Recruiting for Effectiveness

1. Recruiting for Effectiveness SMHC Conference| March 2009

2. Research has shown that effective teachers are the solution to increasing student achievement in our under-resourced schools. Dallas students who start 2nd grade at about the same level of math achievement… …finish 5th grade math at dramatically different levels depending on the quality of their teachers. After 3 EFFECTIVE Teachers 50 After 3 INEFFECTIVE Teachers Original analysis by the Education Trust. Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997.

3. Recruitment is critical to an effective human capital system, but it is often misaligned with the goal of an effective teacher in every classroom.  A effective teacher in every classroom  $  Systems fail to evaluate performance, making it difficult to develop high performers or remediate or remove low performers. Market driven by what providers want to offer, not what schools or teachers need. Highest performing teachers often leave the classroom the soonest. Not targeted to high-need schools or subjects. Bureaucratic dysfunction deters applicants. Training Recruitment Retention Evaluation Leadership Hiring Compensation Selection Teaching largely non-competitive with other top professions. Dollars concentrated at senior end of career. Archaic slotting procedures impede creation of effective teams. Minimum requirements, little consideration for quality. Little post-hire selection rigor, such as tenure decisions. Little/no human capital training for principals, lack of high-level leadership to manage human capital. The foundational systems and institutions that are responsible for generating and maintaining quality teachers are almost universally unaligned with the goal of a effective teacher in every classroom.

4. To realize sustainable improvement, effective teaching must be the guiding concern behind all elements of a district’s human capital system. An effective teacher in every classroom Working Conditions Recruitment School- Level Human Cap. Mgmnt. Selection Effectiveness Management Optimize effectiveness of teacher workforce. CORE METRIC Talent Pipeline Create supply of effective teachers to fill all vacancies. CORE METRIC Number and percentage of teachers trained or hired who demonstrate effectiveness Retention / Dismissal Training/ Certification Compensation Placement Evaluation Hiring

5. Founded by teachers in 1997 Partners with school districts, state education agencies, and charter schools Targets acute teacher quality challenges Delivers a range of customized services and solutions on a fee-for-service basis Approx. 200 employees, most embedded in school district offices; majority are former teachers Past and present clients include: Districts: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Washington, DC States: Alaska, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia The New Teacher Project (TNTP) is a national nonprofit dedicated to closing the achievement gap by ensuring that poor and minority students get outstanding teachers.

6. TNTP has addressed both the immediate needs of schools and the systemic human capital challenges facing districts and states. Thousands of new teachers for high-need schools Documentation and reform of flawed policies and practices • 3 highly publicized studies of teacher hiring and school staffing policies • Recommended reforms adopted in New York City, Milwaukee, Washington DC, and California “TNTP’s reports offer a nearly perfect illustration of how research can lead directly to reform.” --Andrew Rotherham (Achieving Teacher and Principal Excellence: A Guidebook for Donors)

7. Teaching Fellows Programs: Dramatically increasing the supply of qualified teachers for high-need schools.   All data are cross-site averages from TNTP cohort programs for the 2008 school year. POC average does not include Phoenix; average percent of district hires does not include Milwaukee, Teach California Charters, TeachNOlA or Texas.

8. High-impact teacher recruitment is one of TNTP’s strengths. Chicago New York City 2,552 150 19,020 1,698 CA Charters Number of APPLICANTS Number of HIRES 3,266 59 Number of Applications and Number of Hires, by Program (2008) Phoenix Milwaukee Memphis St. Paul Miami Denver 890 861 638 636 470 482 56 40 42 34 41 28 Prince George’s County Indianapolis NOLA DC 2,442 1,079 1,217 836 102 110 86 74 Oakland Philadelphia Baltimore Texas 2,464 2,189 2,339 1,890 205 128 133 228

9. TNTP utilizes a toolbox of recruitment strategies to attract high-quality teacher candidates.         H E L L O

10. Clear, compelling messages are effective for attracting candidates.

11. TNTP’s recruitment campaigns use high-quality, interactive websites.

12. Craft unique messages for each high-need candidate group. Math /Sci SpecialEd People of Color • Want to give back to a community that may reflect one that they grew up in • Are driven by the opportunity to address inequalities in education and to work with children • Utilize existing district websites and referrals from district staff • Use the internet more than any other group. • Want the opportunity to share their subject knowledge with students • Want to be aggressively recruited • Often have personal experience with friends or family members with special needs • Rely more on word-of-mouth and personal interactions/referrals

13. Track data on recruitment sources to ensure cost-effectiveness. Sample: Tracking Sources of High-Need Applicants

14. We have found that most urban districts do not have problems attracting applicants, their problems are with keeping applicants. Experience shows that strategic, prioritized cultivation of interested contacts helps to increase the number of them who remain in the process and begin teaching. Our research has shown that it is often the highest-quality candidates who respond to continual, active encouragement to remain in the process without a firm commitment or placement offer. Actively cultivate high-need candidates to complete an application. • What is “cultivation?” • High-quality, meaningful, and targeted contact with teacher candidates • Helps ensure that candidates complete the application process despite other competing districts or any difficulties • Who do you target? • Prospective candidates who have requested more information • Candidates in the application process • Candidates who have been accepted but who have not yet committed • Any prospective teacher for critical shortage subject areas.

15. With aggressive recruitment, teachers apply to urban districts in large numbers; however, urban districts often hire too late to capitalize. Teacher Applicants vs. Vacancies in Four Urban Districts, 2002 Eastern District Hiring Timeline 4,500 4,000 Aug. 12: First new teacher hired No outside hires May Jun Jul Aug Sep End of May: Over 600 prescreened candidates ready for principal interview and placement Sep. 9: School opens with vacancies after 177 teachers hired Applicants Vacancies (Hires)

16. TNTP’s Missed Opportunities report found that urban districts may lose 30-60% of all applicants due to hiring delays. Withdrawal Rate of Pre-screened Candidates in Eastern and Midwestern 1 Districts Percent of Withdrawers for whom Late Timelines Were a Factor in Their Decision to Leave Withdrew by the end of Aug. Hired or another status Note: The withdrawal data for the Eastern District and Midwestern District 1 are the attrition rates of the “pre-screened” applicants – those the districts had already interviewed, decided were the best candidates, and chosen for principal interviewing. We do not have the total percentage of withdrawers for Midwestern District 2. Source: Telephone, written, and e-mail surveys, Applicant tracking databases (2002).

17. In San Francisco, the hiring timeline is the primary reason why applicants withdraw and decline offers. Importance of the interviewing and hiring timeline in applicants’ decisions to: 65% Withdraw Decline an offer of teachers who declined an offer or withdrew from the application process cited the interviewing and hiring timeline as important or very importantto their decision. Very Important Important Somewhat important Not important Source: SFUSD HR data; TNTP survey of 1,440 recent applicants, conducted June/July 2008. Withdrawers n=67; Decliners n=93.

18. Teachers that are lost to hiring delays are often more qualified than those eventually hired.   Not Hired by SFUSD Hired by SFUSD Credentialed in Math and Mandarin, Masters degree, 3.8 undergrad GPA. Applied April, would “probably” have accepted a timely offer with SFUSD, but became “frustrated” with the process. Now teaching in Lafayette. Engineering degree (3.8 GPA), Math credential, Masters degree. “Very satisfied” with SFUSD student teaching, applied February, but hiring timeline was “very important” in decision to withdraw. Now teaching in Ravenswood. Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies of Health Science from U of Texas - Arlington, with no advanced degree, applied August, now teaching Special Education. Philosophy graduate from Florida International, with graduate degrees in Digital Media and Buddhist Studies, applied August, now teaching Math and Chemistry. Source: SFUSD HR data; TNTP survey of 1,440 recent applicants, conducted June/July 2008

19. New York City is leveraging high-quality alternate routes to certification to diversify its new teacher supply and meet critical needs. High Numbers High Needs High Quality High Impact

20. New York City’s long-term partnerships with groups like TNTP and TFA have enable it to narrow the teacher quality gap dramatically. The growth of the NYC Teaching Fellows program, which recruits and trains Fellows to work in high-need schools… … has coincided with a dramatic decrease in the percentage of teachers in the highest poverty schools who fail New York’s standard teaching exam. Source: Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Rockoff, J. and Wyckoff, J. (2007). The Narrowing Gap in Teacher Qualifications and its Implications for Student Achievement. National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER).

21. In Chicago, similar partnerships and best-in-class staffing policies are enabling schools to focus sharply on teacher quality.

22. 90% 90% of transferring teachers agree that the process resulted in a match that both they and their new principals feel good about. 95% Agree Chicago’s mutual consent staffing policies allows schools to build effective instructional teams and ensures fluidity in the teacher workforce. Source: TNTP survey conducted in March 2007 of 1,446 CPS teachers.

23. Only 3 out of 1000 teachers rated unsatisfactory Chicago’s success at improving the teacher pipeline has not yet been matched by effectiveness management. Distribution of CPS efficiency ratings, 2003-2006 Source: TNTP analysis of more than 36,000 efficiency ratings issued from 2003-2006. Our data include all centrally recorded ratings. Not all schools reported ratings to HR.

24. Failure to manage effectiveness on the job has real consequences for schools and students. Case study: A PreK-8 school with about 500 students is almost 90% low-income and 100% African-American.  The percentage of students scoring at or above the national average on the ITBS math section has gone from 45% to 27% since 2003, and the percent scoring at the national average on the reading section has gone from 33% to 18%.  Of the school’s 51 ratings, not a single one was unsatisfactory.  But this particular school also did not issue any satisfactory ratings.  All 51 ratings were superior or excellent.  The breakdown was 78% Superior, 22% Excellent.

25. We conclude where we began – all elements in the continuum must be leveraged if we want good instruction in every classroom, every day. An effective teacher in every classroom Working Conditions Recruitment School- Level Human Cap. Mgmnt. Selection Effectiveness Management Optimize effectiveness of teacher workforce. CORE METRIC Talent Pipeline Create supply of effective teachers to fill all vacancies. CORE METRIC Number and percentage of teachers trained or hired who demonstrate effectiveness Retention / Dismissal Training/ Certification Compensation Placement Evaluation Hiring

26. Questions? For more information, please visit our website: www.tntp.org