This publication is designed to provide schools and school districts with help in addressing the challenge of recruiting and retaining excellent substitute teachers. It includes information on a variety of school district approaches to hiring, compensating, and supporting substitute teachers. Districts that provide training in classroom management…

An efficient way to help students achieve academically is to maximize the consistent attendance of permanent teachers in the classroom. Students nationwide are spending increased amounts of time with instructors other than their permanent teachers. A large contributor to the problem of teacher absenteeism is mandatory leave for professional…

Argues that when teachers take time away from the classroom for workshops, teacher meetings and similar activities, students suffer. Adds that taking time away from the classroom for school improvement tasks is counterproductive. Suggests that rethinking the school calendar is a way to minimize disruption, and offers several possible scenarios.…

The Chicago Panel on Public School Finances undertook this study to look at the financial aspects of teacher absences and substitute coverage. The study sought to discover: (1) the facts about teachers' absences and coverage by substitutes; (2) the financial costs of current policy and practice in this area; (3) the effects of current teacher…

Discusses the problems of hiring substitutes and Ellington High School's (Connecticut) plan to deal with the problem: relieve teachers of supervisory duties, assign them to resource rooms organized around a particular academic discipline, and utilize these teachers as substitutes in their area of discipline when the need arises. (LC)

This report develops proposals for improving teacher attendance, reducing expenditures for the use of substitute teachers, and for developing alternatives to hiring substitute teachers in New York City. The study was undertaken in order to find ways to reduce the magnitude of substitute teacher costs. The report identifies the types and rates of…

Research supports the notion that substitute teachers generally are ineffective. This study examines whether trained substitutes can be as effective as assigned teachers in teaching students with behavior disorders. Findings showed that substitutes with intensive inservice training in behavior management were equally effective for one-day…

This overview of substitute teaching in K-12 schools looks at why substitutes are needed, factors that attract individuals to the work, and what school administrators can do to facilitate good substitute teaching. While schools continue to utilize substitutes for traditional reasons such as personal or family illness or emergency, the school…

Many recent studies have revealed a dramatic increase in teacher absenteeism. Some findings indicate that absenteeism increases following collective bargaining agreements that provide a set number of days that employees may be compensated for illness. There appears to be a growing public reaction to such absenteeism. A New York study noted that…

This news brief presents information on managing substitute teaching. The information is based on issues discussed at a summit meeting which included public school administrators and personnel directors from around the nation. The main topics of concern focused around four core components related to the management of substitute teaching:…

Over the course of their kindergarten through twelfth grade education, children in American public schools will spend the equivalent of one school year under the guidance of a substitute teacher. Yet in most districts, substitutes are given the keys to the classroom without a day's training. While requirements vary by state, some may hold advanced…

This 15-minute videotape offers a motivational staff development program for teachers. Four segments focus on: (1) preparing for the teacher's absence (e.g., knowing the school's policy and protocol, preparing a safety kit for the substitute teacher, and keeping a box of learning materials available for the substitute); (2) effective learning…

Examines policies and procedures concerning substitute teachers in public schools in the 19-state area encompassed by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (MH)

This report details the work done in two New Jersey school districts to reduce the frequency and magnitude of professional illness absence. It deals with the circumstances of this improvement as well as with the philosophy and the new methods and procedures adopted and followed. The history of the state sick leave policy is traced from 1895 to the…

Unavoidable absences of both students and teachers in college preparatory math classes adversely affected achievement and produced academic frustration in a moderately affluent urban high school. In order to reduce the frustration level and to promote continuity and meaningful activity on teacher absence days, videotaped reviews of material…