STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF HUMAN CAPITAL: Urban Districts Can Recruit Talent Allan Odden, Co-Director of SMHC

2 SMHC Project Goal: Dramatically improve student performance, focusing initially on urban districts: –Meaning to double student performance and reduce achievement gap as measured by state or local tests –For example, increase percent at or above proficient from 40 to 80 percent, or increase percent at advanced levels from 30 to 60 percent, or get all averages and sub-group scores above the 90 percent level

3 SMHC Project Our focus for accomplishing the goal: Strategic Management of Human Capital (SMHC) SMHC includes Two Basic Strategies: –Recruiting and retaining top teacher, principal and central office talent, which are key to tackling the complex educational challenges of big, urban districts – we argue this can be done –Managing that talent around the instructional expertise to make every teacher effective – produce large student learning gains

4 The State of Urban Districts Dysfunctional HR systems: –Paper and pencil systems; late and inaccurate salary checks; large numbers of teacher shortages; larger shortages in math, science, special education; lack of sufficient teacher quality, especially in high-needs schools Lack of strategic recruitment strategies; open school each fall with hundreds of vacancies Result: –Low levels of student achievement, large achievement gaps, disjointed educational improvement strategies Couldn’t produce student performance results in part because did not have people to do the job

5 Key SMHC Case Findings Big Finding #1: Urban districts can recruit top quality teachers and principals by deploying a multi-faceted human resource strategy –Teacher shortages, lack of adequate talent, and school vacancies are not part of the “DNA” of urban school systems –It results from lack of attention to active recruiting

6 Former Passive Approach to Recruiting A decade ago, Boston, Chicago and NYC did little recruiting Many people nevertheless applied, but –Applicants did not come from the best pipelines –Applications were not reviewed until August when the bulk of good talent had already accepted job offers –Not enough applicants left to staff schools fully –School years began with teacher shortages; teacher quality problems; and insufficient math, science, special education and other teachers –DC: 2500 applicants for 250 positions in 2006

7 If you recruit, talent will come … Active recruitment can identify top talent who will apply and accept job offers in urban districts –Colleges and Universities Chicago began recruiting at Northwestern, Univ. Illinois, Univ. Michigan, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison, etc. and other colleges within 500 miles (within a day’s drive of Chicago) –New college graduates who decide to teach after earning a bachelor’s degree Chicago’s goal: 20% of new vacancies –Early career changers, many with math majors – from law firms, Wall street, management consulting, other high wage/high pressure jobs –Mid-career changers – the military, industry, etc. –“Grow your own” programs – teachers and principals –Scores of talented people wanting to teach in urban schools When a recruitment hand is offered & a pipeline is provided, these individuals can be channeled into urban schools

8 Partnerships with New Talent Pipelines Teach For America –In 29 (23 urban) areas today; goal is to be in 48 areas by 2015 The New Teacher Project –Partners with many districts all over the country and now working regionally in some metro areas New Leaders for New Schools Academy for Urban School Leadership Troops to Teachers “National” organizations with a focused mission to recruit, train for initial license and place in an urban, high poverty school

9 New Partnerships with Universities Urban teacher & principal residency programs Principal training: Chicago/TFA/Harvard National Louis University in Chicago Chicago seeking to have more say in and structure of student teaching Close linkages in Long Beach and Cal State Long Beach – Long Beach staff “teach” both teacher and principal practicum courses Not rosy on all university fronts – sometimes universities do not respond positively

10 Multiple Complementary Strategies Summer exposure programs Job fairs have been very successful in Chicago –Candidates even get bussed to schools where they might teach Let schools/principals make teacher selection Train principals on importance of early recruiting –Many postpone recruiting until the summer when most good candidates have taken other positions

11 Multiple Complementary Strategies Automate the application and screening process Selection screeners – Haberman, Gallup, etc. Reduce time from initial application to communication with candidates – 60 to 2 days Make job offers quickly to “special” candidates –Male elementary teachers; math, science majors; minority candidates, etc. Cost out each step of the application process –Computer screening is much cheaper than phone interviews (which is cheaper than on site interviews)

12 Move Up Budget and Hiring Calendar Estimate school budgets and teacher vacancies in January and February –This allows recruitment processes to begin matching teacher applications with school needs Have principals/schools begin interviewing in March and April Attempt to fill all positions by May

13 Modify Seniority Bumping Work with union to change seniority bumping Allow senior teachers to apply first for all vacancies, subject to school selection –The hiring calendar needs to be moved up – begin this in March Eliminate automatic seniority bumping from school to school, even for untenured teachers

14 Improve the “Getting On Board” Process Have a gathering at the opening of the school year for all new teachers/principals Get everyone on the pay system Get everyone signed up for benefits Provide everyone a “buddy” or mentor Provide upfront training in district processes as well as instructional practice Provide ongoing seminars or professional development

15 Actively Recruit Principals Too Principal “awareness” seminars on “what it’s like to be a principal” Principal residency programs, New Leaders for New Schools, Academy for Urban School Leadership, etc. Limit principal selection to candidates who have gone through district training program Central screening of principals even if school makes final selection Sometimes leadership recruitment is directly linked to teacher recruitment: Chicago/TFA/Harvard

16 Challenges Can recruit top talent but it is hard to identify who will become an effective teacher –Private sector research finds predicting worker effectiveness is difficult without work samples –Points to importance of induction, mentoring, professional development and tenure Same for principals – it is hard to predict who will be effective even in many new programs

17 Final Take Away Message Urban districts can open school every fall with talented teachers in each classroom and talented principals in each school Beginning steps to this goal: 1.Conduct a talent audit for teachers, principals and central office HR staff What are current pipelines, do they provide top talent, where are shortages of numbers and quality, what are future teacher and principal needs, etc. 2.Create a strategic plan for talent acquisition 3.Implement a comprehensive, multi-faceted plan 4.Evaluate all talent pipelines – which lines produce?