Innovative Approaches to Recruiting Bilingual Educators: 
Teachers, Counselors, and Administrators

by Dr. Nell Williams Ingram, Executive Director, ACP
and
Chris U. Salas, Recruiter, HRS

This article identifies effective and innovative approaches to the recruitment and retention of bilingual teachers, counselors, and administrators. The recruitment efforts include local, state, and international collaboratives.  Information is provided concerning specific recruitment efforts as well as details on how the Dallas Independent School District selects and supports bilingual educators. Also covered are Alternative Certification programs, including an Alternative Certification School Counselor initiative, and methods of meeting NCLB requirements.

The recruitment strategies used at Dallas ISD are multi-faceted and include salary incentives, recruitment campaigns, and the use of programs to help in selecting teachers.
Dallas ISD furnishes signing incentives of $2,000 for bilingual, math, science, and special education recruits; and $1,500 for other areas. The district also offers retention stipends, including $3,000 for bilingual teachers, $1,000 for math and science teachers, and $500 for special education and ESL teachers. Partial tuition is paid for university coursework required for training.  Recruitment campaigns include extensive use of the media and travel to key locations in the state, nation, and other countries (chiefly Mexico), to produce highly qualified teacher prospects and talented bilingual teachers.  The district uses the Haberman Star Teacher Selection Interview and Haberman Pre-Screener as well to assist in selecting teachers dedicated to teaching in an urban environment.

Building an applicant pool is a primary goal.  District information is presented to student-teacher classes at colleges and universities and to university bilingual organizations and international student organizations.  The district collaborates with higher education sources to recruit candidates from graduate programs to serve in teaching and campus leadership positions.  Representatives from the district attend conferences and university job fairs that target Hispanic Serving Institutions (HACU) and universities with bilingual teacher preparation programs. 

We leave no road untraveled.  In order to attract experienced, certified teachers to fill secondary as well as bilingual teacher positions, Dallas ISD conducts job fairs in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas as well as in El Paso, San Antonio, and Austin. We use free and inexpensive websites and have links on college websites.  We maintain our own website:  http://teachfordallas.com .  We advertise once monthly in the Dallas Morning News; once monthly in El Sol de Texas, El Extra, El Diario; and in other newspapers on a quarterly basis. We hold 40+ career/job fairs per year.  Six informational fairs a year are hosted in a DISD facility.  We make presentations at all substitute teacher training classes.

International and Puerto Rican recruitment is yet another route to acquire teachers.  We maintain collaborative efforts between ACP and HRS; have established a collaborative with the National Puerto Rican Forum; place advertisements in Monterrey, Juarez, and San Juan, PR; offer three informational fairs at Monterrey, and hold hotel interviews consisting of essays and the Nelson Denny test.  We try very hard to smooth the path for international recruits. In order to facilitate the availability and acquisition of H1B visas for bilingual teachers, we have an immigration attorney on retainer, and filing fees for HIB visas are provided by the district.

It is one hurdle overcome to recruit a qualified teacher.  Retaining that teacher is even more important.  Mentors and instructional coaches are available for new teachers.  Advanced study programs and leadership academies are offered.  If necessary, an alternative dispute resolutions ombudsman is on call.  Competitive salary, stipends and hiring bonuses, professional development, and relocation assistance all play a role in retention.

Alternative certification offers another method of attracting teachers. Approved by the local board of education in 1986, the Dallas ISD program is fully accredited by the State Board for Educator Certification.  We have trained and certified over 5,000 teachers since the institution of the program.  Program participants must be employees of the Dallas ISD.

Program entry requirements for a bilingual skills elementary teacher include a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution; overall 2.5 grade point average or 2.75 grade point average on the last 60 hours; 24 semester hours of liberal arts coursework in English, mathematics, science, and social studies; a successful score on the Generalist EC-4 TExES examination; successful completion of the Spanish Prochiever, the Spanish proficiency examination; successful completion of an English proficiency examination; completion of the Nelson Denny Comprehension Test; and completion of a formalized (Haberman) interview.

Program entry requirements for a bilingual skills secondary teacher include a bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution; overall 2.5 grade point average or 2.75 grade point average on the last 60 hours; 24 semester hours in the content area; successful completion of the Spanish Prochiever, the Spanish proficiency examination; successful completion of an English proficiency examination; and completion of a formalized (Haberman) interview.

A new initiative, Alternative Certification for School Counselor Program, was approved by SBEC on May 21, 2004.  This program, developed by ACP in collaboration with Texas A&M University in Commerce, has an initial enrollment of 15 and will consist of 15 graduate hours, 6 of which will be done online.  Tuition is being paid by the DISD Counseling Department, textbooks by AC.

Retention for alternative certification employees is yet another concern.  The Dallas ISD offers technical support by 22 instructional specialists as well as on-site mentors who are paid $600 per intern.  Support groups are established. There are effective pre- and post-assignment training, review sessions for the TExES/ExCET examinations, and reimbursement for successful scores on those examinations.  Interns are provided with sessions on making the cultural transition; information on payroll, benefits, and compensation; informational sessions with the attorney; and a part-time specialist to provide additional support.

In order to satisfy NCLB requirements, a number of steps have been taken.  Free review sessions by invitation only are offered for qualified candidates.  There are 24 hours of face-to-face training with six training cycles per year in Dallas and three in El Paso.  Five online courses covering each domain of the TExES are free to qualified candidates.

The Dallas ISD has put together a comprehensive program to ensure great teachers, counselors, and administrators for our students.  While your individual ISD might not be able to implement several of these ideas due to budget limitations, lack of your own ACP program, or other constraints, a number of resources covered in this article are replicable and portable to almost any ISD. 

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