1. Recruiting for Effectiveness SMHC Conference| March 2009

2. 2 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Research has shown that effective teachers are the solution to increasing student achievement in our under-resourced schools. Dallas students who start 2 nd grade at about the same level of math achievement… After 3 EFFECTIVE Teachers After 3 INEFFECTIVE Teachers …finish 5 th grade math at dramatically different levels depending on the quality of their teachers. Original analysis by the Education Trust. Source: Heather Jordan, Robert Mendro, and Dash Weerasinghe, The Effects of Teachers on Longitudinal Student Achievement, 1997. 50

3. 3 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Leadership Recruitment Training 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 Market driven by what providers want to offer, not what schools or teachers need.  Not targeted to high-need schools or subjects. Bureaucratic dysfunction deters applicants. Selection Minimum requirements, little consideration for quality. Little post-hire selection rigor, such as tenure decisions. Hiring Archaic slotting procedures impede creation of effective teams. Little/no human capital training for principals, lack of high-level leadership to manage human capital. Evaluation Systems fail to evaluate performance, making it difficult to develop high performers or remediate or remove low performers.  Compensation Teaching largely non- competitive with other top professions. Dollars concentrated at senior end of career. 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.  Retention Highest performing teachers often leave the classroom the soonest.

4. 4 © The New Teacher Project 2009 To realize sustainable improvement, effective teaching must be the guiding concern behind all elements of a district’s human capital system. Talent Pipeline Create supply of effective teachers to fill all vacancies. CORE METRIC Number and percentage of teachers trained or hired who demonstrate effectiveness Effectiveness Management Optimize effectiveness of teacher workforce. CORE METRIC Retention rate of top-quartile teachers : Retention rate of bottom- quartile teachers Recruitment Selection Training/ Certification Placement HiringEvaluation Compensation Retention / Dismissal Working Conditions School- Level Human Cap. Mgmnt. An effective teacher in every classroom

5. 5 © The New Teacher Project 2009 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. 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

6. 6 © The New Teacher Project 2009 TNTP has addressed both the immediate needs of schools and the systemic human capital challenges facing districts and states. Teachers trained or hired 33,000 Programs or initiatives established 70+ States in which TNTP has worked 28 Districts with which TNTP has partnered 200+ Students affected by TNTP teachers (est.) 4.8 M 3 highly publicized studies of teacher hiring and school staffing policies Recommended reforms adopted in New York City, Milwaukee, Washington DC, and California Documentation and reform of flawed policies and practices Thousands of new teachers for high-need schools “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. 7 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Teaching Fellows Programs: Dramatically increasing the supply of qualified teachers for high-need schools. FY2008 Results at a Glance 17 Total programs 4 New programs 21 Cities served 43,449 Applications received 3,214 Teaching Fellows hired 15% Acceptance rate 25% Avg. % of partner district hires who are Fellows 83% Percent of all Fellows who teach high-need subjects 86% Percent of all Fellows who teach in Title-I schools 36% Percent of all Fellows who are people-of-color 3.3 Average undergraduate GPA 94% Percent of principals who say they would hire a Teaching Fellow again  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. 8 © The New Teacher Project 2009 2,464 205 Baltimore 2,552 150 Chicago 1,079 110 DC 861 42 Miami 1,890 128 Oakland 2,189 133 Philadelphia 1,217 86 Prince George’s County 2,339 228 Texas New York City 19,020 1,698 Number of APPLICANTS Number of HIRES High-impact teacher recruitment is one of TNTP’s strengths. Number of Applications and Number of Hires, by Program (2008) 40 Memphis 890 74 Indianapolis 836 102 NOLA 2,442 636 56 Denver CA Charters 3,266 59 34 Milwaukee 482 41 St. Paul 638 28 Phoenix 470

9. 9 © The New Teacher Project 2009 TNTP utilizes a toolbox of recruitment strategies to attract high-quality teacher candidates. InternetPaid Advertisements Mail / Email CampaignsTeacher Recruiters Outreach / GrassrootsReferrals Signs / FlyersEd Schools / On-Campus Public RelationsCareer Fairs      H E L L O  

10. 10 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Clear, compelling messages are effective for attracting candidates.

11. 11 © The New Teacher Project 2009 TNTP’s recruitment campaigns use high-quality, interactive websites.

12. 12 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Often have personal experience with friends or family members with special needs Rely more on word-of- mouth and personal interactions/referrals Use the internet more than any other group. Want the opportunity to share their subject knowledge with students Want to be aggressively recruited 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 Craft unique messages for each high-need candidate group. People of Color Math / Sci Special Ed

13. 13 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Track data on recruitment sources to ensure cost-effectiveness. Sample: Tracking Sources of High-Need Applicants More Cost-Effective Strategies Internet - $17 / app Classified Ads – $55 / app Maximizing Referrals On-Campus recruitment Mail/Email Campaigns Less Cost-Effective Strategies Radio/TV Ads - $189/app Display Ads – $200+/app Paid Publicity

14. 14 © The New Teacher Project 2009 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. 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.

15. 15 © The New Teacher Project 2009 With aggressive recruitment, teachers apply to urban districts in large numbers; however, urban districts often hire too late to capitalize. 4,000 Applicants Teacher Applicants vs. Vacancies in Four Urban Districts, 2002 Vacancies (Hires) 4,500 End of May: Over 600 prescreened candidates ready for principal interview and placement Aug. 12: First new teacher hired Eastern District Hiring Timeline Sep. 9: School opens with vacancies after 177 teachers hired May Jun Jul Aug Sep No outside hires

16. 16 © The New Teacher Project 2009 TNTP’s Missed Opportunities report found that urban districts may lose 30-60% of all applicants due to hiring delays. 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). Hired or another status Withdrawal Rate of Pre-screened Candidates in Eastern and Midwestern 1 Districts Withdrew by the end of Aug. Percent of Withdrawers for whom Late Timelines Were a Factor in Their Decision to Leave

17. 17 © The New Teacher Project 2009 In San Francisco, the hiring timeline is the primary reason why applicants withdraw and decline offers. of teachers who declined an offer or withdrew from the application process cited the interviewing and hiring timeline as important or very important to their decision. Importance of the interviewing and hiring timeline in applicants’ decisions to: WithdrawDecline an offer 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. 65%

18. 18 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Teachers that are lost to hiring delays are often more qualified than those eventually hired. Hired by SFUSD Not Hired by SFUSD 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. 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.  Source: SFUSD HR data; TNTP survey of 1,440 recent applicants, conducted June/July 2008

19. 19 © The New Teacher Project 2009 New York City is leveraging high-quality alternate routes to certification to diversify its new teacher supply and meet critical needs. 150,000 Applicants to NYCTF since 2000 9,000 Active Teaching Fellows in NYC 1,100 Schools with Teaching Fellows 3.3 Average undergraduate GPA 15% Average acceptance rate in 2008 30% Portion of the 2007 class at NYC’s Leadership Academy who started as Teaching Fellows 84% Percentage of 2008 Fellows who teach high-need subjects 73% Percentage of 2008 Fellows working in Title-I schools 11% Percentage of all NYC teachers who are Teaching Fellows 25% Percentage of all NYC math teachers who are Teaching Fellows >50% Percentage of New York City’s annual new hires in math and special education from NYCTF High Quality High Numbers High Needs High Impact

20. 20 © The New Teacher Project 2009 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. 21 © The New Teacher Project 2009 In Chicago, similar partnerships and best-in-class staffing policies are enabling schools to focus sharply on teacher quality. 10,74617%36%3.372% Avg. number of applications per year, 2004-06 Avg. annual hiring rate, 2004-06 Percent of applicants with a Master’s degree Avg. GPA of teacher applicants, 2004-06 Percent of principals satisfied with the QUALITY of 76% or more of new CPS teachers

22. 22 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Chicago’s mutual consent staffing policies allows schools to build effective instructional teams and ensures fluidity in the teacher workforce. 95% Agree Source: TNTP survey conducted in March 2007 of 1,446 CPS teachers. 90% of transferring teachers agree that the process resulted in a match that both they and their new principals feel good about. 90%

23. 23 © The New Teacher Project 2009 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. Only 3 out of 1000 teachers rated unsatisfactory

24. 24 © The New Teacher Project 2009 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. 25 © The New Teacher Project 2009 We conclude where we began – all elements in the continuum must be leveraged if we want good instruction in every classroom, every day. Talent Pipeline Create supply of effective teachers to fill all vacancies. CORE METRIC Number and percentage of teachers trained or hired who demonstrate effectiveness Effectiveness Management Optimize effectiveness of teacher workforce. CORE METRIC Retention rate of top-quartile teachers : Retention rate of bottom- quartile teachers Recruitment Selection Training/ Certification Placement HiringEvaluation Compensation Retention / Dismissal Working Conditions School- Level Human Cap. Mgmnt. An effective teacher in every classroom

26. 26 © The New Teacher Project 2009 Questions? For more information, please visit our website: www.tntp.org