AASPA May/June/July 2014 Best PracticesIn School Personnel American Association of School Personnel Administrators Diversity • 8 Promising Practices for Recruting Diverse Educator Talent • Diversity Double Check SSUE: I • The Value of Diversity in a School District S I • A Leader Please . Building a Diverse Applicant Pool • Multicultural Champions in My Journey DE TH • Teacher Effectiveness in Urban and Non-Urban Settings I • Transforming Public Education in South Carolina NS I 2014 8 PROMISING PRACTICES FOR RECRUITING Best Practices By Emily Douglas & Naima Khandaker May/June/July In this issue: A growing body of evidence suggests that workplace 1. Growing Teachers and Leaders American Association of diversity can serve as a key driver of organizational “Grow your own” strategies may take many forms, School Personnel Administrators success. For instance, through an examination of 8 Promising Practices for Recruiting.....................................................................3 based on the premise that outstanding educators and 11863 W. 112th Street, Suite 100 various data points from the National Organizations highly invested community members should have Overland Park, KS 66210 Diversity Double Check.........................................................................................6 Survey of more than 500 for-profit companies, opportunities to grow professionally and increase Phone: (913) 327-1222 Herring (2009) found that a workforce consisting their impact on their school. These programs may Fax: (913) 327-1223 The Value of Diversity...........................................................................................10 of both genders and a variety of racial backgrounds involve support and tuition assistance to help www.aaspa.org was correlated with a number of positive business paraprofessionals or parent volunteers earn teaching A Leader Please....................................................................................................14 outcomes, including increased sales revenues, more licenses, or help existing teachers earn certifications customers and higher profits relative to other firms for hard-to-staff areas (e.g., mathematics, science, Multicultural Champions in My Journey...............................................................17 in the industry. One possible explanation for these special education) or leadership roles. One program results comes from MIT research suggesting that supporting this approach is the Idaho State Board Teacher Effectiveness in Urban and Non-Urban Settings.....................................19 working in homogeneous environments may lead of Education’s Grow Your Own Teacher Scholarship employees to assume their surroundings are more Program, designed to place Bilingual Education, Transforming Public Education in South Carolina................................................23 predictable and controllable than they actually are, English as a Second Language, and Native American which may compel them to forego careful planning in teachers in classrooms serving historically underserved Personnel Administrator Boot Camp Registration Form......................................26 favor of risky or adverse decision-making (Apfelbaum, populations. Another is the Grow Your Own Teacher 2013). Best Practices is published by the AASPA 76th Annual Conference..................................................................Back Cover Education Initiative in Illinois which develops American Association of School locally-based teacher pipelines through partnerships Benefits of diversity are apparent in education Personnel Administrators for the between schools, institutions of higher education and research as well, such as a study from Clewell, Puma, purpose of exchanging information community organizations. and McKay (2001) suggesting that black and Latino of mutual interest and benefit to its students may benefit academically from having members. The cost of the subscription is 2013-2014 REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES teachers who are of the same racial background. included in the Executive Board Members 2. Expanded Online Recruiting Efforts Similarly, an analysis of data from Tennessee’s Project AASPA membership dues. REGION 1 New technologies offer several ways to connect with STAR experiment found a correlation between random PRESIDENT Hank Harris prospective employees. For instance, Education Week Paul Hertel Washington, D.C. assignment to racially similar teachers and improved hosts virtual job fairs that allow educators to chat with test scores for both black and white students (Dee, Cover and Layout Design Des Plaines, IL recruiters, receive career advice, and apply for jobs. 2004). This is not to suggest that students should, Molly Hildreth REGION 2 Many employers are also posting career opportunities as a rule, be placed with teachers who share their Marketing Specialist IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Rick Arnett on social media sites, such as LinkedIn. In fact, a 2013 Dr. Addie Swinney West Bloomfield, MI racial or ethnic background—but rather that diversity [email protected] survey by Jobvite found that 94 percent of respondents Conway, SC among educators in a building could potentially were already using, or planned to use, social media REGION 3 increase the ability of that school as a whole to connect for recruiting that year. Respondents also indicated PRESIDENT-ELECT Dr. Justin Schooley with various types of students. In fact, diversity at Contributors that social recruiting has contributed to significant Dr. Richard Valenta Martinsburg, WV all organizational levels could also promote more Katie Anderson Denton, TX improvements around candidate quality and quantity, strategic decision making, an increased ability to build John Arnold REGION 4 employee referral quality and quantity and time to relationships with parents or other stakeholders and a Mark Benigni RECORDING SECRETARY Joe Strickland hire. number of other positive outcomes. Gwendolyn Conner Dr. Cathy Donovan Clovis, NM Emily Douglas Olathe, KS Organizations looking to attract employees from Thomas Giard REGION 5 3. Partnerships with Alternative diverse backgrounds have a number of options for Tamira Griffin EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jason Liewehr Kelly Coash-Johnson Carrollton, TX enhancing their recruiting and hiring processes. Certification Programs Naima Khandaker Overland Park, KS Following are a few examples from school districts and Alternative certification programs—which recruit Javier Melendez REGION 6 education-focused organizations around the country: and/or train nontraditional candidates to become Melody Smith Gwendolyn Conner teachers, principals and central office administrators— Lancaster, SC are helping districts around the country tap into 2 Best Practices www.aaspa.org 3 new talent pools. Many of these programs, such as training to be very effective in recruiting or hiring Emily Douglas currently works for Battelle for Kids, a nonprofit that provides counsel and solutions Teach for America and New Leaders, actively recruit people with disabilities, and another 37 percent found to advance education internationally. As the Director of Human Capital, Emily works with schools individuals from diverse backgrounds. Others, such it to be somewhat effective. and state departments across the country to build and improve human capital and performance as Troops to Teachers, are more niched, but help management systems. Emily also writes for Education Week, as the K-12 Talent Manager. In 2013, districts increase diversity by hiring veterans and other Emily was recognized by Workforce magazine as an HR Game Changer. This award honors the next generation of workplace leaders under forty who are making their mark in the field of Human nontraditional educators. A major draw of alternative 7. Building and Communicating a Brand Resources. Recently, she was also recognized by Microsoft Education as a Global Hero in Education. certification programs for many districts is that they Establishing a brand can be highly effective in Emily is also the founder and executive director of Grandma’s Gifts, a nonprofit that provides goods often work closely with district leaders to address increasing an organization’s visibility, boosting and services to families and organizations in Appalachia. She started this organization in 1993, at local staffing needs (e.g., STEM or special education recruitment efforts and in turn, strengthening the odds the age of eleven, in memory of her Appalachian grandmother who grew up in poverty and died from teachers). of attracting a diverse and qualified pool of applicants. breast cancer. To date, the organization has provided more than $12.8 million in assistance and is run The brand should communicate to potential employees completely by volunteers. Emily can be contacted at [email protected] or on twitter at @ about the organization’s culture and values. Finding EmilyDouglasHC. 4. Employee Referrals internal champions—such as high-performing Well-designed employee referral programs can help employees who can represent the district at job fairs or Naima Khandaker joined Battelle for Kids in 2010. She currently serves as a Human Capital organizations reach individuals who otherwise may be available to answer applicants’ questions—can help Specialist and has supported Battelle for Kids’ work in strategic compensation in districts throughout the country in Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, and Ohio. She also assisted BFK’s Human Capital team not have applied, while adding the peace