SubGuide - An Online Guide to Managing Substitute Teachers

More Tools & Resources

More information for implementing the best tools and best practices to help you effectively recruit, train and retain professional substitute teachers:

New To Managing Substitute Teachers?

If you are new to substitute teacher management, below you will find a comprehensive guide to the three major aspects of substitute teacher management:

Recruiting
Training
Retaining

Each section has an overview and links to articles published in the SubJournal: the professional substitute teacher management journal containing best practices in substitute teacher management written by experts in the field.

Preface

This section is a source to be used by HR personnel when working with issues related to substitute teacher management. From recruiting and retention, to legal issues and training the SubGuide provides insightful and useful information (often taken from research) for both novice and experienced SubManagers. You may visit the SubGuide as often as you like. As you visit, read, and reflect on its contents, the more you will come to discover solutions to issues and concerns related to establishing a successful substitute teacher management program.

Introduction
Recruitment
Screening
Training
Evaluation
Retention
Teacher Absenteeism

Introduction

The initial content of the SubGuide was initiated in 1999 and focused on Best Practices in Managing Substitute Teaching. Over time, some issues related to "best practices" have become more critical, some have disappeared, while others continue to act as thorns beneath the skin; proving difficult to resolve. Districts that have been successful in establishing valuable practices have devoted the necessary time, money, and personnel in a plan of action and have not allowed themselves to be stonewalled.

Although substitute teacher quality was not addressed in the No Child Left Behind legislation, its importance in the educating children cannot be ignored. Particularly when over one full year of every child's K12 education is taught by substitute teachers. Valuable classroom time cannot be wasted with instruction that is inadequate or where the instructor is merely "babysitting." All instructional personnel must demonstrate that they possess the skills and knowledge necessary to warrant their employment. When improvement is deemed necessary, opportunities to improve skills through training must be made available. The goals, objectives, content, and expectations for student achievement and learning cannot be compromised because a substitute is teaching a class. We should never accept the mentality that a substitute teacher is just "holding down the fort."

By carefully studying and implementing the information contained in the SubGuide, districts can maximize the quantity, quality, and effectiveness of the substitute teachers serving in their districts. Information on how some school districts have developed programs of substitute teacher management that address specific concerns can be found in the following articles:

Recruiting Substitute Teachers

Recruiting a staff of qualified substitute teachers can become a daunting task at times. If attention toward recruitment practices and strategies is weak, then the number and quality of the individuals required will miss the mark. Making sure a school district has a sufficient number of available and trained substitute teachers will ensure that schools are fully staffed. Avoid the pitfall that assumes raising pay will solve a shortage of substitute teachers. Studies have shown that administrators see pay as the number one incentive that draws substitutes to an area, but that substitutes view pay rates as second to both training and recognition for their work (Sorenson, 2001). For more information on how training can be used as an effective recruitment and retention tool, see the Training section of this SubGuide. The following articles address recruitment concerns and issues:

Screening Substitute Teachers

Screening can be a very useful process to ensure that potential employees meet state and district requirements. Screening is a worthwhile tool and so we must ask ourselves this question - since screening involves both man power and time, do we have the necessary resources to commit? Every reasonable precaution should be taken to ensure that students are not placed in harmful situations or with an unqualified person. The screening process ought to be more than submitting fingerprints and a criminal background check. Screening provides administrators with the opportunity to assess an applicant’s ability to function as a professional teacher in the classroom. The shortage of teachers throughout the nation cannot be blamed for, nor accepted as a reason for, placing "unqualified substitute teachers in classrooms" (Kakkuri, 2000). By utilizing screening, classrooms can be staffed with a qualified professional each day of the week. The following articles are relevant to screening concerns and issues:

Training Substitute Teachers

Training is fundamental to a district’s ability to create a dynamic substitute teacher pool. It is a viable tool for both recruitment and retention. Put simply, trained individuals are more willing to substitute teach and less likely to find new employment. Districts often fail to meet the long-term needs of their substitute teachers because substitutes are seen as temporary or fill-in teachers. Training helps to meet these long-term needs and fulfill a substitute’s need to be seen as something more than a temporary fix in the school or district. Further, any worthy investment in substitute teacher training benefits both the students and the substitutes. Continual instruction focusing on the best teaching techniques creates strong educators who enter a classroom enthusiastically and are prepared to teach under any set of circumstances.

Requiring substitute teacher to take training is the most effective method to improve your substitute teaching program within your district. Substitute teachers are more prepared to enter the classroom on the first day and tend to stay longer than those who receive little or no training.

Although learning can be accidental, training seldom is. With a little investigation and preparation, a meritorious training program can be arranged for substitute teachers; and it does not need to be expensive or complicated. For tips and information on how training can and has helped in recruiting and retaining substitute teachers, refer to the following articles:

Evaluating Substitute Teachers

Do we or don't we? Should substitutes receive a formal evaluation? No matter what your individual position is, educators agree that feedback concerning the teaching of substitute teachers is desired and can be valuable. Evaluation provides substitutes with the ability to give and receive feedback regarding their teaching experiences. If substitute teachers were evaluated more often, their performance would most likely improve because of the suggestions and feedback received from the evaluator. When substitutes learn to evaluate their own performance, accept suggestions for improvement, and recognize changes that must occur to improve their teaching skills, they are on the path to becoming better teachers and valuable assets to a district. "Substitute teachers cannot become effective if they are not aware they are ineffective" (Ramirez, 1996). For more information concerning evaluation see the following articles:

Retaining Substitute Teachers

In today's job market school districts need to continually upgrade and be proactive in maintaining an adequate pool of substitute teachers. Districts that retain substitute teachers have recognized substitutes as valuable to the district. They have provided substitutes with good working environments, included them in professional development opportunities and training, and in Teacher Appreciation Subweek.

One district indicated that the factor that had the largest impact on substitute teacher retention was training. Training proves to be essential to retention. A myth exists that substitutes often leave school districts because of low wages. Research conducted by the Substitute Teaching Institute at Utah State University revealed that the number one reason substitutes are leaving is because of how they are treated, not the dollar amount tied to their services. The second reason for substitutes' leaving "is their inability to manage classroom behavior" (Sorenson, 2001). The following articles deal with retention:

Teacher Absenteeism

The driving force behind substitute teacher demand has become teacher absenteeism. With the advent of increased state teacher workshops related to curriculum development, district planning responsibilities, national conference attendance, and regular absent requests, more and more teachers are frequently out of the classroom. It has been found that when the regular classroom teacher is excessively absent from the classroom, the achievement and performance of students suffers and the consistency of the classroom environment is disrupted (Smith, 2001). SubManagers can combat the effects that teacher absenteeism has on student learning. To better understand how to reduce teacher absenteeism and its effects read: