One of the most pressing problems facing school leaders and education communities today is a growing number of holes in the teacher pipeline. This shortage has become an increasingly large issue in recent years, and affects school districts across the country.
While it is difficult enough to ensure that a school will be fully-staffed with capable, competent teachers, finding last-minute substitute teachers can be even more of a challenge. In fact, according to Nathan Burrows, a senior research associate at Michigan State University, “The substitute teacher problem is the first area where you’re seeing an emerging crisis in staffing.”
This past year of learning losses due to Covid-19 and an increased normalization of virtual learning has led to an even shorter supply of people ready and willing to revisit the classroom.
Because this problem is inevitably something that nearly everyone in a leadership role in the education industry will come into contact with, we thought it would be helpful to map out how taking advantage of smart technology can help to fill these gaps.
At Help On Demand, we’re no strangers to connecting people quickly to the parties that can solve their problems. We have worked to understand our clients, where they’re coming from and what’s important to them. Below are some of the ways technology can alleviate the most common pain points of academia’s leaders:
Breaking the Pattern
Historically, certain districts and schools have been tragically underserved based on location, population, or simply circumstance. And more often than not, the most underserved and least resource-rich districts are the ones that lose out. The good news is, we’ve evolved technology to not only have the ability to connect you to relevant matches in your area who can fill your needs quickly, but the ability to do that in any area – yes, even those that have been traditionally underserved. That means increased productivity, less stress and the peace of mind that comes from knowing your students won’t suffer from sub-par or unenthusiastic last-minute substitutes.
Meeting (and Exceeding) Expectations
We value ease and efficiency in so many aspects of our society. Rideshare technology, food delivery apps, same-day shipping… the list goes on. But all of those things are material. Why do we not have the same expectations for the important things in life? Using short-term coping mechanisms like temporary staffing services to fill the gaps isn’t going to fix the problem, merely put a Band-Aid on it. Tested technology exists that can filter qualified candidates to you in just seconds. Imagine how great it would feel to get a few more minutes of sleep in the morning instead of trying to track down an underprepared, unprofessional replacement for that rambunctious group of second graders before school starts at 8:00am.
Timely Implementation
Fully integrating our Classic product system can take as little as 30 days, which means you can be fully prepared for flu season – and provide you with an out-of-the-box system configuration and access to 50 locally available Expert Users.
If you want to be prepared for the coming school year, start by getting some help covering teacher absences. Get in touch with us today, and thank yourself later!
