Watch the Latest Recruiting Event

Checkout the video from the March 4th recruiting event. This video may be a great way to share information with administrators and school board members and inform them on the virtual recruiting opportunities now available through KEEB. Remember the April 9th and April 29th events are still open for districts. Email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org if your district would like to participate.

Upcoming Virtual Recruitment Events

Due to the successful response with the first virtual educator recruitment event last Tuesday in Second Life, we will be hosting two additional events next month. Below is information related to these events. Registration is still open and free for both events and if your is interested feel free to email me kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

April 9, 2008 Southwest Regional Career Fair
5:00 - 7:30 p.m.

April 29, 2008 Statewide Career Fair
5:00 - 7:30 p.m.

To learn more visit: www.kansasteachingjobs.com and click on Virtual Career Fair in the KEEB Main Menu

KEEB Activities at the United School Administrators Conference

The United School Administrators (USA) Conference will be taking place next Wednesday thru Friday in Wichita. KEEB will have a number of activities occurring during the conference that you may be interested in. During the exhibit hall, stop by the KEEB booth to learn more about KEEB, get assistance with your employer profile, or provide us feedback on how we can improve the system. Matt Blatchley, lead programmer on KEEB, and myself will be available to assist with any questions you may have about utilizing KEEB in your recruitment effort.

In addition, Thursday at 2:00, there will be a presentation on KEEB identifying new features that have been added, an update on the retention learning portal, and news on the first ever virtual teacher recruitment event. In case you are not attending, you can view and download the presentation below:

| View | Upload your own

We look forward to seeing those of you planning on attending the conference.

First Kansas Statewide Virtual Career Fair for Educators

The Kansas Recruitment and Retention Program will be hosting the first statewide virtual career fair for individuals interested in learning more about teaching in Kansas. The fair will take place in Second Life, a 3D virtual world that many Fortune 500 companies are now experimenting with to locate qualified candidates. The fair will be very similar to traditional career fairs with district booths and potential candidates walking through to learn more about job opportunities. During the fair, you will be stationed at a booth and have the necessary technology to speak with potential candidates. School districts participating in the fair will be provided with:

• Training
• Virtual booth
• Resumes of interested applicants
• Mock career fair to test equipment and booth

To learn more about the virtual career fair visit www.kansasteachingjobs.com and click on Virtual Career Fair in the KEEB Main Menu. To register, send your contact information to support@kansasteachingjobs.com.

Edweek Live Chat on Recruitment

On Tuesday, January 8th Edweek will be hosting an online live chat on "Recruiting and Retaining a New Generation of Teachers". Some of you may be interested in participating or learning more. Below is information on the time and web address. We will be posting a synopsis of the chat later in the week.

Live Chat:
Recruiting and Retaining a New Generation of Teachers

WHEN: Tuesday, January 8, 3 to 4 p.m., Eastern time

WHERE: edweek-chat.org

Submit questions at edweek-chat.org.

With record numbers of teachers expected to retire in the next decade, and teacher-quality demands growing, districts across the nation are facing urgent questions about how to attract and support a new generation of educators.

The 22,000-student Vancouver School District in Vancouver, Washington, believes it has made significant progress in answering some of these questions. The district recently completed a systemic reorganization of its human resources program that emphasizes core values and career growth, and integrates new strategies in workforce planning, recruitment, compensation, mentoring and induction, professional development, and evaluation.

As a result of these changes, the district has replaced 70 percent of its full-time teachers and has a cumulative retention rate of 91 percent. It reports that it now attracts nearly 4,000 candidate contacts for every 200 job openings, and is able to select the top five percent of its candidate pool.

The Vancouver district has received awards in recognition of its recruitment and support practices from the National School Public Relations Association, the American Association of Employment in Education, and the American Association of School Personnel Administrators.

In this chat, two administrators from the Vancouver district will be online to take your questions on their recruitment and retention practices and on current trends in education staffing.

Please join us for the discussion.

About the Guests:

Lee Goeke is an Associate Superintendent of Human Resources Management in the Vancouver School District and currently serves as Legislative Chair for the Washington School Personnel Association. Prior to joining the Vancouver district, he was a human resources executive with the U.S. Defense Department, responsible for 100,000 employees in Europe.

Ed Wilgus is the Professional Development Manager for the Vancouver School District, responsible for training and mentoring. A former nationally certified counselor, he has worked as a public school counselor at the primary and secondary levels.

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No special equipment other than Internet access is needed to participate in this text-based chat. A transcript will be posted shortly after the completion of the chat.

More Insight from AASPA: A Mentor Program for All Teachers

Yesterday Steve Kelley, Assistant Superintendent for the Lebanon Community School District in Oregon shared a unique mentor program that his district has been implementing for the last 5 years with new teachers to the district. The Lebanon program is one of the most extensive mentor programs I have heard about and they are experiencing great retention success. Steve offered his perspectives on why this program works and identified the keys to success for any mentor program. First and foremost, mentor programs must be unique to your district and your district’s perspectives. The program’s key goals is not only to support new teachers to the profession and to the school district, but to indoctrinate new teachers into the culture of the district (their beliefs, practices, and goals). Lebanon utilizes a 3 day orientation program and mentors for all new teachers, but also takes these practices one step further with monthly new teacher conversations, critical friends groups, and instructional coaches. Steve identified the five keys to success for any mentor program:

• Money - For any mentor program to be successful it has to be supported financially. Lebanon does this through Title II funds and spends approximately $200,000 a year (district of 5,000 students)
• Coordinator - Someone must be put in charge of the program at the district level
• Partnerships - Meaningful partnerships with local universities can have a strong impact. Lebanon utilizes the local university to train mentors.
• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate - Talk to new teachers and mentors often about what works and doesn’t work (Lebanon utilizes surveys and focus groups)
• Provide training and support to coordinator, instructional coaches, and mentors - Training is essential for mentors and support personnel.

If you would like more information on Steve's presentation email me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org.

Recruiting Generation X and Y: Insight from the AASPA Conference

The American Association of School Personnel Administrators (AASPA) Conference is gathering in Kansas City this week. Yesterday, I attended a workshop on hiring and retaining generation X and Y by Rochelle Eisenberg, a workforce lawyer who represents school districts in Maryland. Rochelle had a number of interesting ideas related to how to attract this generation of teachers and keep them in your schools. Below are a few ideas, while some may be a little outside the box, it seems many districts are getting creative in how they retain staff.

• Advertising, advertising, advertising (This generation has had more information at their fingertips than any other...they want to gather as much information about you as an employer as they can. You can provide this in brochures, your district website, and employment boards)
• Use multimedia (Develop a video that you can use online and share on a DVD with potential candidates that highlights your district)
• Tuition reimbursement (This generation is interested in continued education and career growth...offer them financial options for this)
• Collaboration time (highlight your district or buildings collaboration times and how teachers are using it)
• Health club (Many districts across the country are negotiating agreements with local gyms to provide memberships to district employees, some districts are also opening the doors to gyms and weight rooms after hours for employees as a cost effective way of providing health club access)
• Technology (This generation has had their own laptops for as long as they can remember...provide each teacher with their own and upgrade teacher lounges for internet and computer access)
• Better lunches (Many districts are getting creative in offering designer coffee, snacks, and great lunch options for teachers in the lounge)

More to come soon from the AASPA Conference!

KEEB Training Dates

Training sessions are now available to school district personnel interested in using the new KEEB to advertise positions and locate qualified candidates. Below are the training dates. If you are interested in attending please email the session number along with your contact information to me at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org or call (620) 724-6281. If you are unable to attend a training date remember that you can download help files by clicking on HELP in the upper right hand corner of the new KEEB website. Also, I am always glad to answer a question via email or phone.

KEEB TRAINING SESSIONS:

• SESSION #1: September 24th, 10:00 – 12:00 or 1:00 – 3:00, Greenbush, Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, 947 W. 47 HWY, Girard, KS
• SESSION #2: September 27th, 1:00 – 3:00, Indian Creek Technology Center, Shawnee Mission School District, 4401 W. 103rd Street, Overland Park, KS
• SESSION #3: October 1st, 12:00 – 2:00, Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Cooperative, 620 Industrial, Goddard, KS
• SESSION #4: October 2nd, 10:00 – 12:00, Garden City School District, 1205 Fleming Road, Garden City, KS
• SESSION #5: October 3rd, 1:00 – 3:00, Clay Center Community High School, 1630 9th St., Clay Center, KS

Fall Education Career Fairs

Now that school is starting, it is time to starting thinking about fall recruitment opportunities. Many of the universities in the state host fall education career fairs. I will be traveling to many of these fairs this fall to introduce the Kansas Education Employment Board, as well as the state's Second Life employment building, to preservice teachers . The following career fairs are currently scheduled at Kansas universities. If you would like more information on these fairs click on the university name. Let me know if there is anything I can do to enhance your fall recruitment efforts at kylie.stewart@greenbush.org or 620-724-6281.

• Pittsburg State University, September 26
• Kansas State University, October 2
• University of Kansas, November 7
• Emporia State University, November 12