New Recruiting Practices Planned to Attract the Best and the Brightest

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- As Allentown School District prepares for the start of another challenging school year, identified as Corrective Action II for the second year in a row, principals, academic officers and administrators have been working with new superintendent, Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed., to significantly change the recruiting and hiring practices for a more objective, efficient and optimal selection process.

"There is a new three-part process for recruitment being developed," says Dr. Zahorchak, "and it is designed to attract the brightest teacher prospects in a systematic manner that will create an inventory of qualified candidates. It is our intention to find the top seven candidates for every one opening, leaving no stone unturned in the process."

Over the past few weeks, Allentown School District has been planning tenaciously, strategically identifying the ways to meet the human resource needs of the institution without major reductions to the work force, in response to the need to make up for over a $2 million budget shortfall. The District has not lost any positions while planning for this upcoming school year. "We are continuing to build resource models out five years with scenarios that reveal our vulnerabilities so that we can plan for them," says Zahorchak. "We cannot afford to go backwards, especially since our district, according to the costing out study, still has miles to go to achieve adequate funding."

The goal of the new recruiting program is to collect an inventory of qualified teachers in order to call them up as opportunities arise. "The Allentown School District Board of Directors has authorized me to put in the necessary upgrades and build a responsive system so that top-flight instruction is provided on a more consistent basis," he says.

"Increasing the effectiveness of our recruiting process will enable us to put more talented teachers in our classrooms," says Jeff Glazier, president, ASD Board of Directors. "It is an important step in increasing student achievement."

"When looking at the educational success of children, there are few factors more critical than that of a highly effective, competent teacher," says Sheridan Elementary Principal Michele Ryan, whose school has moved from 42/35% mathematics/reading proficiency in 2005 to 85/66% mathematics/reading proficiency in 2009.  "Truly, teaching matters and makes a difference in the lives of our students.  This process will provide our district the opportunity to place before our children, 'the best of the best.'  The students in the Allentown School District deserve nothing less than excellence."

An active recruitment process will support the selection process to attract more qualified minority candidates in order to generate a larger pool of diverse educational professionals who are certified. Such efforts require a district such as Allentown to reach outside the region, and this may include major metropolitan areas and stretch perhaps to distant states. Additionally, there are new residency certification programs pending that will create more flexible hiring practices of professionals who have had successful careers and want to enter into the public education field. Allentown School District is an advocate for these vast resource opportunities at the teaching level.

Three Part Selection Process

Part A: A 100-point assessment will be used to evaluate the application.  The evaluation of the application will include consideration of educational degrees, including performance of the applicant while achieving these degrees, areas of state certification, and experiences applicants actually have with students such as long-term substituting and student teaching as well as related experiences.

Part B: The interview process will entail not only the traditional question-and-answer interview but also a more structured interview will take place to cover professional experience, intelligence, personality and motivation. A writing sample will have to be submitted; it will be scored by a third party without the names of the candidates appearing on the sample to avoid bias.  Scores will be derived from the interview and the writing sample.

Part C:  A portfolio and/or demonstration of lessons will have to be presented by candidates for critique by a committee.

After weighted scores are applied to each of the stages of the selection process, the top three of seven candidates that meet the district's minimum qualifications; United States veterans will receive priority consideration.  The principal will have a second chance to interview the top three candidates and will have the authority to make the recommendation of a candidate to the superintendent who will submit the name to the ASD Board of Directors for approval.

"This process reduces the incidence of subjective decision-making while helping build system capacity with talented professionals who really want to help Allentown deliver on its mission of providing every student a safe, rigorous and engaging educational experience preparing them to excel in life and learning," says Dr. Zahorchak.

How to Apply

Allentown's has begun to develop this process and encourages any qualified candidates to submit their resumes, certifications and other credentials by going to www.allentownsd.org  and clicking on employment.

If a potential candidate has questions, please call Thomas Thomasik III, Director, ASD Human Resources, at 484-765-4120, and a prompt response will be provided.

About Allentown School District

Serving approximately 18,000 students in 22 early childhood, elementary, middle and high schools located throughout the City of Allentown, PA, Allentown School District is the fourth largest school district out of 500 Commonwealth districts. Allentown School District is a diverse, urban school district that continues to implement a standardized, district-wide curriculum, coupled with consistent teaching practices from school to school. Allentown School District employs approximately 1,500 teachers and 2,200 employees overall. Proud of it diversity, the Allentown School District has students originating from 41 countries and speaking 24 languages. The attendance rate remains high at about 90 percent.

Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed. assumed the role of Allentown School District superintendent effective July 1, 2010, with a unanimous vote by the ASD Board of Directors.

The Allentown School District is an equal rights and equal opportunity agency. It does not discriminate against individuals or groups because of race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or qualified disabilities (as defined by law).

For more information, please go to:  www.allentownsd.org  or call 484-765-4000.

SOURCE Allentown School District