It’s never been harder for independent schools to staff administrators and teachers, especially in STEM. The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning estimates that one third of the teaching force is nearing retirement and California will need an additional 100,000 teachers over the next decade. The Science Teacher shortage is even more severe and brings its own challenges.
It's clear that now is the time for schools to evaluate and adjust their basic hiring practices to meet the needs of the virtual schoolhouse. CalWest suggests these steps to ensuring that your school's foundational hiring practices are solid during the age of COVID-19 and beyond: Require all hiring teams to train on how to review resumes without bias Develop a candidate profile of what a successful teacher looks like at your school Develop a school-wide interview rubric that aligns with your mission, values, pedagogy Incorporate behavioral interviews based on scenario planning into the rubric Confirm school-year teacher evaluation intervals before hiring Develop an outline of critical formal and informal culture practices that your school cares about and share during an interview