EONTENITS

2 Charters LookAnew atTeacher Retention

3 Study: Close ScreeningProcess Can lmproveTeacher Hires

5 Blended LearningRequires NewHuman-ResourcesStrategies, GroupContends

COMfldENTARY

6 Who Decides? WhatEvery District ShouldConsider in Designing anEffective Hiring System

6 Beyond Plato'sCraftsmen:Thelncreasingly ComplexRoles o{ Educators

Does your HumanCapital System Foster a

Growth Mindset?

7 Steps {or a BalancedRecruitment ANDRetention Strategy

LeadershipDevelopmentIn US Schoois: TheOpposite O{ Good

HUMAN CAPITALMANAGEMENTEditor's Note: For district leaders, the shift ineducators' roles requires new approaches tohiring and building better leadershipdevelopment systems. ln this Spotlight,examine the work conditions that triggerhigh rates of teacher attrition, read howdistricts are improving the screening processfor hiring teachers and learn about creatingeffective recruitment and retentionstrategies.

EDUCATION WEEK SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT T edweek.oTg

Published Juttc 3,2015, in EducationWeek

Charters Look Anewat Teacher Retention

By Stephen Sawchuk

fter developing a strategic plan ear-lier this year in part to address adip in scores at her school, Brittany\Yagner-FYiel faced a challenge.

The principal of the elementaq/ campusof the pre-K-l2 E.L. Haynes Public CharterScJrool in Washington hrew that teaching tal-ent was crucial to realizing the plan, but oneofher star teachers was on the fence about re-turning in the fall

The key to getting the instructor to committo coming back, Ms. Wagrrer-Friel said, waspromising her more opportunities to hone andshare her expertise on project-based learningone of the main teaching methods in use atE.L. Haynes.

It's a single example, but one that hints at arisingtheme of the charber school sector: mak-ing the schools places where teachers want tostay beyond a few years.

"Sometimes I think teachers need to be re-invigorated," Ms. Wagner-Friel said. "Havingthem lead a project has been helpfirl in gettingthem excited about the work again.'

High rates of attrition are a common criti-cism ofthe publicly fimded, privately managedsdrools. And despite contested data about thephenomenon, some charter leaders acknowl-edge teacher turnover as a liability for themovement.

"There's this narative about charters bum-ing and churning people and we do not in anyway, shape, or fonn want to be a part of that,"said Nella Garcia Urban, the vice president oftalent for the Houston-basedYES Prep schoolnetwork.'We know that we see the greatestgrowth in our kids once our teachers havebeen with us about three years."

Matters of lnterpretation

Three decades after the first charter opened,the image of the harried 2O-something teacherbuming out after 60-hour weeks in her char-ter school has become a stock type in educa-tion debates. But whether its representativeof the charter sector writ large is difficult topin down.

National data, for example, actually showa narrowing of the gap in teacher-retention

rates between regular public schools and theircharter brethren betrveen 2008-09 arrd 2012-13, but offer few clues as to wh;r Analyses ofspecific regions or networks, on the other hand,show ilrastically different rates among schoolsand regions.

The second challenge is interpretive: Whereteacher-attrition rates seem unreasonablyhrgh, .r" all the factors involved negative?

Tal<e the Ins Angeles school district, where a2011 study comparing charter and traditionalschool teachers between 2002-OA and 2008-09found that charter teadrers at the high schoollevel were three times more likely to leavethan their peers.

TEl*

continued

someprofessional

sanity."

CON()R WITLIAMS

Senior Researcher, New America

But forthcoming studies seem to point toa mix of factors, including the start-up-likeculture ofthe city's charters and the type ofteachers who are attracted to them, said BruceC. Fuller, a professor of education and publicpolicy at the University of Califomia, Berkeley,and one ofthe co-authors ofthe Los Angelesresearch.

'TV'e see a lot of teachers who are super-bright, super-committed to the kids, but don'tnecessarily see teaching as a long-term career,"Mr. Fuller said.'The second force is that theworking conditions are invigorating but alsolead to high levels of bumout."

All the same, critics contend that ratherthan addressing the problem, too many char-

ters have instead worked high rates ofteacherturnover into their models, to the detrimentofstudents.

"I think it's actually a feature of charterschools rather than a bug in them," said BrianHarris, the president of the Alliance of Char-terTeachers and Stafl a Chicago-based unionaffiliated with the American Federation ofTeachers that now represents some 30 char-ter schools. 'At its most basic, we work longerdays and a longer year and we get paid less.You're not going to be able to hold teacherswhen there are schools all over the city thatpay more for less hours."

Criticism falls especially heavily en fhs mis-sion-driven "no excuses" charter-managementorganizations, home to some of the highest-scoring charters nationally, such as the NewYork City-based Success Academies and theKnowledge Is Power Program, or KIPI whichhas schools in 20 states. Such schools typicallycouple extended learning hours for studentswith a strong emphasis on behavioral norms.

As even those nehvorks acknowledge, thework hours for teachers can be long and in-tense, although the groups say that much ofthat time is devoted to preparation and sup-port, not just instruction.

Pro and Con

Complicating matters is the Iikelihood thatsome charters'higher turnover rates are atIeast partly attributable to the sectols rapidgrowth, especially within popular networks.Success Academies has added l-8 schoolssince 2013, and it has reLied heavily on cur-rent staffto move to the new buildings.

In addition, some networks have relied onalternative-certification programs to meethiring needs, including some, like TeachFor America, that require only two years ofteaching. In 2014-15, a third ofthe 10,400Teach For America corps members workedin charter schools.

Still, even some.charter supporters agreethat uncomfortable truths lurk behind therhetoric about turnover.

Conor Williams, a former teacher at theCrown Heights campus of theAchievementFirst network, in Brooklyn, recalled workinga nine-hour school day on top ofgrading and

I was lookingfor some

advancement, but also

EDUCATION WEEK SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

other duties. Lj]<e other such networks,Achievement First offered many opportu-nities to move quickly into uew roles. Butwhile the idea ofadvancing to a curricu-lum job was appealing its potentially evenlonger hours weren't.

"I was Iooking for some continued ad-vancement, but also some professionalsanity," said Mr. Williams, now a seniorresearcher at the Washington-based NewAmerica, a think tank.

Within the diffuse charter communityitsel{ the debate about whether-andhow-to prioritize teacher-retention re-mains contested.

High teacher turnover isn't intrinsicallybad for students or teachers, contendsNina Rees, the president and CEO ofthe National Alliance for Public CharterSchools. "[n my opinion, so long as teachersare producing results and impacting stu-dents in a positive way, and the school isable to attract new talent, it's not that bigof a deal," Ms. Rees said.

At E.L. Haynes, where retention ratesat the elementary campus have hoveredaround 75 percent to 80 percent annually,Ms. Wagner-Friel sees the debate from twoperspectives. She agrees that each teacherlost translates into the heavy workload offinding a new hire and inculcating him orher into the school's culture.

On the other hand, some teachers'deci-sions to leave probably benefited studentsoverall.

"Of course I want you to stay ifyou wantto be here," she said ofher teachers. "Butifyou don't, your kids are picking up onthat. Your colleagues are picking up onthat. Families are picking up on it. And it'simpacting your work every single day."

So why, in flts and starts, are some char-ters schools and networks thilking twiceabout teacher retention?

Sometimes, it's context. In Memphis,Tenn., where the number of charter schoolshas ballooned since 2008, the competitionfor talent has made retention of skilledteachers a top priority for some.

'Ihe fight for talent is pretty reat," saidAshley Shores, the principal of the Souls-ville Charter School, a middle and second-ary charter serving about 340 students."\ile're all trying to recruit from a smallcrop of really high-performing teachers."

Her school has moved to better balanceteachers'workloads by paring back teach-ers'formal hours so they have enough timeto schedule doctor's appointments and pickup the dry cleaaing. Teachers are now re-quired to stay past 3:30 only two days aweek, and they teach Saturday classesquarterly, rather than the 18 per year re-quired a few years back.

The KIPP network has made headlinesfor its retention efflorts, too: Several ofitsregions have established day-care pro-grams for teachers with young children.

Holding Onto Talent

The group also has high hopes for anew initiative that provides teachers withmodel lessons in core subjects. The idea isthat such exemplars will prevent the new-est teachers from being overwhelmed inthe crucial first few years.

"I think it's a myth that people don'twant to stay five years or 10 years. It's thatwe're losing teachers in the first and sec-ond years, because they have to reinventthe wheel," said Steve Mancini, a spokes-man for KIPP. The organization aspires toreach an 80 percent retention rate nation-ally, he added.

The YES Prep network, in Houston,made retention a priority after surveyshighlighted it as a key concern ofteachers.Internal data also showed that teachersstayed only an average of a little over twoyears, Ms. Urban said.

So this coming school year, YES Prepwill implement a "Commit to Five" initia-tive designed to make five years the base-line tenure among its staff. Among otherincentives, more experienced teachers willreceive increased autonomy over theirwork hours. And a new pay structure willreward teachers in their third and fourthyears with salaries comparable to those of10-year veterans in a traditional school,Ms. Urban said.

Given their newness, many of thoseprograms have yet to prove that they paydividends in keeping teachers happier andstaying in classrooms longer.

But their basic underpinnings-betterworking conditions, higher pay, and moresupport-make common sense, as doessimply getting to know what each teacherneeds and wants, said Ms. Wagner-Friel,the D.C. charter school principal.

"It is such a personal thing," she said."Every teacher is different, and it takesknowing them as an individual What doyou need to know, or see, or get, to stayhere next year?"

Couerage ofpolir:y effofis to irnproue the tearhingprofession is supporied, by a grail from the JoyuFoundntio4 at wwwjqcefdn.org / Programs /Ed.ucation. Edurotinn Week retains sole. editorintconlrol ouer thc corrttnt ofthis cooerage

Published Nouember 12, 20 14,in EducationWeeh

tres

Study: CloseScreeningProcess Canlmprove Teacher

Recommendations seen

as key source

By Stephen Sawchuk

istricts could boost their abfity tohire teachers who help studentsIeam more and who stay on the jobIonger by improving their screening

techniques, a newly released working paperconcludes.

Based on an analysis ofteacher-hiring prac-tices in the Spokane, Wash., school district,the research suggests that systematicallyculling candidates'recommendations to get abetter sense of their classroom-malagementtechniques, ability to work with colleagues,and instructional skill can pay offin aca-demic-adrievement gains.

The 29,000-student district's hiring process,developed in-house 10 years ago, is far from asilver bullet, but the results it's been gettingare signiflcant. In math, the effect is poten-tially equivalent to selecting teachers whoseperformance mirors that of a typical third-year teacher rather than a first-year teacher.

And given that attempts to dismiss teachersare time-intensive and costly especially afterthey've been given tenure, improvements inhiring show a lot of promise, said Dan Gold-habe4 a research professor at the UniversityofWashington Bothell and one of three sdrol-ars who conducted the study

"Hiring by school systems in this cor:ntryIooks to be pretty ad hoc," Mr. Goldhaber said.'Despite a lot of rhetoric about ths impend-ing teacher shortage, districts have a lot ofchoice about who to hire, and it doesn't looklike therds much evidence that they system-atically make good choices."

Two-Tiered Screening

In the annals ofeducation research, teacher-hting systems reurain relatively understud-ied, despite the huge attention paid to teacher

EDUCATION WEEK SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

quality in recenlyears. Only a few researchstudies have found Iinks between teacher-hiring practices and student-achievementoutcomes.

The Spokane district uses a two-tiered sys-tem for hiring candidates. First, its centralhuman resources of6ce scores applicants on a21-point scale by examining their r6sum6s forexperience and skills and reviewing recom-mendations from supervisors.

Next, principals request lists ofcandidateswho have met a particular cutoff score, andthen use a detailed, 60-point evaluation tool tolook tlrrough those documents for evidence ofsuch attributes as flexibility, experience, andinstructional skills to select prospects to bringin for interviews.

For the study, the researchers looked atsome 4,200 teacher applications in the dis-trict from 2009 to 2012. Where possible, theauthors linked that information to teachers'retention rates and their value-added results,which examine teachers'impact on students'test-score growth.

The researchers analyzed results for teach-ers who passed each step ofthe hiringprocess,and compared the results ofteachers whowere hired by Spokane with those ofeduca-tors who were not but went on to teach in dif-ferent Washington state districts.

Predictive Power

The researchers found that each ofthe twohiring stages had some predictive power in

terms of student adrievement.Most of that effect seemed to have been

driven by specific components. For the 21-point screening the candidates' recommenda-tions showed a statistically significant correla-tion with teacher effectiveness in math. Forthe 60-point scale, points for classroom-man-agement skills were correlated with effective-ness in both reading and math instruction;high rankings on flexibility and instructionalskili were linked to increases in math.

Overall, an increase ofone standard devia-tion on the 60-point screening was associatedwith 0.08 and 0.07 percent improvements instudents'test scores in reading and math,respectively. The figure for math is roughlyequivalent to the difference in effectivenessbetween the average novice teacher and onewith about three years'experience, Mr. Gold-haber said.

In addition, the one-standard-deviation in-ffsass rls6 preficted a decrease in teacher at-trition ofabout 2.5 percentage points.

The screening results did not predict,though, whether the teachers hired weremore likely or less likely to have absencesfromwork.

Accelerating the Process

Tennille Jeffries-Simmons, the district'schief human resources offrcer, said she'spleased that the hiring system is heipingidentifli effective teachers. Now she hopes toshorten the process Ilom three to four weeks

down to about aweek."Our biggest interest is to speed up the time

it tales to move through the process withoutIosing any of the effectiveness that this studyhas shown that we have," Ms. Jeffries-Sim-mons said. "\ile want to be as competitive aspossible, and the speed with which we're ableto access talented candidates is a huge com-ponent ofthat."

Thomas J. Kane, a professor ofeducationand economics at the Harvard GraduateSchool ofEducation, seconded the study'soverall conclusion that hiring processes de-serve more attention. "Any infomation thatcan help you identifu effectiveness before ateacher is on the payroll is very valuable," hesaid.

Stili, other innovations-like asking pro-spective teachers to give demonstration les-sons-should also be considered arrd studiedfor their ties to achievement, he added.

The study cautions that districts that tryto emulate Spokane's system might not havethe same results, because of variatiorx in thehighly localized teacher Iabor market. Dis-tricts with fewer applicants, or those thatface more competition for teachers, might nothave the ability to be as choosy as Spokane,it notes.

Coaerage of poliq efforts to improve thc tzorhingprofessinnis supported, by a grarrt ftomthe JoyeFoundntian, at wwwjtrycefdn org I Progrorns IEducatian. Eduratian Week retains solc d.itorialcorrtrol ouer the corrtent ofthis coueroge-

"kl'rerCtaderHEsarn$ufetrAdlB\,eretr: E/rerceFqnEdrftrArErEd'Sorking paper (2009)

i{ill Dobbie, Harvard University

i) F ndi ngs Teachen with high

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America's selection criteria, such

as leadership ability, were linked

with improved student achievement

in mathematics and, less so, in

EnglisManguage arts.

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Published in Elrcdicrd HrareadRliry(2011) Jonah E.

Rockoff , Colu m bia Un iversity;

Brian A. Jacob, University of

Michigan; Thomas J. Kane,

Harvard University; Douglas 0.

Staiger, Dartmouth College

>> Endings New York City

teachers' performance on a

commercial screen in g instrument,

and on a test of pedagogical-

content knowledge in math,

appeared to be modestly correlated

with student outcomes. Teachers

with a specific set of cognitive ornoncognitive skills appeared tobe somewhat more efiective, on

average, than their peers.

"$renT^@ o.f GehessumtEFfeffiNb\H[@lcf EetBrgectEnEdd'Working paper (2014)

Dan Goldhaber, Cyrus Grout,

Nick H untin gton-Klein Center

Jor Education Data & Research,

University of Washington Bothell

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and recommendations for such

attributes as flodbility, experience,

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assoc.iated with higher studenttest scores and better retention

rates.