Engage in Civil Discourse. Find Common Ground. Learn more at TheLineK12.com

New Report: How Talent Data Can Drive Continuous Improvement in the Teacher Shortage Era

Employee Absences

Today’s school and district leaders are managing school districts in which the needs of an increasingly diverse student population are constantly evolving—and the supply of educators is dwindling. Put simply, these leaders need to serve more student needs with fewer of the key talent resources that make high-quality education possible. While federal education policy may set the guard rails for how states and districts respond to this squeeze, it’s ultimately the principals and administrators in each individual district who must craft the strategies that will work best for their students. And fewer teachers means that, perhaps now more than ever, those strategies must focus heavily on training, supporting, developing, and deploying teachers.

In other words, it is human capital management (HCM) that should rise to the top of the priority list when it comes to solving for more students—and student needs—and fewer teachers. But with limited time and financial resources, decision-makers must develop dependable ways of identifying the high leverage points in their HCM systems and directing the necessary resources to those areas to drive improvement.

Understanding where “high leverage” points may lie from among the many potential levers that a leader may pull first requires understanding what is already happening at each point along the pathway of an educator’s school district experience, from recruitment through evaluation and development. District leaders who want to evaluate their HCM strategies must begin by asking–and answering!–the right questions, and many districts have already seen the improvement that a holistic approach to HCM can bring (read their stories here).

Now a new report from the Frontline Research & Learning Institute delves into how talent data can drive continuous improvement in the teacher shortage era. Studying various HCM reform efforts from the last decade, the Institute has compiled a recommended set of KPIs across the entire HCM pathway to provide benchmarks that school and district leaders can use to make improvements that will result in better experiences for teachers—and better outcomes for students.

Key Takeways:

  • Because teachers and leaders have the highest in-school effects on student outcomes, talent-focused investments are vital to school success.
  • Successful changes to HCM strategy can’t be rushed: the consistency of a smart and steady approach can yield measurable improvement over time—and it must be robust to changing tides in policy and public opinion.
  • HCM metrics provide a framework for data that can be tracked at various intervals, setting a course for both long-term improvement and immediate gains.
  • From data on teacher absences, to recruiting and hiring, to professional learning management and employee evaluation management, these key metrics provide a data-driven framework for strategic decision-making.
  • While ESSA introduces a new era of federal policy, it doesn’t have to mean a departure from strategic improvements to HCM—in fact, ESSA criteria provide an opportunity to double down on the promises of HCM reforms of the past decade to fully realize their potential to drive continuous improvement.

Get the Full Report 

You may also be interested in:

K-12 Human Capital Management Maturity Map
How Far Along Is Your Journey?
Take the Free Assessment

Sarah SilvermanSarah Silverman

Dr. Sarah Silverman, Ph.D. is Vice President at Whiteboard Advisors where she advises on education, workforce and wellness policy. Her prior work includes managing the Pre-K-12 education portfolio at National Governors Association Education and consulting with states and districts on performance management and teacher evaluation policy reform at TNTP.