Learn about teacher recruitment strategies like flexible hiring, virtual interviews, and grow-your-own programs. Tips to retain top teaching talent in schools.

<h2>Struggling to find teachers?</h2>You're not alone. An inquiry of the U.S. Department of Education <a href="https://tsa.ed.gov/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Teacher Shortage Areas Database</a> shows there are teacher shortages across all states for 2023-24. And most states are already reporting shortages for 2024-25.Further, the National Center for Education Statistics <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/spp/results.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">School Pulse Panel</a> reports that for 2023-24:<ul><li>37% of public schools are operating with at least one teaching vacancy</li><li>45% of public schools are operating with at least one non-teaching staff vacancy</li><li>66% of public schools said their greatest challenge in hiring teachers was a lack of qualified candidates</li><li>46% candidates felt the salary and benefits were not enough</li><li>44% of public-school students started the 2023–24 school year behind grade level in at least one subject</li></ul><h2>The High Cost of Teacher Turnover</h2>Educational leaders know the burdens schools and districts face when teachers leave their positions all too well. These extensive impacts (<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2332858420905812'" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sorensen et al.</a>) include:<ul><li>Costs to recruit, hire, and train new teachers</li><li>Changes to the overall composition and quality of teaching staff</li><li>Lasting impacts on student achievement</li><li>Contribution to nationwide teacher shortages</li><li>Erosion of teachers’ collective work toward the school's mission</li></ul><h2>Teacher Recruitment Strategies</h2>Fortunately, school and district leaders can use various approaches to recruit and retain highly qualified candidates. These strategies aren't without challenges, as they take a significant investment of time, effort and resources, and leaders are already spread thin. It's true; there are easier ways to accomplish your school staffing goals than going it alone. (Spoiler alert: We can help! But, more on that later). In the meantime, here are eight ways you can start improving your school's or district's strategy for attracting and retaining teachers:<ol><li>Offer competitive compensation and benefits. Consider the cost of living in your area as well as the nature of the job. Is it in a more stressful environment? Are there greater demands or hazards associated with the position?</li><li>financial incentives wherever possible. Do you have any opportunities to maximize what you offer new teachers? Does your state or district offer signing bonuses, completion bonuses, pay-for-performance programs, or supplemental pay for leadership? Is there any grant money available?</li><li>Highlight career advancement opportunities. Will the teachers have room to grow as leaders? Can they aspire to become department heads, program coordinators, or exceptional education chairs? Is there an opportunity to pursue professional development or further education to move toward school administration?</li><li>Polish your website, social media, and recruitment materials. Could your school or district website use a refresh? What do the publications you take to career fairs look like? Are they up-to-date, engaging, attractive and geared toward your target audience?</li><li>Attend education job fairs. Can you or your representatives visit job fairs to look for candidates? This is a particularly great way to find emerging teaching professionals who are eager to work and full of enthusiasm for their careers.</li><li>Seek word-of-mouth referrals. Put the word out among your staff that you are currently seeking a new teacher or teachers. Can you send out a staff email, make an announcement at your next staff meeting, ask other leaders, or tactfully reach out to parents regarding new opportunities?</li><li>Advertise and post on online job boards and at career resource centers. Have you advertised the position online? There are various job boards catered toward teachers. Another idea is to contact your local university and ask about their career resources for teachers.</li><li>Create a "grow your own" teacher recruitment program. One way to build a loyal community of educators invested in your school and district is to implement high school, career tech, and college programs to educate and recruit teachers. There may already be programs in place in your district.</li></ol><h2>Teacher Recruitment Strategy Resources for School Administrators</h2>If you want to refine your teacher recruitment strategy, take a deeper dive into these valuable, research-based resources from reputable and established organizations:<ul><li><a href="https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-teacher-recruitment-and-retention-2022/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Education Commission of the States (ECS)</a> – ECS has a vast repository of resources for school administrators on recruitment. ECS <a href="https://www.ecs.org/?s=recruitment" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">publications</a> include a 50-state comparison of teacher recruitment and retention with a link to specific state profiles, information on targeted teacher recruitment, recent legislative developments, minority recruitment, alternative teacher certification, grow-your-own teacher programs, and state policies that support teachers across the career pipeline.</li><li><a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ee/peatrecruitment.asp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">California Department of Education (CDE)</a> – CDE has a page on teacher recruitment strategies for administrators covering grow-your-own teacher programs, career technical education academies, competitive compensation, career advancement opportunities, transfer incentives, teacher residencies, hiring and screening practices, and teacher pools.</li><li><a href="https://www.nais.org/learn/resource-guides/retain-recruit-top-talent/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)</a> – NAIS has a recruiting, hiring, and retention resource hub for school administrators. Here, you'll find information (applicable for all school leaders, not just those of private schools) on "mindset and processes for attracting, recruiting, hiring, retaining, and developing the best group of educators for your school's mission," best practices for fair and professional hiring and search processes, employment-related trends at independent schools, sample job descriptions, addressing implicit bias, creating diverse and welcoming workplaces, interview etiquette, and more.</li></ul><h2>Skip the Stress! Outsource to a School Staffing Agency</h2>A recent article in <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/contractors-are-filling-staffing-gaps-in-schools-know-the-benefits-and-the-drawbacks/2022/06" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Edweek</a> discusses how administrators nationwide are increasingly turning to staffing agencies to help them fill teaching gaps:"These companies provide crucial relief for districts in a pinch, particularly for specialized workers like nurses, speech-language pathologists, and special education paraprofessionals. They're increasingly common sources for substitute labor, and even for permanent teaching positions…These companies can relieve school districts of the burden of recruiting and managing local specialized workers who are few and far between, or easily lured by more-lucrative positions in other industries. Some firms beam in teachers and other staffers virtually. Others tap into international sources. Some even recruit workers right out of teacher education programs."<h3>Enlist the help of recruiters with expertise.</h3>At <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/education" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cross Country Education</a>, we provide highly qualified educational professionals so you can focus on student success! We take care of payroll, insurance, benefits, and workers' compensation and provide a wide array of staffing and consultative services to educational organizations and schools of all sizes. Our educational workforce solutions include:<ul><li>A pool of over 40,000 educators through our teacher hiring platform, <a href="https://getselected.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Selected</a></li><li>Teacher shortage solutions, including our Travel Teacher and Future Teacher programs</li><li>Substitute teachers and instructional assistants, including short- and long-term <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/educator-spotlight-francisco-a-substitute-teacher?" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subs</a> and <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/blog/educator-spotlight-sabrina-p-behavior-aide?" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">aides</a></li><li>Special education service providers and consultative services, including OTs, PTs, SLPs, deaf and hard of hearing teachers, school psychologists and school counselors </li><li>School-based healthcare staff, including RNs, LVNs, and CNAs</li><li>Virtual special education services</li><li>Search and consultative services to support your team through hiring challenges</li></ul> We’re eager to learn more about how we can help you meet your educational staffing needs! <a href="https://www.crosscountry.com/employers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get started today</a>.

How To Recruit Teachers: Recruitment Strategies for Schools

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