What’s worked for the Marines:
Recruitment focuses on young men and women ages 17 to 24, Hayes says, but other key targets include parents and ex-Marines interested in re-enlisting. The Corps has 3,050 recruiters dispersed nationwide, along with 48 recruiting stations. There’s no obscuring the facts of enlistment, Hayes says; recruiters openly discuss the rigors of training and the likelihood that enlistees will be deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or a similarly dangerous part of the world.
Anticipating parental concerns, a parents’ guide on www.our.marines.com (also in Spanish) emphasizes the transformation of sons and daughters into self-reliant “quality citizens” who can later launch successful careers in civilian life. The guide also provides discussion points for families and showcases benefits such as free housing, health care, education, and 30 days’ paid vacation. In addition, parents can order free materials such as a DVD featuring footage of parents of Marines.
“Be like me” recruitment is integral to these efforts. The notion of the power of one takes on greater significance when the work is as famously hard-core as the Marines. “It’s Marines recruiting Marines,” Hayes says. Recruiting officers speak to their own life-changing experiences among the few and proud, and profiles on www.our.marines.com (including a user-generated “share your story” feature) present dozens of personal accounts from current and former Marines.
New media outreach is becoming increasingly integral. “We keep up with the times,” Hayes says. For example, the Corps advertises on MySpace; “you can be a friend of the Marine Corps if you take in all the core values,” he says. Televised appearances at sporting events and community development projects reach huge groups of young people, and recruiting commercials showcase the Corps’ use of technology. Most are viewable on www.our.marines.com.
TEACHING’S CLASSROOM BREAKTHROUGH
Teaching shortages and recruiting strategies are locally driven, and a comprehensive look at the profession’s attempts to bring more dynamic leaders into the classroom would require an army of reporters deployed to hundreds of school districts. The big picture, however, is that teaching is getting a cool new sheen thanks to various initiatives aimed at improving the profession’s image, the quality and training of teachers, and the actual classroom experience.
Scope of challenge: Soaring student enrollments and high turnover contribute to chronic teacher shortages. State education departments expected to need 62,000 new teachers in the 2004-05 school year, bringing the total to more than 3.1 million. Every year, 16% of teaching positions turn over and nearly 8% of teachers retire from or otherwise leave the profession. (Source: National Education Association.)
Math and science teachers are especially needed: 59% of public secondary schools reported vacancies in math teaching positions in 2003-04, according to the National Science Board.
Image problems: This may sound familiar to remodelers lamenting the good old days of society actually looking up to skilled tradespeople: “Once regarded as a noble profession, teaching is now too often seen as a thankless career pursued only by those who have no other options,” according to an NEA report on teacher recruitment and retention strategies. Specific sources of this perception include media coverage about overcrowded, underfunded, and/or dangerous schools; underfunded testing mandates; and compensation that actually declined, adjusting for inflation, in 28 states in the decade starting 1994-95, the NEA says.
What’s worked for teaching: One of the most dramatic developments has been the positioning of teaching as a résumé builder, not necessarily a lifelong occupation. Some dynamic teacher-recruitment efforts focus on attracting gifted people for even a few years, where they can both contribute to the greater good and gain valuable real-world experience that will look good on their résumé.
For instance, Teach for America, a nonprofit group that encourages top college graduates to teach in low-income communities, requires only two-year teaching commitments. Partnerships with major employers let students defer job offers while they teach. Despite being novices, Teach for America “corps” members have made a positive impact in their schools, say 94% of principals.
Raising the bar appears to inspire steep competition for teaching positions. Teach for America is so selective that in 2007 it accepted just 21% of more than 18,000 applicants, many of whom had graduated from prestigious colleges.
A number of programs have helped to offset teaching’s famously modest pay. Amanda Farris, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Education, says effective federal initiatives have included “forgiveness” of student loans, with an emphasis on tough assignments in high-poverty schools, and performance pay for achievement gains.
More financial incentives are offered at the state and local levels. Teach for America members are eligible for forgiveness of qualified student loans along with nearly $5,000 a year for further education. Many school districts and states further sweeten the pot. Some offer signing bonuses forcritical-demand subject areas and hard-to-staff schools. Housing subsidies include reduced rent/utilities, housing in district-owned homes, low-interest home loans, and relocation assistance.
As with nursing, “there’s a whole generation of midcareer professionals who are interested in teaching,” Farris notes. Valuing their real-world experience and hoping to expedite the sometimes onerous route to licensure, various approaches to “alternative certification” induce people to leave other careers or, in the case of retired teachers, to return to the classroom. “Grow your own” programs move paraprofessionals such as teachers’ aides and substitute teachers into certified teaching positions.
As with virtually every profession, technology has also helped attract new teachers. States and school districts are turning their Web sites into one-stop recruitment centers, with online applications and detailed information about vacancies, pay, and benefits.
Teachers recruiting teachers play a vital role. Similar to the profiles on the Marines’ Web site, NEA’s “I Am an Educator” program lets educators upload videos about what inspires them to teach to the organization’s channel on YouTube. “Teacher to Teacher,” sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, includes workshops, mentoring programs, and teacher-recognition programs designed to strengthen the profession’s support networks.