Going Beyond Donuts: District and School Leaders’ Efforts to Recruit and Retain Educators

• In Event: Strategic and Efficient School Staffing

Abstract

Across contexts and over multiple years, educator churn has been a major challenge for districts and schools. In particular, there are issues for recruiting and retaining teachers and staff to serve in persistently under-resourced and under-performing schools. This paper explains how district and school leaders in Michigan designed and implemented systems and strategies to support educator recruitment and retention. As part of a broader study of the implementation of the state’s turnaround policy, we collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data in 2022-23 and 2023-24 on human capital issues within 47 turnaround districts. We present results from quantitative survey and school improvement plan data to delineate the nature of human capital issues across the state’s turnaround schools. And we draw on case study data from repeated interviews with 16 system leaders and 9 school leaders across two years to characterize their activities seeking to improve human capital issues within turnaround schools.

Our survey data show a two-pronged approach to teacher recruitment and retention. At the district-level, principals reported the use of salary increases as well as sign-on bonuses, and increasing use of grow-your-own programs as well as increased attention to the recruitment pipeline from colleges of education. At the school-level, principals focused on working conditions for teachers, specifically in terms of offering professional development and increasing teacher voice in school-level decision-making. We are currently in the midst of survey data collection for 2023-24, but our analysis of these data will illustrate the extent to which districts increased their focus on those various strategies.

Our analysis of school improvement plans emphasize the high importance districts placed on hiring, yet they also revealed somewhat limited attention to specific plans to improve recruitment and retention. Almost every district included new hiring as part of their improvement plans. Yet, only a quarter of districts included a specific goal related to improving recruitment and retention. Of those with “human capital” goals, most planned generally to develop a more effective hiring process, with some specific plans for grow-your-own initiatives and recruitment/retention bonuses.

Our qualitative results corroborated that district leaders used varied strategies to recruit and retain teachers and staff, ranging from sign-on bonuses, to competitive salaries in their area, to marketing professional development opportunities. Leaders’ strategies were shaped by structural and contextual features, including funding, district size, and district location. Notably, many leaders reported receiving limited support or guidance on how to address human capital issues. We also shed light on school leaders’ activities to retain teachers and staff. These range from ensuring teachers receive preparation periods, to jeans-day Friday, to professional learning opportunities in varied modalities such as coaching and webinars.

This paper has implications for policy and leadership. State educational leaders should analyze and improve professional supports and learning opportunities for district leaders on human capital. In turn, district leaders should provide an array of supports to school leaders so that they are better equipped to engage in activities which improve working conditions and promote teacher retention.

Authors

• Sarah L. Woulfin, University of Texas at Austin

• Lizeth I. Lizarraga, University of Texas at Austin

• Jeremy L. Singer, University of Michigan-Flint