Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act: Implications for Rural Schools and Districts
Examples of Effective Strategies for Recruiting and Training Teachers
The following programs provide examples of effective strategies for recruiting and training teachers.
- The Pathways to Teaching Careers Program includes various components focused on attracting and retaining teachers to hard-to-staff schools and subject areas. One component of the program focuses on identifying and recruiting paraprofessionals and noncertified teachers currently working in public schools. Scholarships and other support services are provided to candidates to help them obtain a bachelor's or master's degree as well as meet requirements for full state certification (Clewell & Villegas, 2001). Pathways also targets returning Peace Corps volunteers. Qualified candidates are placed in full-time salaried positions in urban and rural school districts and are given a two-year graduate level program leading to a teaching certificate and a master's degree. Those who complete the program are likely to teach in high-need schools and subject areas and are more likely than other beginning teachers to remain in teaching after three years (Clewell & Villegas, 2001).
- New York's Teachers of Tomorrow program was allotted $25 million dollars to provide the following to teachers willing to teach in shortage areas: annual bonuses; certification stipends; Summer in the City internship program; New York Master Teacher program; tuition reimbursement; and summer teacher training program.
- California's Teaching as a Priority program includes incentives available to all credentialed teachers and additional benefits and incentives for teachers who agree to serve in schools in need of improvement. These additional incentives include $20,000 toward tuition and living expenses for enrolling in a teacher preparation program; loan forgiveness up to $19,000; housing incentives; and additional bonuses for National Board Certified Teachers.
Note: While both of these programs are promising state-level strategies for attracting and retaining qualified teachers, neither specifically addresses rural areas. New York's Teachers of Tomorrow program is focused primarily on the "Big Five" cities of New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers. California's system focused solely on schools in need of improvement, but due to budget reductions, its initiative has been suspended. Both of these initiatives provide promising strategies for addressing teacher shortages in hard-to-staff schools. However, because rural schools face unique obstacles in attracting and retaining teachers, it is crucial that state-level initiatives specifically target rural schools.
