Teachers of color are likely to know other qualified candidates of color through social networks and can forward contact information to the human resources department.

• Encourage staff to refer potential teacher candidates to human resources.
• Offer a referral bonus if the referred candidate is hired.
• Set a target goal for a desired number of referrals and share it with staff; provide periodic updates on the progress towards the goal.
• Follow up with referred candidates as quickly as possible.

Referral Rewards Yield Big Results

Denver Public Schools Employee Referral Program

• KIPP NYC: The program has enabled KIPP NYC to quickly fill vacancies with qualified candidates. In 2016, there were 280 referrals for 63 teaching positions. Ultimately, 33 referred candidates were hired to fill 52% of the open teaching positions.
• Uncommon Schools: Employee referrals account for a larger percentage of new hires than any other recruitment strategy.

The most qualified teaching candidates receive and accept job offers early in the hiring season. Therefore, districts should consider posting teaching vacancies, interviewing and extending offers as early in the hiring season (February/March) as possible.

A study done by the Indiana Department of Education found that 60% of teachers hired from March to May were “highly effective” compared to 40% of those hired later in the hiring season. (NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

• Post and fill teaching vacancies for the next school year early in the calendar year.

Connecticut REAP

Potential educators of color can face high financial costs when obtaining a degree and certification, especially if they are unable to simultaneously work full time.

• Design residency program curricula to prepare educators to teach in high need schools.
• Utilize the Durational Shortage Area Permit (DSAP) for eligible candidates to be a teacher of record while enrolled in a teacher preparation program.
• Highlight the benefits of participating in a teacher residency program (such as Teach for America) and earn a salary while enrolled.

NYC Teaching Fellows

Teach For America Connecticut

Relay GSE

• The cohort of fellows in summer 2016 included 66% candidates of color.
• To date, over 18,000 fellows have been trained.
• One in five NYC math, science, and special education teachers are New York City Teaching Fellows.
• More than 9,000 fellows teach high-needs subjects in New York City classrooms.
• 619 former fellows are currently principals, assistant principals, or other instructional administrators.

Connecting teachers of color to resources and local affinity groups can help to build relationships with other educators.

• Develop knowledge of and relationships with local service providers and affinity groups.
• Create a support plan for teacher candidates to include social and community networks as well as faith-based organizations.

Connecticut Housing and Finance Authority Mortgage Assistance Programs for Teachers

Workplace Support and Diversity in the Market for Public School Teachers

Hiring and Retaining Teachers of Color

Graduating students of color are in high demand across the country; it is ideal to keep Connecticut-trained teachers in Connecticut classrooms.

• Invest time in creating structured agreements between school districts and EPPs for job interviews and/or offers to candidates in existing Grow Your Own and Pathways to Teaching programs.

Partnering on Prep: A Toolkit for Building Strong District-Teacher Preparation Program Partnerships

CEEDAR Center: CT Resources

Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States (CT)

The promise of a higher salary can make teaching in a high-poverty district more attractive to teachers of color.

• Incentivize candidates to choose hard-to-staff schools within high-poverty districts, especially where those districts are surrounded by higher paying, low-poverty districts.

How are Districts and States Using Pay to Staff High-Need Schools and Subjects?

If human resources departments know which hiring strategies historically yield the most racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse candidates, they can focus energies on enhancing those strategies. This can ultimately help HR Departments strategically utilize limited resources.

• Keep accurate data on each applicant.
• Utilize data management and analysis skills to track yields from different recruitment strategies.
• Use data collection from one year to inform recruitment practices for future years.

EdSight: CT State Department of Education Data Portal

CT PA 18-34 (Section 7) Developing and Implementing a Minority Teacher Recruitment Plan

National Center for Education Statistics

Relationship building is an asset in recruiting teacher candidates, particularly those who are highly sought by other states and districts.

• Design HR job positions so that team members are assigned a cohort of applicants to help them navigate the hiring process.
• Develop an application process that facilitates learning about candidates and connecting them with the appropriate resources to ensure a smooth transition (housing support, connection to affinity groups, etc.).

TEACHSTRONG Policy Proposal Principle1: Identify and Recruit More Teacher Candidates with a Deliberate Emphasis on Diversifying the Workforce

Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse, High-Quality Workforce

Human resources departments can increase the number of touch points for initial contacts they receive for quality applicants by tapping into the networks of teacher candidates.

• Empower multiple stakeholders to think of themselves as “recruiters” for schools and districts.
• Track and analyze data on which touch points are most successful in order to best allocate resources in future years.
• Expand the use of sources such as employee networks, social media platforms, university career services, local affinity groups, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and international partnerships.

Connecticut Troops to Teachers

Social Media Tops Print as News Source

Education Week, To Connect With Candidates, School Recruiters Hone Social Media Skills

• The goal is to attract at least twenty service members per year to pursue a teacher education program.

• The graduating senior was hired as a first-year teacher in Washington Township for the 2016 - 2017 school year.

Candidates of color are less likely to be overlooked in the hiring process if hiring committees are proactive in examining their own potential for racial bias.

• Provide implicit bias and diversity training, particularly for staff who serve on hiring committees.
• Include interview questions that relate to a candidates’ cultural competence.
• Require hiring committees to provide written explanations for why they are or are not recommending each candidate for hire in an effort to uncover implicit bias.

CSDE Portal: Diversifying the Educator Workforce

Unrealized Impact: The Case for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Teacher Pipeline: Recruiting and Hiring Practices that Worsen the Teacher Shortage

Written in Black & White: Exploring Confirmation Bias in Racialized Perceptions of Writing Skills

Meta-analysis of Field Experiments Shows No Change in Racial Discrimination in Hiring Over Time

Harvard University's Implicit Association Test (free online self-assessment)

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack (Peggy McIntosh)

Educators of color often cite moral and values-based reasons for wanting to teach. Testimonials indicate an interest in a teaching career as an opportunity to not only serve their communities but to act as change agents.

• Highlight testimonials/experiences of current teachers in marketing materials.
• Clearly articulate the mission and vision of the district/school with an emphasis on diversifying the educator workforce.
• Utilize social media platforms to reach a wider audience.

TEACHConnecticut.org

Through Our Eyes: Perspectives and Reflections from Black Teachers

• Promote the teaching profession by highlighting the work of current teachers
• Explicitly showcase the need for a more diverse educator workforce
• Provide information about multiple pathways to becoming a teacher

As of March 2019, TEACH Connecticut has partnered with 15 educator preparation programs and 66 school districts. Most partners have descriptive profiles on the site for users to gain a deeper understanding of pathways to certification and the variety of educational communities available for teachers to serve Connecticut's students.