It’s no secret that finding and hiring teaching talent is one of the biggest challenges schools and districts face.
My school, Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School (HSCS) in the Bronx, has experienced this first hand.
Over the past four years, our school has grown into a full-service 6-12 middle and high school, serving students and families in the South Bronx. During that time, we’ve almost tripled our staff size, hiring more than 20 teachers per year.
During the past year, we completely revamped our hiring procedures to make the process of assessing and recruiting great teachers much more seamless. With these changes, we’ve reduced the time it takes to hire candidates and improved the quality of the candidates we hire.
Here are some of the best practices we’ve learned along the way.
(Next page: Tips for streamlining your school or district’s hiring process)
About the Author:
Leah Weiser is a teacher at Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School. She teaches 9th grade Algebra I and also leads the school’s high school math department. During the 2016-2017 school year, she was tasked with redesigning and managing the school’s hiring processes in partnership with the school principal.
