The Region 8 Comprehensive Center collaborated with the Indiana Department of Education to evaluate the obstacles many districts face in the teacher hiring process. The brief further discusses the importance of hiring timelines, benefits and barriers of early hiring, and recommendations and strategies for revising hiring timelines.

Since districts are often competing with each other and other higher-paying professions for new hires, it is imperative to consider ways to better engage and appeal to candidates. For human resource (HR) professionals and administrators to improve their efforts, they need to know how to cultivate effective relationships with potential new hires.…

Michigan's public school districts are government entities that occasionally use private contractors to provide them with support services. The 2018 privatization survey found that 70.5 percent of Michigan's school districts -- 380 of the 539 districts in the state -- contract out for food, custodial or transportation services. This is a slight…

Educator talent has long been a challenge in Michigan's highest poverty districts and districts serving high percentages of Black and Brown students. These districts have confronted enduring challenges in recruiting, retaining, and compensating highly effective and diverse educators, and this is reflected in outcomes such as teacher turnover…

This report examines the ongoing effort to revamp teacher evaluations. After collecting and synthesizing data from 17 states and the District of Columbia, it provides five major lessons for policymakers. New evaluation systems are just one part of sweeping changes in American schools. Because the number and extent of these changes are daunting,…

The nation's teacher education programs are not producing the quantity or quality of teachers needed, particularly in needed subjects. The only way to ensure a strong enough pipeline of effective teachers to ensure equitable access is to dramatically increase how states are preparing prospective educators. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship…

In the wake of the economic downturn that began in 2008, public schools face serious and seemingly long-term fiscal challenges. Rising pension costs are a particular concern for school districts, whose dollars help prop up state retirement plans that often have substantial unfunded liabilities. Yet public school districts have no alternatives;…

Are most charter schools more racially segregated than traditional public schools (TPS)? How do local circumstances affect the degree to which charter schools are more racially segregated or diverse than TPSs? As the charter school movement in Michigan and nationwide gains popularity, these questions have become important policy issues. In order…

The purpose of this publication is to focus attention upon a rapidly growing development in public school administration--the increasing interest in personnel administration as a process which can be identified through a description of certain formal functions which every school district must perform. The existence of adequate personnel policies…

This manual provides step-by-step strategies and materials for recruiting and retaining minority students in secondary and postsecondary vocational education programs. Particular emphasis is placed on recruiting for training, education, and placement in high-growth, emerging occupations and on providing equal access to all vocational and technical…