Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Educators in High Needs Schools

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Recruiting, Preparing and Retaining Educators in
High Needs Schools

• March 29, 2006
• NAAC Conference
• Chicago, Illinois
• Gail Sherer and Patricia Alexander
• Georgia Professional Standards Commission

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USDOE Transition to Teaching Grant Project Reach
to Teach in Georgia

• Objectives for todays session are to
• Share strategies utilized to recruit and retain
  90 of the educators enrolled in the Transition
  to Teaching Grant Project
• Discuss successful virtual mentoring activities
  with new educators, and
• Describe lessons learned in the four years of
  implementing the project

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What is Reach to Teach (RTT)?

• Grant funded for 5 year period to staff high
  needs schools with teachers through recruitment
  and retention of professionals who will attain
  teacher certification from alternative pathways
• Involves 24 participating school systems statewide

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RTT in Georgia
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Services of RTT

• SWOT, Marketing and Recruitment
• RTT Academy Faculty
• Virtual Mentoring for Participating Teachers
• Training of System and Building Leaders
• Professional Development
• Stipends

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SWOT Analysis

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

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SWOT Analysis
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SWOT Outcomes

• Housing
• Availability
• Affordability
• Awareness
• Community Relations
• Community Resource
• Business Partnerships
• Community Involvement
• Civic Leadership Involvement

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SWOT Findings, contd

• External Communications
• Public Relations
• Recruitment
• Employee Activism
• Recruitment
• Target Audience
• Targeted Demographics
• Housing

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SWOT Findings, contd

• Retention
• Employee Recognition
• Mentorship
• Professional Development ????
• Housing
• Organizational Communications
• Administration Open Door Policy--Starts at the
  Top
• A willingness to Listen ??
• A willingness to Change

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RTT Academy Faculty

• 14 National Board Certified Teachers
• Virtual mentoring of 100 novice teachers annually
  for each of 4 project years
• Professional Development virtually and
  face-to-face
• Visits to participants in their classrooms
• Participant visits to RTTAF in their classrooms

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Virtual Mentoring by RTTAF
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Why RTT Needed

• 82 of LEAs experienced teacher shortage
• Special Education
• Math
• Early Childhood Education
• Science

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Workforce Survey

• 91 of the LEAs had teachers assigned to classes
  outside their fields of certification
• Special Education
• Science
• Middle Grades
• Math
• Remedial Reading

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Workforce Survey Turnover in High Need Systems

• Georgia turnover average 10.4
• McIntosh 21.90
• Long 19.09
• Twiggs 18.46
• Taliaferro 16.67
• Spalding 16.31
• Hancock 12.50

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Goals of the Project

• Establish a corps of highly qualified target
  teachers in high-need LEAs and schools
• Provide a systematic preparation continuing
  support program for target teachers
• Reform state policy and certification
  requirements
• Achieve 90 or above retention
  rate of target teachers

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Project Components

• Marketing and Recruitment
• Research and Evaluation
• Information and Web Management
• Teacher Retention

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Livetext Selected for Virtual Mentoring

• Three year subscriptions provided to each new
  teacher
• RTTA Faculty developed content based templates
  for quick resource reference
• Use of statewide New Teacher Survey to determine
  topics needing most immediate and sustained
  attention

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Discussion Boards

• Share ideas, activities, successes with other
  participants and RTTA faculty
• Content area discussion boards
• Regional/county discussion boards
• Create links to favorite resources
• Attach lessons and activities to LiveText site
  for easy access for all participants

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Survival Kits for Novice Teachers - Professional
Learning Units

• Managing Student Behavior
• Meeting Diverse Instructional Needs of Students
• Strategies for Motivating Students
• Fulfilling Administrative Duties
• Using Standardized Test Results to Adjust
  Instruction

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Quality Core Curriculumnow Georgia Performance
Standards

• Easy access to specific Georgia QCCs in all
  content areas and grade levels
• Develop lesson plans on LiveText Web site and
  insert applicable QCCs as well as INTASC, INTECH,
  NCATE, NBPTS, and Danielson standards
• Link standards to assessment utilizing
  rubric-maker
• Share lesson plans and assessments with other
  RTTA participants

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Resources

• Hundreds of videos available through
  UnitedStreaming
• Web links in various content areas as well as
  classroom management, planning and preparation,
  instructional activities, and other areas
• Other valuable resources recommended by Reach to
  Teach Academy Faculty

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Teaching and Learning Resources

• Lesson plans offered in each core content area
• Early childhood, intermediate, middle, and high
  school level
• Discussion available on resources
• Continually updating, editing, sharing

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Monitoring Participation

• Ability to collect data via LiveText
• Gather teacher
• log-in information

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Looking Towards the Future

• Providing resources and support to school
  administrators, staff development, and human
  resource personnel
• Provide training and online support before school
  year starts
• Provide training opportunities for building
  E-portfolios, lessons, and unit plans

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Looking Towards the Future

• Participant training and development of
  integrated curriculum using science content at
  elementary, middle, and high school levels
• Introduction (for third year participants) to
  National Board Certification process through the
  Knowledgeable Teacher Course

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To Find More Information

• Georgia Professional Standards Commission
• www.gapsc.com
• Reach to Teach Web site www.reachtoteachingeorgia.
  org
• www.college.livetext.com enter the visitors
  password