Collaborating to Recruit and Retain Diverse Teachers

The three districts and CSU will jointly recruit career changers from their own communities and beyond to be placed for their year-long internship in each district with the goal of being hired the following year. The focus is to attract diverse candidates who are familiar with the school district and communities, and have a desire to teach in those communities. In order to target the recruitment to right audience and design a successful marketing strategy, and advisory board will be formed that includes a representative from each of the participating school districts and the coordinator of the MUST program from CSU.   The board will meet at least 3 times throughout the duration of the grant to identify the specific recruitment needs of the district and the appropriate marketing strategies as well share updates on the progress of the recruitment. The MUST program is one of the fastest options for licensure for career changers and offers licensure in high need areas such as Special Education and STEM fields. MUST, the TEL program and the three districts will be highlighted in the marketing strategies employed throughout the duration of the grant.

Following the recruitment of the candidates, the school districts and CSU will provide support and mentoring during the yearlong residency to promote the success of the candidate in the classroom and further into the hiring process for the following year. CSU and MUST have established relationships with these school districts.  The school districts have welcomed students for multiple levels of field experience and have also hired many graduates of the MUST program and CSU as classroom teachers. These steps will be followed to implement these strategies.

1. Form the advisory board.
2. Identify the hiring needs of each district.
3. Identify the appropriate marketing strategy to attract career changers to careers in teaching and particularly to teaching in the 3 districts identified in this grant.
4. Implement the marketing strategy across multiple months, including radio ads, RTA bus ads, posters, flyers, and social media.
5. As an advisory board, evaluate the marketing campaign and make needed adjustments.
6. Invite interested candidates to the CSU campus for individual interviews and an Information Session.
7. Provide support to the candidate with MUST entrance requirements, placement for the yearlong residency, and TEL program options.
8. Continue support via mentoring to create interest and opportunities for the hiring process throughout the grant and beyond the end of the grant to ensure the sustainability of the enrollment program and hiring process.