How to Make Hiring Practices More Efficient to Reduce Teacher Shortages

HOW TO MAKEHIRING PRACTICESMORE EFFICIENTTO REDUCE TEACHER SHORTAGES

01INTRO

In 2015, The Washington Post reported on federal data that found 17 percent of teachers do not stay beyond four years in the public school system. Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks even this figure is too low, and estimates between 40 and 50 percent of both private and public school teachers leave after five years in the profession.

The teaching profession’s high rates of attrition can be attributable to several factors. For instance, educator Alice Trosclair wrote in the Post article that teachers often face curriculum changes, varying student abilities and combative student attitudes, difficult parents, lack of respect in the classroom, excessive paperwork and funding uncertainty, adding stress and challenges to an already hard job. The Center for Public Education, in its white paper “Fixing the Holes in the Teacher Pipeline: An Overview of Teacher Shortages,” also cites low pay as another reason why many teachers do not stay in the profession.

Each year, the teaching profession loses hundreds of thousands of members.

01. Intro pg. 3

Recent data has added another layer of complexity to the systemic problems that contribute to teacher shortages. A new study has concluded that late teacher hiring, or the practice of bringing a new teacher into a school well after the year has already begun, diminishes student achievement and teacher retention.

Administrators can improve their hiring practices to introduce more efficiency and halt the late-hiring cycle that contributes to teacher shortages. Principals who support teachers who come late to the classroom might keep those instructors around for another year, improving the classroom environment and reducing some challenges teachers and students face.

01. Intro pg. 4

02BACKGROUND:LATE HIRING PHENOMENON

The paper, entitled “The Productivity Costs of Inefficient Hiring Practices: Evidence From Late Teacher Hiring,” looked at data from a large urban school district over two academic years, 1999-2000 and 2009-2010, using data from 4,000 teachers and 300,000 student year records. The district itself has 9,000 teachers and 130,000 students.

Eighteen percent of the district’s teachers were hired after the start of the school year, while more than half of those late-hires did not start teaching until October. The results of such a phenomenon are predictable: this disruptive method of hiring new teachers impacts academic performance. Kraft and Papay’s data backs up that assumption.

Students taught by late-hires had reduced achievement compared to those taught by on-time hires, by 0.042 SD in mathematics and 0.026 SD in reading. The difference in student performance was evident in mathematics even after the new hires had at least one year experience in the classroom. Kraft and Papay attributed this difference to the small pool of teachers qualified for positions in mathematics, science and special education.

Between 11 and 30 percent of new teacher hires happen after the school year has already begun, according to a 2015 paper by Kraft and Papay. The problem is significantly worse in urban and low-income districts, which bring on late-hires at a rate twice that of suburban schools.

In September 2016, researchers at Brown University, John P. Papay and Matthew Kraft, published a study onthe negative effects oflate hiring.

02. Background: Late Hiring Phenomenon

pg. 6

Adding to the problem, teachers newly employed in challenging districts will often plan to leave. Among the poor working conditions cited by Kraft and Papay are unsupportive principles or ineffective colleagues.

Although the Brown University researchers published their study only recently, late hiring is a well-known issue. Past studies have shown that late-hiring is often concentrated in certain schools. In 2011, researchers from Northwestern University and Michigan State University found evidence of concentration of the late-hiring phenomenon in some Michigan schools. Although nearly 12 percent of all teachers were hired late, the vast majority of schools (93 percent) never hired late or hired late only one time. There were more late-hires at the elementary than secondary school level, and 30 percent of late-hires worked in urban schools compared to 16 percent of on-time hires.

02. Background: Late Hiring Phenomenon

pg. 7

03EFFECTS OFLATE HIRING

The Brown University study concluded that late-hires had a measurable impact on student outcomes. Compared to those taught by on-time hires, students of those who entered a classroom after the school year had already begun had lower test scores in mathematics and English. The study authors said the difference in student achievement scores amounted to two months of lost instruction.

Notably, late hiring continued to affect student test scores in mathematics when instructors were in their first year of teaching, but not in English. In other words, late-hires who continue to teach mathematics after their first year in the profession will continue to underperform students compared to on-time hires.

While late-hires in English underperform compared to on-time hires during their first year, beyond their first year teaching, late-hires perform relatively equally to on-time hires. The authors asserted that finding is consistent with the fact that there is an undersupply of mathematics teachers compared to reading, and the late hired mathematics teachers were generally less effective educators.

A. Reduced Student Achievement

03. Effects of Late Hiring pg. 9

Most schools that hire teachers late do so because of a number of factors. Year after year, the problem worsens, with existing issues in school hiring creating a perpetual cycle of late-hires. While students often suffer from the disruption of having a new teacher mid-session, those instructors are themselves placed in a difficult position that makes it hard to succeed.

Late-hires typically come from a smaller pool of candidates than those brought on in the spring or summer. Newer teachers and those with fewer specific qualifications are less competitive and have less seniority than their colleagues. Late-hires are therefore often a poor match for the school. Since late hiring is an over-represented phenomenon in large urban schools — 20 percent of all hires in 2012 according to data referenced by the Brown University study — teachers are placed in a challenging teaching environment.

Beginning later in the year puts these teachers at a significant disadvantage. They may already have a novice skill set and are further left behind by missing out on pre-service induction programs that could provide them with support before the year begins. While these kinds of training courses vary significantly across geographic districts, they can include teaching methodologies and introductions to the unique challenges of a particular school before entering the classroom.

Professor Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University summarized the problem by isolating four specific points:

• Those with the least training teach children with the most educational challenges.

• Teachers who instruct the most challenging students earn the lowest salaries.

• Poor communities suffer from a lack of materials and class sizes that can be double that of rich neighborhoods.

• Teachers in challenging working environments get little to no mentoring or coaching.

B. Smaller Labor Pool


Facing the numerous problems of being a late-hire, including poor training, difficult teaching conditions and a poor skill match, these educators often leave the school at the end of the year. Due to this continuing attrition, schools again will have to fill gaps in their faculty. As a result, they often find themselves the next year in the same position of playing catch-up to place teachers in classrooms, often well after the school year has begun.

Late-hires do not just leave in order to transfer to a more desirable district or school. Teachers often abandon the profession altogether, choosing to start different careers or use their educational training in a different

capacity. While movement is expected among all members of the teaching profession, it seems to be particularly prevalent for teachers who arehired late.

This was confirmed by the statistics of the Michigan study. That report used data for the five-year period between the school years of 2003-2004 to 2007-2008. It found that 6.8 percent of on-time hires left teaching compared to 14.2 percent of late-hires. Nearly double the number of late-hires left to go to another school within the state as remained, with 22.5 percent switching to another Michigan school compared to 13.4 percent of on-time hires.

C. Late-Hires Leave at a Higher Rate


It is perhaps unsurprising that teachers hired late do not make a long-term commitment to their schools, nor are they necessarily encouraged to do so because of the process or the working environment they receive. Richard Ingersoll, an education and sociology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told TakePart that improving teacher retention could resolve a lot of the issues related to late-hires, simply because there would be fewer slots to fill in September.

Interestingly, the Michigan researchers found that late hiring was a strong predictor that a teacher will leave a school. Only part-time teaching was statistically less significant. The phenomenon seemed to cut across wealthy and poor districts in Michigan, as the study discovered even those who were a late-hire in a theoretically desirable school were likely to leave the school or the profession.

Overall, teacher turnover is not only administratively inefficient and detrimental to student education; it also costs the educational system real dollars that could otherwise be spent on retaining and supporting teachers. Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond estimated that teacher attrition costs $15,000 per recruit, or $2 billion annually, although the data varied according to the cost model used.

A 2014 report by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, “Beginners in the Classroom,” published earlier data from the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future that estimated attrition cost per teacher departure to range from $4,366 in Jemtvez Valley, New Mexico, to $17,872 in Chicago, Illinois, with reference to four specific districts.

The data is merely an example of the potentially high financial cost of turnover. The paper was quick to point out, however, that turnover is not always a bad thing, as ineffective teachers who do not necessarily aid student outcomes will leave the profession. Administrators, in addition, simply expect turnover as par for the course.

D. High Teacher Turnover


04REASONS FORLATE-HIRES

Past researchers have taken a close look at the practice of late hiring. In 2003, The New Teacher Project published a report called “Missed Opportunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out of Urban Classrooms,” that identified several contributing factors to the phenomenon. Gaps in the hiring process at the school and district levels created barriers to successful recruitment, preventing qualified candidates from coming to the attention of hiring principals.

Although it was not the case across all districts, the 2003 report found evidence of bureaucracies that led to teacher frustration with the hiring process. Some areas did not take steps to advertise vacancies. Deadlines for candidates and formal application processes in some cases did not exist. Teachers who were able to become part of a hiring process sometimes suffered from poor communications with school HR staff, who were either uncommunicative or unprofessional. Overall, the bumpy road to getting hired was enough for some teachers to withdraw their candidacies.

Information gaps do not just contribute to the late-hiring issue. They also pose a greater problem for overall teacher retention. In September, 2016, the Learning Policy Institute published a paper entitled “Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators.” The study found that poorly executed hiring processes were a large factor in the choices teachers make for the schools they enter and choose to leave. Therefore, weak hiring had potentially broader effects than merely bringing in unsuitable candidates or discouraging strong teachers. Once in the school, problems with hiring could influence a teacher’s decision about whether or not to stay.

According to LPI, outdated technology and a diminished capacity to provide information about the hiring process proved to be a significant barrier. In addition, time constraints meant there was little opportunity for candidate demonstration lessons. Inefficient hiring is a problem that has large spillover

A. Inefficient Hiring Practices

04. Reasons for Late-Hires pg. 14

effects for the entire teaching community of a school and administrators who must support and guide them for the sake of student learning.

Importantly, teachers may view schools with inefficient administrative procedures as unsupportive working environments. For this reason, qualified educators will not forward their credentials even when they know vacancies are available.

A May 2010 article in Educational Leadership surveyed a small sample of new urban teachers, who cited the support of their administrators as essential to making their time in the profession a positive one. The necessity and desirability of principal and administrator support for teachers at all stages of their careers is a repeated theme through much of the research on recruitment and retention.


Because of a number of factors, including poor working conditions, urban school districts where late hiring is most pronounced are undesirable for teachers. For that reason, many new hires do not stay at urban schools beyond their initial contract. There tends to be an overabundance of vacancies at the start of the school year, once enrollment figures and budgets are finalized.

However, the challenge of matching up teachers, old and new, with available positions in time for an incoming class is exacerbated by the fact that teachers with more seniority are often given first choice. This may be standard practice in most labor markets, but the annual shuffle of faculty and positions can add another complication to the existing problem of delayed hiring.

Teachers within districts have greater transfer options than those coming in from outside. However, the lengthy transfer process can significantly delay the timeline for bringing on new personnel. According to the 2003 report, the process can last until late summer, leaving the ultimate number of vacancies a mystery until it is completed. That report also noted that the lack of notice requirements could further delay hiring processes. At the time of the study, most districts did not require teachers to provide any notice before retiring or resigning.

B. Teacher Transfer Options


School budgets are determined by student enrollment. Mobility of families and students is greatest in larger districts, therefore final figures for student enrollment are usually not established until the school year begins. Often, schools and regions do not have adequate systems to monitor, track and predict student movement in order to come up with a reasonable estimate earlier.

Not knowing how many students will attend classes is a challenge for districts, since budget figures are often strongly tied to enrollment numbers. While in a business or private context, administrators and leaders might overestimate these figures and ensure an oversupply of educators to meet demand, the reality is that schools often struggle for adequate funds, and cannot risk overspending.

Poorer districts, where the problem of late hiring is most pronounced, are reluctant to overhire educational personnel, waiting until the last minute to fill available slots. In many cases, this leaves temporary personnel teaching large classes or starting a course for a late hire to pick up later in the semester.

According to the 2003 report, many state budget deadlines are not until the end of June and may be adjusted at a later time. In a belt-tightening environment where public funds for schools are often restricted or only modestly increased year over year, administrators cannot begin their hiring process until they receive confirmation of the amount of money available for educational faculty.

It is not surprising, therefore, that late-hires account for a greater percentage of teachers in poor districts. These regions are more dependent on government funds at the state and federal levels than are wealthier areas, limiting the agency of administrators to make earlier, perhaps more efficient, hiring decisions.

C. Unpredictable Enrollment

D. Budget Uncertainties



The 2016 paper by Kraft and Papay predict a greater need for teachers as baby boomers retire. Teachers may choose more desirable districts where the issue of late hiring is less pronounced, such as suburban, wealthy areas. Currently, hiring in poorer districts is often rushed, occurring only after administrators receive final enrollment numbers and approved budgets.

The rushed process includes little information for the incoming teacher about the school and the school about the candidate, further exacerbating the problem of finding quality teachers who are a good match for the subject. While there is, overall, an undersupply of qualified teachers, STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) are in most dire need.

E. Recruitment Difficulties

05SOLUTIONS TO LATE-HIRES

Teachers experience a number of challenges during their first year of teaching and as they log time in the classroom. The Carnegie report identified five key phases during a typical teacher’s first year, during which their initial high hopes are dashed by the reality of teaching. On-time hires go from anticipation to survival and disillusionment, then get back on an upward trajectory of rejuvenation and reflection.

This means that new teachers who are hired late have to pick up a curriculum that was started by a different instructor, in addition to going through the normal ups and downs experienced by first-year teachers even in the most supportive of educational environments.

Making this transition easier on late-hires can make their overall experience less discouraging. These educators may choose to stay with the school or district with the proper supports in place. Specifically, mentoring, continuity and connections with parents can assist teachers. Other factors that lead teachers at all levels to leave the profession may, if rectified, help to keep valuable professionals in the field, such as salaries and transferable benefits.

MentoringIn the State of New York, teachers are classified by several different types of certification. In order to advance and avoid expiration of their initial certificate, instructors must complete a formal program of mentoring. Teachers learn from a mentor with at least five years of experience who provides guidance on classroom instruction, planning, the school environment and acts as an emotional support.

As the New York government briefing document on mentoring makes clear, new teachers are often thrust into the classroom with great pressure to impact achievement while they are still learning on the job. They often do not succeed: Brown University’s findings, although not necessarily based on New York data, were that late-hires who are also new teachers have a strong correlation with reduced student outcomes.

A. Improve Teacher Retention

05. Solutions to Late-Hires pg. 20

Matthew Kraft, one of the Brown University study researchers, said mentoring is one innovation schools can implement without waiting for shifts in larger institutional issues, such as collective agreements and political oversight. In an interview with TakePart, Kraft recommended taking steps to help teachers, including mentoring, continuity supports and connections with families.

The Center for Public Education white paper cited a 2015 report by The New Teacher Center that recommended formal mentoring programs. The Center advised offering mentors support during their relationships with new teachers, and suggested a rigorous selection process for mentors. Formal mentoring relationships, involving 1.25 to 2.5 hours of weekly interaction over the course of two years, is promoted as a way to help new educators become better teachers and stick with the profession over the long-term.

Connections With ColleaguesEducational Leadership cited the personal experience of new urban educators who either missed, or benefited from, the feedback and observations of administrators and teaching colleagues. The article recommended sharing constructive notes for new teachers. An online discussion group, email list and other technological tools that offered another opportunity for interaction assists new educators to develop their skills and find their footing in the classroom.

Linda Darling-Hammond made the case for teacher communities back in 1999, in an article available on Edutopia. She reflected with favor upon educational training programs for prospective teachers that included an internship period in a school setting. Teachers who learn in collaboration with other educators in this manner are more effective in the classroom and, according to data cited by Darling-Hammond going back as far as 1988, more likely to stay in the profession.

Classroom NormsNew hires starting as late as October are met with students who have been instructed by a teacher with different lesson plans and strategies for learning. Establishing uniform pacing, teaching methodologies, testing and homework planning across all classrooms can make it easier for new hires to pick up where the last instructor left off. It also places less of a burden on novice teachers who are still learning how to develop student relationships and enhance instruction in a real-life classroom.


Parent ConnectionsParents are an essential component of a child’s educational achievement. New teachers often have to learn the specific skills related to communicating with student families in order to support student outcomes. Providing resources for new teachers and new additions to a school faculty regarding family interactions are important in order to maintain positive relationships. The National Center for Family and Community Connections With Schools recommended that staff, including teachers, learn how to interact with people from diverse cultures in order to enhance communication and prevent inadvertent misunderstanding or disengagement.

Salaries and Transferable BenefitsThe authors of the LPI study identified many reasons why teachers exit the profession, among them economic. While most teachers may choose to become educators out of a desire to teach, few may be aware of the dire economic straits they may experience while training to enter the classroom and later as their careers develop. Teacher salaries are especially modest in low-income districts, adding to an already stressful learning environment that is lacking proper materials and supports for staff and students.

According to a study cited by LPI, teachers in 30 states who were mid-career and supporting families of four were eligible for government subsidies, such as breaks on school meals or subsidized health care for their own children. This demonstrates that many teachers who choose to stick with the job for the long-term are often not able to enter the middle class, especially when they have to support others.

However, the Carnegie study cautions against overstating the connection between salary and teacher retention. Teachers found unrealistic expectations about student achievement more frustrating than low salaries, and according to a MetLife study cited by Carnegie, a large majority would choose a school with strong support from administrators over one that paid significantly more money.

While the effect of salary on teacher retention is therefore complicated, economic factors can nonetheless indirectly impact educator satisfaction. Because many teachers incur debt in order to attend college, they are anxious to get into the classroom as soon as possible to earn a salary. As a result, according to the LPI study, many teachers seek expedited routes


to begin teaching. This increases their earning capacity in the short-term, but it has the effect of more teachers providing instruction without full preparation. Teachers who begin their careers without comprehensive training leave the profession at a rate two to three times higher than those who are ready to enter the classroom.

Many teachers also faced mobility barriers that hampered their career advancement or stability in the profession. Often, teachers had problems moving between states or districts because reciprocity agreements for certification did not exist. Moving meant loss of seniority or retirement benefits, a challenge that prevented teachers from choosing to reenter the profession after they had already exited.

In order to resolve these issues and others, the LPI study recommended a full slate of measures that would improve teacher retention, such as financial aid and scholarship programs, as well as support for teachers who are in the classroom while still finishing their own training. Portability of pensions and other benefits was also recommended.


Despite the many issues with instructor quality, Kraft and Papay conclude that the negative effects on student achievement of late hiring can be largely resolved just by moving up timelines. The simple fact of having a teacher start on time with a group of students in order to prevent mid-year disruption can eliminate many inefficiencies. The New Teacher Project recommends moving up hiring to May 1 in order to avoid the problems of a decreased pool of available and qualified teachers.

According to The New Teacher Project, 40 percent of job applicants withdraw their candidacy by the end of June, with departures from the hiring processes beginning in large numbers in May. The best-qualified candidates are the first to leave for better jobs, including in districts that hire by May.

The Project acknowledges that many urban districts have made a sincere attempt to move up hiring timelines. To be more effective, its analysis recommended a commitment to hiring 30 to 40 percent of new teachers within the month of May. The expedited hiring timelines of June or July simply do not have a measurable effect on the problem of late-hires.

B. Move Up Hiring Timelines


Perhaps two of the most challenging issues for administrators who plan to hire new teachers are knowing how many students they will have and how much their budgets will allow them to spend. Often, state budgets come down the pike long after the ideal timeline for hiring new teachers is well underway or passed altogether. Since school populations are in constant flux, correctly predicting enrollment would seem to be a bit of a guessing game, hard to achieve with certainty.

However, The New Teacher Project proposed that movement could be made on both sides of these issues. Pressure could be brought to bear on state representatives and staff of budget offices to inform schools about proposed budget changes as early as possible. Developing relationships with those making the decisions at the state level can prove invaluable for schools and districts that want to create the best environment for their educators and students.

Additionally, school administrators can use resources to predict enrollment figures. Instead of grasping for a ballpark figure, the Project recommended starting as early as October of the previous year to analyze historical and current trends, using the services of a demographer if necessary in order to make any accurate predictions of who will enter the school’s doors the following fall.

C. Finalize Budget and Enrollment Figures Early


Many schools who have moved up their hiring timelines make employment offers for a district and not a specific school. While this is perhaps more effective for the district, as it allows them to make a commitment they can keep and still move around teaching personnel where the need is greatest, experienced teachers may not take the offer and may even become suspicion about the process.

Teachers have often noted that the school-level environment, including the individual principal, classroom resources and administrative staff, are a large part of what makes a placement desirable. Without being able to assess the value of the job contract with reference to the specific school, teachers may still be reluctant to accept a placement or, if they do, will find themselves unwilling to stay past one year. School-level placements are more desirable even in challenging areas, especially when presented in conjunction with mentoring, support and adequate time over the summer to prepare for the new class.

D. Encourage School-Level Placements


Part of the challenge for many schools is knowing how many teachers, both late-hires and tenured faculty alike, plan to stay on for another year. Without this information, it is difficult to predict how many teachers will have to be replaced in time for fall. To partly solve this challenge, The New Teacher Project recommended mandating early notice for teachers, preferably by March 15, in order to give administrators ample opportunity to begin the hiring process.

Notably, the Project insisted that disincentives to notices of resignation or retirement must also be removed. Teachers who anticipate the loss of benefits or limited access to summer teaching opportunities as a result of early notice should have measures in place to protect their interests.

The Project offered the example of one Midwestern region’s successful implementation of notice policies. One offered a $300 payment to teachers who gave notice by November 1. The other had a contractual mandate for receipt of notice by April 1. Both of these districts have completed their fall hiring by March or May, well within the preferred timelines of the Project.

Since most districts must consider internal transfers from currently employed teachers before interviewing new applicants, this system can significantly delay the hiring process for the fall. In addition to early notice requirements, expediting the transfer process and considering both external and internal candidates at the same time may be able to reduce the sluggish movement of the hiring process.

E. Earlier Vacancy Notifications

F. Expedite Transfer Process


06CONCLUSION

In some districts with particular challenges, it is difficult to recruit and retain teachers whose own deficiencies are compounded by a lack of support, misinformation, and opportunities to gain solid footing in their profession.

While many of the challenges faced in teacher retention are systemic and will take time, resources and shared commitment to solve, there are a few key changes that administrators at the school level can implement immediately in order to help reduce the difficult issue of late hiring and improve school productivity.

Administrators can work to improve hiring practices in order to attract desirable candidates in the recruitment process. Schools can start by upgrading technology and implementing better communication strategies about available positions and application procedures. Candidates who know what jobs are available and their standing in the application process are more likely to stick with that process than if jobs are not advertised and candidate application status is unknown.

Training human resources staff on effective communication can create positive interactions that reflect well on the school, making it a more attractive target for qualified teachers. Sought-after candidates judge the school on their communications throughout the recruitment process, as they provide invaluable insight into the kind of support and guidance teachers are likely to receive once in the classroom.

Streamlining communications between administrators and human resources staff is another important aspect of positive recruitment. HR personnel

The quality of student education in large part depends on the quality of instruction.

06. Conclusion pg. 29

themselves must be armed with information to give to candidates. Those who cannot provide insight about the selection process inadvertently invoke frustration in candidates who want to know what is occurring with a particular opening.

Late hiring is only one symptom of the problem of teacher retention. At the same time, it may exacerbate the problem, leaving students to pay the price through reduced achievement. Simple steps at the school and administrative levels can start to move the recruitment process in the right direction, offering better support to learners and qualified professionals hired to instruct them.

06. Conclusion pg. 30

How to Make Hiring Practices More Efficient to Reduce Teacher Shortages

Education

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