How To Hire The Right Teachers For Summer Enrichment Programs

This summer is crucial for school districts to address students’ academic, social, and emotional needs.

The government recognized this urgency and passed the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund which provided nearly $122 billion of federal funding to states and school districts. It requires that every state reserve at least $1.2 billion for summer programs that improve both academic and emotional outcomes.

The demand for summer enrichment programs has soared but many of your current teachers are burnt out and desperately need a break.

You need to find new summer teachers and tutors ASAP.

But you can’t just hire anyone if you want your students to have a fulfilling summer after an extremely difficult year.

Find the right teachers or tutors for summer school with these 5 ways to refine your search from reassessing your teacher job descriptions to utilizing staffing companies to save time.

1) Define clear goals for your summer program

Have a clear understanding of what you want your summer enrichment program to achieve.

What do you want your students to gain?

Many students will be behind in their learning, but they also missed out on significant socialization and experienced other trauma.

Thus, more and more school districts are offering a diverse selection of fun summer programming for students to reconnect with peers in structured learning environments.

Define how much learning you want your summer programs to cover and how you’ll measure for successful outcomes. Then determine much of your programs will focus on enrichment classes.

If you’re unsure of your summer school’s goals, then you’ll have more difficulty in finding the right teachers and tutors.

2) Reassess the summer teacher job description

The job ad that you’ve been using for years won’t be effective anymore.

You shouldn’t look for a teacher or tutor that’s going to treat your summer enrichment program like every other summer.

Your listed qualifications need to include more than the usual organized and flexible traits. Teachers need to be capable of leading accelerated learning to close any gaps as much as possible.

And make sure to target your job ad at strong teachers who are ready to handle the social and emotional component of summer school, not solely the academic part.

3) Know where to share your teacher job ads

We all know the most popular job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn, but are they really the best places to post your job?

Save time and money by narrowing your audience to only people interested in teacher jobs.

Promote your summer teaching position on niche, education-specific job boards like SchoolSpring and TeachingJobs.

You can also connect with college career offices and alumni organizations to reach enthusiastic undergrads who just started their teaching career.

Asking your current teachers for referrals is always a good idea, because they’re familiar with your school’s procedures and values. They’re most likely to recommend fellow teachers who will fit well in your culture.

Finally, attend virtual teacher job fairs. Fairs are effective candidate attraction tools, because you can answer any question on the spot.

4) Ask the right questions during teacher interviews

Just as you needed to revamp your teacher job posting, you need to revamp your interview questions too.

Ask specific questions targeted at how your potential summer teachers and tutors will enrich students on all levels of development.

Here are a few examples:

1. How do you feel about teaching during the summer after the unconventional teaching year we just experienced?
2. What do you think is the most important thing students should learn in this year’s summer enrichment program?
3. How did you manage your mental health during the pandemic?

There are plenty of other interview questions you can ask to uncover the kind of teacher an interviewee might be.

5) Use a staffing company

Teacher recruiting companies are great options to outsource your hiring squad when your team is too swamped with other school priorities.

These agencies have the time, resources, and expertise to find suitable staff for your continuous flow of job openings.

Scoot Education is a staffing company that acts as an extension of your hiring team. We not only have a large pool of qualified candidates, we personally know each one and what they value in their teaching career. For us, staffing schools has always been more than just matching credentials.

Scoot doesn’t charge anything to help you search for stellar candidates. You only pay when you hire someone! Pay a percentage of a teacher’s salary or for a day-to-day Scoot sub.

The demand for summer teachers this year is high. Many schools will be competing for the best teachers.

Work smarter, not harder by teaming up with Scoot to find the right teachers and tutors for your summer enrichment programs.