Policy Inventory, Page 3

Recommendation Area III:
Fix teacher recruitment and put qualified teachers in every classroom

A. What is the status of teacher supply and demand in the state?

1. What is the status of supply and demand?
• How many teachers are prepared, licensed, and hired each year by field?
• What are the sources of the new hires (in state, out of state, reserve pool, newly prepared)?
• What are the turnover patterns by field, location, age, and expenditures?
• What are current projections for teacher supply and demand by field?
2. Is there a usable data system for assessing supply and demand?
• Are the data being used to manage teacher preparation, recruitment, and placement?
• Does the data system provide timely, accurate projections to assist recruitment?

     Indicators/ Data Sources

• #s of teachers prepared, licensed, and hired each year (look at trends in critical fields)
• Attrition by field
• # and % of unqualified hires by field and by district
• Mobility in and out of state by field
  
  
  

B. How competitive are teachers' salaries and are they adequate to ensure a supply of qualified teachers across the state?

1. How do teacher salaries compare across districts? What is the range?
2. Are there equalization policies that ensure that all districts have resources to pay competitive salaries and attract qualified candidates?
3. What portion of teachers' salaries is paid for by the state? Do local systems offer supplements?
4. Are there districts that do not attract qualified candidates? In what fields and locations?
5. How do teacher salaries compare to those of similar occupations?

     Indicators/ Data Sources

• Salary data by district, by qualifications, by years of experience
• # and % of unqualified hires by field and by district
• State finance policies and incentives
• District per-pupil spending
• Salary data by occupation
• Interviews
  
  
  

C. Do the state and districts provide incentives to recruit and retain teachers where they are most needed?

1. Are there programs to recruit teachers? How effective are they?
• Are there scholarships or forgivable loans linked to several years of teaching in shortage fields or hard-to-staff locations?
• Are there programs to recruit middle and high school students into teaching?
• Are there high-quality mid-career programs?
• Are there high-quality programs for recruiting and training paraprofessionals?
• How many teachers are recruited through these programs?
2. What is the range of model programs? Do they meet the same quality standards as regular teacher education programs?
3. Is the state working with schools and colleges to expand pools of high-need teachers (e.g., teachers of color, teachers in shortage fields)?
4. Do districts or the state provide incentives for teachers to acquire licenses in additional fields or shortage areas?
5. Are there incentives to recruit and assign expert teachers to work in high-need schools and with high-need students?

     Indicators/ Data Sources

• Types of recruitment programs in place
• # of teachers recruited by type of program
• Types of incentives in place
• # of districts using incentives
• # and % of teaching positions left unfilled
  
  
  

D. Are district recruitment and hiring procedures efficient and effective?

1. Are district selection criteria aligned with professional teaching standards?
2. Are there districts with persistent shortfalls of applicants? In what fields and locations?
• What are the contributing factors?
• Does funding or spending patterns affect capacity to hire qualified personnel?
• Do local hiring practices?
• Do salary differentials?
3. What tools does the state employ to ensure the hiring of qualified teachers?
• Monitors needs for teachers and teacher education programs?
• Supply information about vacancies and candidates? Job bank? Help line?
• Early hiring procedures?
• Partnerships with colleges and universities?
• Additional support for financially troubled districts?
• Incentives such as salary reimbursements?
• Sanctions for districts ignoring licensing requirements?
4. Are state and local budgets set early enough to permit competitive recruitment and hiring?
5. Do state policies encourage hiring unqualified personnel?
• Use of emergency licenses?
• Use of long-term substitutes
• Avoidance of requirements through an alternate route?

     Indicators/ Data Sources

• # and % of unqualified hires by district
• Requests for emergency licenses
• Relation of unqualified hires to spending and funding patterns
• SASS - administrator use of teacher selection criteria
• Teacher salary data by district for beginning, mid-career, and 25-year veterans
  
  
  

E. Do state policy and practice effectively reduce barriers to teacher mobility?

1. Does the state have reciprocal licensing agreements? Through what mechanism? With what states?
2. Can teachers maintain pension benefits of they move among districts or from another state?
3. Do incoming teachers receive full salary credit for education and experience?
4. Do state funding policies encourage districts to hire the best-qualified teachers?

     Indicators/ Data Sources

• State policy documents
• # of teachers moving across districts
• Qualifications of new hires