2nd Annual Virtual Career Fair for Educators

On November 10th the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Program will be hosting the 2nd Annual Virtual Career Fair for Educators in Second Life. This is a great opportunity to recruit highly qualified educators from the comfort of your office or home. During the 2007-2008 school year, the program hosted two successful career fairs in this new virtual world that allows districts to visit with potential candidates from all over the country. Second Life allows districts to share information with potential candidates, have voice conversations, and view candidate resumes. The event is free for all public school districts and cooperatives who utilize the Kansas Education Employment Board (KEEB). If you would like to register or have questions about the event please contact us at support@kansasteachingjobs.com. Your registration email should contain the contact information for district personnel participating (personnel must be identified ahead of time to receive appropriate training).

Celebrating a Year of Recruiting with KEEB

This week marks 1 year since the state of Kansas launched the redesigned teacher recruitment initiative at www.kansasteachingjobs.com. The year has represented a renewed effort of recruiting in Kansas and many lessons have been learned to apply to the this year's recruitment practices.

Successes
The redesigned KEEB experienced a significant increase in traffic by both schools and potential educators in the last year. At the years end we have 98% of districts in the state utilizing the service and over 10,000 applicant profiles. From September 2007 to today we have had over 670,000 visits from Kansans and approximately 6,708,000 page views. In addition, 35% of the traffic on KEEB is generated from out-of-state visitors allowing districts in the state to recruit from a broad range of experienced educators. Although www.kansasteachingjobs.com represented a significant increase in traffic to school job postings, other efforts ensured that schools in the state of Kansas were represented in a range of online and virtual recruiting tools. KEEB now feeds jobs from the website to 4 different nationally recognized job boards ensuring that Kansas jobs reach potential candidates outside of our state lines. In addition, the use of new technology such as virtual recruiting events has put Kansas on the forefront of recruiting practices. It will be critical in the future that Kansas continues to utilize the latest and best technology to reach highly qualified educators.

Lessons Learned
While there were many successes through the year there were also a number of lessons learned to continue to improve the recruiting effort in the state. Thanks to great feedback from school district personnel and applicants we've identified a number of improvements that are currently in the process of being made. A few of those improvements include:

• multiple security levels for employer accounts allowing various school personnel to access resumes and applicant information
  
• interview scheduler to schedule interviews with applicants via email from KEEB
• search for candidates by geographical area
• additional help notes built into critical steps of the job posting process

In closing, a special thank you to the Kansas Department of Education's Special Education Team for their continued support of the Kansas Recruitment and Retention Program and to the key KEEB staff, Matt Blatchley, lead programmer, and Johnna McColm, support specialist.

Additional Resource for Job Postings

Hire Kansas Talent is a service available to all districts in the state of Kansas interested in locating potential teacher's from state's 4-year public higher education institutions. This free service allows you to easily post a job to the online job board, which is then shared with each of the institutions own job advertising systems. This allows you reach a broad audience with just a single post. The Hire Kansas Talent consortium includes:

• Fort Hays State University
• Pittsburg State University
• Emporia State University
• Washburn University
  
• University of Kansas
• Wichita State University
• Kansas State University
  

Pairing the Hire Kansas Talent service with the Kansas Education Employment Board in your recruitment effort can maximize your advertising capabilities to reach a large number of new graduates, alumni, out-of-state, and in-state educators.

Phases of 1st Year Teachers

As your new teachers complete their first week of school, it is important to give some thought to their experiences and coming needs. First year teachers journey through a number of phases in their first year of teaching (Moir, 1990). Being knowledgeable about these phases, allows school districts to schedule training and support at critical times. These trainings can focus on the areas teachers have the most difficulty with or are prepared to learn more about during that phase. Below are a few of the dilemmas new teachers face during each phase:

1. Anticipation (1st - 2nd weeks)
   
1. excited about year
2. Survival (1st to 2nd month)
1. struggle to keep head above water
2. spending 70 hours a week on schoolwork
3. struggling to keep up
3. Disillusionment (at 8 weeks)
   
1. begin questioning commitment
   
2. overwhelmed with parent conferences, first evaluation, and back to school night.
3. classroom management major source of distress
4. Rejuvenation (January)
   
1. much needed winter break
2. acceptance of realities of teaching
3. focus in curriculum development and teaching strategies
5. Reflection (May)
1. highlight events that were successful and those that weren't
   
2. think about changes they'd like to make next year

Establishing Good Communication with Parents Early

Next week, teachers will meet their students that they will spend the next 9 months teaching and supporting. In addition, they will most likely begin meeting parents that they will also be spending the next 9 months communicating with. It is important that new teachers have a procedure in place for establishing good communication with parents early in the year. Below are tips that you can share with your beginning teachers that may help them initiate communication, continue effective communication throughout the year, and suggestions for open house night. This information may also be helpful to mentors as they assist early career teachers in establishing communication practices.

Tips for Parent Communication for Classroom Teachers

Establishing Good Communication Early
It is important to introduce yourself and establish good communication to parents early. In fact, a introductory letter may be the first item you complete as you get ready for the new school year. This letter may include information below:

• Introduction
• Necessary supplies
• Contact information
• Upcoming classroom or school events

Throughout the year you can build on this initial communication with newsletters, phone calls, emails, progress reports, and conferences.

Tips for Good Communication (from www.susd.org)

• Be professional in your communication (avoid rumors and gossip).
• Be direct and clear in what you say.
• Think through, in advance, what you are going to say.
• Be sure to listen.
• Be positive, even when dealing with problems. Involve parents in the decision-making.
• Avoid using educational jargon.
• Proofread any notes/newsletters before you send them home with students.
• Keep a record of all communication with parents.
• If you have any question about a communication you are going to send, discuss it first with an administrator or mentor.
• Inform an administrator or your mentor of any problems so they are informed on the situation when they receive communication from the parent.

Open House Night
Many schools will conduct an open house early in the school year to give teachers, students, and parents’ time to meet each other. There are a number of procedures you can follow to take advantage of this time and establish a good relationship with parents.

You may discuss:

• Classroom rules and policies
• Curriculum and/or standards
• Your expectations for students
• Instructional materials, such as textbooks or workbooks

Overall tips for open house night:

• Provide handouts of grading procedures, homework procedures, curriculum maps, etc.
• Dress professionally
• Provide information on how parents can communicate with you and what they can expect to be communicated to them regarding their child’s progress.
• Provide a volunteer sign up sheet.

Example of an Exemplary Induction Program

In the coming weeks school districts will begin induction programs for new staff. There are a number of induction programs across the country that have been recognized for exemplary programming. One such program is the Quakertown (Pa.) New Teacher Academy, which was been highlighted by the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) in a 2002 Journal of Staff Development article. The academy includes unique features, such as a two week training period prior to school starting that involves workshops and even a bus tour of the district and community. Workshops during this period cover such topics as:

• understanding the district standards,
• positive classroom management,
  
• teaching with technology, and
  
• a principals panel.

The image below outlines the complete schedule of the two week training period.

(Image 1: New Teacher Academy, Year One, Beerer, 2002)

To learn more about the components of the New Teacher Academy visit the article by the NSDC: http://www.nsdc.org/library/publications/jsd/beerer234.cfm

Resources for New Teachers

New teachers across the state have begun making a home in communities and schools as they prepare to begin their careers as educators in the Fall. In addition, a large number of veteran teachers are relocating and establishing new homes, while become familiar with a new school. This offers a great opportunity for districts and cooperatives to assist teachers with the necessary resources to get settled and be ready for school to start in August. The Kansas Education Employment Board (KEEB) offers a number of resources that may be helpful for new educators to your community including links to such basic information as vehicle registration and driver's license registration. You can locate these links on the Kansas Resources page. In addition, many schools provide incoming teachers and staff with a list of realtors in the area, as well as information on utilities, banks, etc. Beyond your community resources, national and state assistance programs for teachers can be helpful to new staff. Bank of America offers mortgage assistance to teachers, which can prove helpful to beginning teachers in your district who are preparing to buy their first home. You can find more information on this program by clicking the link below.

Bank of America Mortgage Assistance Programs for Teachers

Teacher Flex: For school teachers, school administrators, librarians or health care professionals who lack established credit histories. Teacher Zero Down: For school teachers, school administrators, librarians or health care professionals who have a good established credit history but lack the funds to make a down payment. Click Here to Learn More About These Programs

As August fast approaches it is important to take some time and consider how new teachers are introduced to the community and the school district. While this information may be simple to provide, it can have a lasting first impression on the new teacher.