Teachers are the most important school-related factor with the greatest impact on student learning. Student success hinges upon a district’s ability to fill long- and short-term classroom vacancies throughout the school year in a timely manner, that is least disruptive to instruction. A teacher shortage felt in more than half of districts across the nation is also impacted by school choice that gives teachers more options for where they choose to work. Amid this environment, data-driven recruiting and hiring practices are increasing as districts strive to strategically position themselves amid a shrinking candidate pool.

While many districts feel the pains of a nationwide teacher shortage, there are some districts experiencing little impact. According to Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, and Carver-Thomas,

“Teacher shortages are not felt uniformly across all communities and classrooms.¹”

Human resources leaders using data-driven talent acquisition practices pivot the focus of their responsibilities from transactional daily operations to transformational problem-solving. This transition allows them to focus on key issues and proactively meet challenges with new practices and ways of thinking.

In Guilford County, North Carolina and Deerfield, Illinois, human resources leaders have created a competitive advantage for their districts in accelerating the recruiting and hiring of best-fit, high-quality candidates. Using actionable insights, these districts achieve excellence inside and outside the classroom.

From Traditional Human Resources to Strategic Human Resources

Principals in GCS are key players in the hiring process. Prior to transforming human resources practices, limited applicant information was shared with principals, and there was no method for human resources to collect desired data on applicants or the applicant process. This was mostly due to the constraints of an online application process versus an applicant tracking system. Under the strategic direction of the chief human resources officer and executive director of human resources, the district adopted an applicant tracking system as part of its process for recruiting and hiring and progressed from human resources to human capital management. This shift acknowledged people as critical assets in student learning and growth. The ability to collect and share information with real-time transparency met the needs of human resources leaders, principals and applicants.

Data as a Key Driver

With approximately 600 teachers hired annually, the small GCS Human Resources Department may focus on the best fit for each school based on background and experience. Today, recruiting and hiring information is available from step one to Guilford’s human resources team, district leaders, principals and applicants.

School districts often do not benefit from an analysis of human capital data because data is kept in different systems that don’t talk to each other. Human capital data should be strategically integrated into the continuous review of data aligned to student outcomes. With easy-to-access insights, Guilford leaders look at how they hired, the time it took to hire, who they hired, from where the hires came — and compare that to effectiveness. Human capital data continuously informs the district’s talent acquisition process.

Combining Forces

Human capital management does not work in a silo in Deerfield. Human resources leaders engage principals and other district leaders in the hiring process. Each Deerfield school has nuances of hiring and evaluation to match its specific needs, but all schools are aligned to the district’s framework. By using targeted screening assessments on the front end, time can be reinvested to focus leaders for finding the best fit for the position.

Recruiting and hiring data drive the goal-setting process for new hires in the district. This requires ongoing collaboration with other departments including curriculum and instruction. While the human resources department manages evaluation, the focus districtwide is on reflection and growth at both a staff and individual level. In this spirit, new hire data informs professional growth goals and the evaluation cycle is driven by feedback and reflection.

“In our quest to find the best candidate, we look to find time we can reinvest.”
Dale Fisher, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Deerfield Public Schools District 109

To strengthen the evaluation cycle, the district strategically revamped evaluation timing from a fall-to-spring model to a spring-to-spring model. Deerfield believes evaluation should not get in the way of growth. A spring-to-spring cycle aligns to a year-over-year goal-setting and feedback cycle. As part of a future study, the district is looking to triangulate data from screening assessments, evaluation results and student growth.

One of Deerfield’s greatest strengths is the culture of reflection. Reflection on data is integral to identify what constitutes success or failure. Is our process doing what we hoped it would do? Is the result related to tools and/or practices? How do we know? Reflective questions drive reflective conversation. District teams must commit to the reflection and analysis of data, tools, and practice, in an effort to generate new ways of thinking to address challenges on the horizon. Data-driven talent acquisition practices will continue to evolve, especially with the emergence of advanced technologies that provide actionable insights to support data-driven decision making across district departments.

Building a bridge with curriculum and instruction provides ongoing support and development for individuals and groups across the district that support teacher retention. Retention data conversely informs recruitment, hiring, and professional growth efforts in a strategic, collaborative and reflective cycle of continuous improvement. It’s about connecting the entire talent ecosystem vis-à-vis a people-centered, systems approach.