By Tyler McCord
Arizona School Partnerships, Swing Education
Like many states across the country, Arizona is facing both a teacher shortage and a substitute teacher shortage.
Our team at Swing Education has seen the impact of these staffing shortages firsthand: Several individuals on our staff came to Swing from charter schools, and we have daily conversations with current charter leaders about challenges posed by these shortages.
While there’s no single silver bullet solution to eliminating shortage-related issues like combined classes, teachers giving up prep periods, and administrators covering for absent teachers, there are steps schools can take to mitigate their effects. And the summer is a great time to make significant progress.
Get Ahead on Planning
The summer is a logical time for charter school leaders to review teacher absence data from the previous academic year(s). You can use this information to guide scheduling decisions for training/PD days — you’d want to avoid periods where your sites have had particularly low fill rates. (Low fill rates can often be attributed to a spike in teacher absences, a reduction in substitute teacher availability, or a combination of the two factors.)
Some trends in the data might be pretty intuitive — more teachers and substitute teachers tend to be out on Mondays and Fridays and before a big break, for example, so it’s best not to plan anything that will take your permanent teachers out of their classrooms during those times.
But, interestingly, we’ve learned that some schools see a drop in fill rate during certain times of the year when there are more work opportunities in the community. (A substitute might opt for these opportunities instead of supporting your school site.)
Bottom line — there are a lot of factors, some obvious and some not, that contribute to teacher absences and fill rate, and historical data is a great way to understand the ebbs and flows of the academic calendar.
Account for New Hires
Ideally, you’d have your full teaching staff in place for the 2019-2020 academic year heading into the summer. But as we all know, that isn’t always possible — especially with the current staffing shortages.
Summer hires will likely need continued PD/support into the school year. If possible, consider lining up a substitute teacher for at least the first few weeks of the academic year to ensure the permanent hire has the flexibility to get the training they need. (A roving substitute teacher may be an ideal fit if you run a network of charters.)
This will also provide peace of mind and practical coverage in the event that you aren’t able to hire the right permanent teacher by the start of the school year.
(An organization like Swing Education that offers a pay-per-use pricing model and connects schools with a large pool of local subs can be an efficient, budget-friendly way to ensure coverage.)
Create A Sub-Friendly Culture
The substitute teacher shortage has created an environment where there’s high demand for quality subs. For that reason among others, substitute teachers have a lot more options today than they did a decade ago.
And while compensation will always be an important factor in attracting subs to your school sites, it’s not the only factor. At Swing Education, we work with thousands of substitute teachers across the country. They consistently cite feeling appreciated and supported among the most important and impactful parts of their experience — and whether they decide to return to a particular school site.
Consider taking advantage of the summer to develop/improve a sub-friendly culture with your site leaders:
● Develop/update protocol for permanent teachers to leave sub plans (and backup sub plans that are always ready in the case of a last-minute absence)
● Build/update sub folders that include a map of the school as well as any school-wide procedures (dress code, attendance, behavior systems, etc.)
● Communicate to your front-office staff and site leaders the importance of a simple “thank you” to the substitute teacher
● Create a feedback loop that makes your subs feel heard. Consider developing (or asking your site leaders to create) a simple form with the following questions that you ask subs to fill out at the end of the day:
● How were you treated at school?
● How was your day?
● Tell us what we could do better to support you
Prepare for AzMERIT
Although it might not be your top summer priority, it’s never too early to start planning for assessment season. In recent years, some of our school partners have successfully implemented a staffing plan to reduce stress and classroom interruption stemming from assessments like AzMERIT.
We’ve found it helpful for schools to identify and bring in a small group of volunteer parents or substitute teachers either late in the summer or early in the school year for a day-long training on administering assessments.
The combination of a) pre-assessment training and b) using the same volunteers/substitute teachers to administer all assessments makes the process much easier for students, administrators, and permanent teachers.
About Swing Education:
Founded in 2015, Swing Education addresses the nationwide substitute teacher shortage by helping schools connect with qualified educators via an easy-to-use, web-based marketplace. It counts numerous former charter leaders, including a tech director, operations director, and principal, among its leadership team. The company’s diverse pool of substitute teachers consists of both veteran educators and those who are entering into the education community through Swing Education. To date, the company has helped more than 1,500 school partners fill 100,000+ teacher absences. Visit our website to learn more about how Swing Education serves charter schools in Arizona and across the country.
