvement in Recruitment Process (percent of districts)

Percent of District With

PositionSomewhat Involved

Very Involved

Somewhat Involved

Very Involved

Superintendent 100 31.9 58.8 31.9 58.8Human resource manager 39 2.3 36.2 6.0 93.4District-level curriculum director 59 22.6 30.1 38.5 51.3School business official 89 21.2 4.4 23.8 4.9Principals 100 13.0 82.7 13.0 82.7Assistant principals 65 31.4 26.4 48.2 40.5School department heads 67 25.3 36.2 37.6 53.7Teachers 100 44.6 38.5 44.6 38.5

All Responses Districts With Position

Organization of Hiring ProcessSmaller districts:

• Superintendent is key.• With support of teachers and principal. • Hiring process is at district level.

Medium districts: • Superintendent, teachers and principals are important but also

involvement of school business official and district curriculum director.• Hiring process shared between districts and schools.

Large districts: • HR director has key role with support of district curriculum director,

principals, assistant principals and teachers. • Hiring process organized at district level but screening, interviewing,

and selection is shared between districts and schools.

Methods to Improve Teacher Recruitment

Increase the number of applicants from pool of teachers:

• Advertise in multiple outlets

• Use internet

• Attend local job fairs

• Partner with local colleges

• Offer recruiting incentives

Enlarge the applicant pool:

• Advertise outside local area

• Use “unconventional” internet sites

• Attend non-local job fairs

• Partner with non-local colleges

• Recruit paraprofessionals, retirees, ex-teachers

• Offer recruiting incentives

Use of Media for Teacher Recruitment (% of districts with “most” or “all” ads placed here)

All Districts Low Med High Low Med High

HN Urban

HN Rural

Avg. Need

Low Need

Local Newspapers 79.7 88.3 79.8 71.2 70.0 82.4 83.9 73.1 87.6 81.6 65.1

Other Newspapers in NY 24.8 24.6 22.8 28.7 35.0 17.5 29.1 20.0 26.0 19.3 42.0

Out of State Newspapers 1.3 1.8 1.3 0.8 0.9 0.4 3.6 0.0 3.2 1.2 0.0

Education Trade Publicatons 3.5 1.8 4.0 4.2 4.3 1.7 6.1 8.0 6.2 1.6 5.0

Radio/Television 1.1 2.7 0.4 0.8 0.0 0.4 3.5 0.0 3.2 0.8 0.0

*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size, or need/capacity category at 10% level.

Enrollment Size Need/Resource Capacity Free Lunch Rate

Use of Internet for Recruitment (percent of districts)

All Districts Low Medium High HN Urban HN Rural Average Need Low Need

Uses Internet 75.4 61.2 78.9 82.4 85.2 67.0 79.9 70.2

Post job openings on:District website 57.0 35.5 58.7 74.4 63.0 47.2 60.1 58.3Teacher recruitment website 43.0 38.0 45.5 43.2 55.6 38.7 44.8 39.3General recruitment website 9.4 7.4 7.4 15.2 11.1 7.5 11.2 6.0

Search for candidates on recruitment website 17.4 14.9 14.9 24.8 25.9 13.2 18.3 17.9

Allows online submission of application 37.1 25.6 39.7 43.2 37.0 27.4 38.1 46.4

*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size, or need/capacity category at 10% level.

Enrollment Size Need/Resource Capacity Category

Attendance at Job Fairs for Recruitment

63% of districts attend job fairs 40% attend attend only one 87% attend attend 3 or fewer

Use of BOCES Recruitment Services (percent of districts)

All Districts Low Medium High HN Urban HN Rural Average Need Low Need

Uses BOCES 52.5 47.9 54.8 52.4 55.6 45.7 56.6 46.4

Online application system 24.4 18.2 26.4 27.4 25.9 11.4 27.9 29.8

Online placement of vacancy notices 27.0 24.0 29.7 25.8 33.3 18.1 30.9 25.0

Advertising 33.2 30.6 36.4 30.6 25.9 33.3 34.3 33.3

Recruitment fairs 31.1 28.1 31.0 35.5 37.0 32.4 32.8 23.8

Assistance with interviewing 2.0 2.5 2.5 0.8 0.0 1.9 2.6 1.2

Applicant screening 4.9 8.3 5.0 1.6 0.0 8.6 5.3 1.2

Fingerprinting 17.6 19.0 18.4 15.3 22.2 11.4 17.7 23.8

*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size, or need/capacity category at 10% level.

Enrollment Size Need/Resource Capacity Category

Partnering with Colleges to Improve Recruitment

Strategy

Colleges within 50

miles

Other Colleges in

NY

Colleges in Other States

Not Applicable (not using)

Post job notices at the college 63.3 40.4 10.7 23.4Visit campus to actively recruit job candidates 30.9 12.7 4.7 54.1Advertise in placement newsletter distributed by college 26.4 18.0 3.3 57.0Contact specific college faculty to identify potential job candidates 53.5 20.5 4.1 33.8Supervise student teachers from the college 77.5 21.1 3.9 10.9

Percent of All Responses

Use of Strategies to Increase Supply in Districts with Recruiting Difficulties

All Districts Low Medium HighUse Strategy to increase supply 86.7 74.0 86.5 92.4

Recruit teachers certified through alternative routes 43.2 15.1 47.1 49.7Recruit substitute teachers 79.3 68.5 79.1 84.2Recruit retired teachers 28.3 15.1 25.8 37.4Recruit former teachers who have left teaching 7.4 5.5 8.2 7.0Provide assistance to paraprofessionals to become certified teachers 27.7 11.0 27.9 34.5*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by recruiting difficulty at 10% level.**Using only those districts reporting recruiting for a given position to calculate

Difficulty Recruiting Teachers**

Use of Recruiting Incentives in Districts with Recruiting Difficulties

All Districts Low Medium HighDistrict offers recruiting incentives 72.7 65.8 72.5 76.0

One-time compensation for new teachers (signing bonus) 2.3 1.4 2.5 2.3Additional compensation for extra-curricular or administrative functions 49.6 42.5 46.3 57.3Flexibility in crediting teaching experience in other districts or states 47.3 34.2 50.8 48.0Flexibility in crediting job experience in non-teaching occupations 17.2 8.2 18.0 19.9Additional compensation for National Board Certification 15.6 8.2 17.2 16.4Subsidized tuition in local college 16.4 9.6 18.4 16.4Additional compensation for teaching in hard-to-staff fields 7.6 4.1 7.8 8.8Additional compensation for teaching in hard-to-staff schools 0.4 0.0 0.4 0.6Help with purchase of a home 0.8 0.0 1.2 0.6*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by recruiting difficulty at 10% level.**Using only those districts reporting recruiting for a given position to calculate

Difficulty Recruiting Teachers**

Interest in Training (percent indicating interest)

All Districts Low Medium High Low Moderate High

Use SED for teacher hiring issues 48.0 33.1 47.9 62.4 41.1 50.8 46.8

Contact SED staff member directly 27.7 19.0 25.2 40.8 19.2 29.5 28.7

Use SED’s website 35.0 23.1 33.9 48.8 28.8 38.5 32.7

Use training materials supplied by SED 9.2 9.9 7.4 12.0 9.6 10.2 7.6

*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size or recruiting difficulty at 10% level.**Using only those districts reporting recruiting for a given position to calculate

Enrollment Size Difficulty in Recruiting Teachers**

Interest in Training (percent indicating interest)

All Districts Low Medium High Low Moderate High

Interested in training 29.7 25.6 28.9 35.2 23.3 28.3 34.5

Training and materials on recruitment practices 19.3 19.0 16.5 24.8 17.8 18.4 21.1

Training and materials on selection practices 21.9 18.2 21.1 27.2 19.2 19.7 26.3

A common statewide teaching application 10.5 9.1 8.7 15.2 9.6 8.2 14.0

A statewide online recruitment website where districts could post job openings and prospective teachers could search for jobs

21.1 19.0 19.8 25.6 17.8 18.0 26.9

A website dedicated to providing information about teacher recruitment and selection practices

16.4 11.6 16.5 20.8 12.3 13.1 22.8

Information regarding existing recruitment websites

17.6 14.0 16.9 22.4 13.7 14.3 24.0

Organized conferences for sharing practices and training in teacher recruitment and selection

17.8 11.6 15.7 28.0 13.7 16.8 21.1

*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size or recruiting difficulty at 10% level.

**Using only those districts reporting recruiting for a given position to calculate

Enrollment Size Difficulty in Recruiting Teachers**

Conclusions

Districts are having difficulty recruiting teachers. Only about 1/3 of districts have a dedicated HR

director. Use of non-local recruiting strategies and recruiting

incentives is very limited. In the local area there are more opportunities for

recruitment than are being used. Relatively little use of BOCES or SED assistance.

1/3 of districts indicated interest in additional training and support.

Supplemental Information

Staff Involvement in Recruitment Process (Percent of Total)

Low Enrollment

Medium Enrollment

High Enrollment

Superintendent 99.4 97.1 80.3Human resource manager 32.5 53.4 89.6District-level curriculum director 44.4 69.3 86.1School business official 46.2 53.1 39.3Principals 91.7 99.4 97.1Assistant principals 37.9 76.7 89.6School department heads 45.0 79.6 87.3Teachers 93.5 89.4 80.3*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size class at 10% level.

Very Involved

Impact of BOCES on Internet Use by Districts for Recruitment (percent of districts)

Use Don't Use Use Don't Use

Uses Internet 82.3 67.8 90.3 68.5

Post job openings on:District website 59.1 54.8 59.4 55.9Teacher recruitment website 53.1 32.2 65.2 32.7General recruitment website 10.6 8.3 11.6 8.4

Search for candidates on recruitment website 26.4 7.4 35.5 9.0

Allows online submission of application 44.9 29.1 56.8 27.9*Bold indicates statistically significant differences in internet use by whether district used BOCES at 10% level.

Use Boces for Recruitment Services

Use BOCES for Online Recruitment Services

Partnering with Colleges for Recruitment by Enrollment Size (percent of districts)

Low Medium Large Low Medium Large

Post job notices at the college 58.7 63.0 67.9 38.8 42.2 39.4

Visit campus to actively recruit job candidates 13.2 24.8 56.9 5.8 8.7 29.9Advertise in placement newsletter distributed by college 21.5 25.7 32.1 15.7 16.5 22.6

Contact specific college faculty to identify potential job candidates 45.5 53.9 59.9 18.2 18.3 27.7

Supervise student teachers from the college 71.9 77.0 83.2 13.2 20.4 34.3*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size at 10% level.

Local Colleges Non-Local Colleges

Strategies for Increasing Teacher Supply (percent of districts)

All Districts Low Medium HighUse Strategy to increase supply 42.8 88.2 91.4 90.8

Recruit teachers certified through alternative routes 43.2 41.3 40.0 50.4Recruit substitute teachers 79.3 73.6 80.4 82.5

Recruit retired teachers 28.3 27.3 26.5 32.1

Recruit former teachers who have left teaching 7.4 9.9 5.7 8.0

Provide assistance to paraprofessionals to become certified teachers 27.7 24.8 24.8 35.0*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size at 10% level.

Enrollment Size

Use of Teacher Recruitment Incentives (percent of districts)

All Districts Low Medium High

District offers recruiting incentives 72.75 74.6 83.2 80.9

One-time compensation for new teachers (signing bonus) 2.25 0.0 3.0 2.9Additional compensation for extra-curricular or administrative functions 49.59 46.3 49.1 53.3Flexibility in crediting teaching experience in other districts or states 47.34 39.7 48.3 52.6Flexibility in crediting job experience in non-teaching occupations 17.21 18.2 16.5 17.5Additional compensation for National Board Certification 15.57 8.3 13.0 26.3Subsidized tuition in local college 16.39 15.7 15.7 18.2Additional compensation for teaching in hard-to-staff fields 7.58 9.1 6.5 8.0Additional compensation for teaching in hard-to-staff schools 0.41 0.0 0.9 0.0Help with purchase of a home 0.82 0.8 0.9 0.7*Bold indicates statistically significant differences by size at 10% level.

Enrollment Size