There’s a Better Way to Manage Substitute Teachers for Classroom Success

By the time they graduate, the average student will have spent a full school year with substitute teachers¹, which is why substitute management is so critical for student success. However, when the morning scramble is all about finding enough subs for the day, they may not get placed in classrooms where they’re best qualified to teach. This means students miss a day of learning. For schools looking to close this gap in quality instruction, there are a number of training and sourcing strategies that can help.

Through a balanced use of technology, training, and a thoughtful placement process, you can build a quality pool of substitute teachers and place them in the right classes, which means that students get great teachers in the classroom every day, there’s never a day of missed learning, and classroom success improves.

Quality substitutes impact student success

Because students spend so much of their school career with a substitute teacher, substitutes impact student success in a big way. That’s why teachers prefer substitutes with the knowledge base and qualifications to teach the material for their classes. At the very least, they should be able to keep students on track for the day, as losing even a single day of classroom learning is highly disruptive.

Research shows a 10-day increase in teacher absence equates to a student losing about 6-10 days of learning in English language arts and about 15-25 days in math.² A Duke University study found that students’ math scores fell by 3.3% when their teacher was absent for ten days or more.³

Learning disruptions like these can have lasting negative impacts on student achievement. Quality substitutes that keep student learning on track, therefore, support classroom success by minimizing the impact of extended teacher absences.

The challenge of the substitute teacher shortage

While quality substitutes make a valuable contribution to student success, schools and districts occasionally struggle to find coverage on any given day. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nationwide pool of available substitutes shrank by about 10,000 from 2014 to 2017. However, schools still rely heavily on substitute teachers, with around 10% of U.S. classrooms led by subs each day.⁴

With such a consistently high demand for substitutes, it’s easy to see why schools and districts focus first on finding enough substitutes before looking for the right substitutes. Improving substitute quality starts with buying a little time for HR staff members.

When HR staff can pair more effective management of teacher absences with a broader pool of quality substitutes, schools can reduce pressure on their staff while ensuring that student learning doesn’t skip a beat. This calls for a substitute management system where requests can be posted quickly, and subs can accept those posts easily. Faster posting means more time to be seen and accepted by candidates, which maximizes your options when it comes to placing subs.

An additional benefit of more efficient and effective substitute management is how it empowers teachers to work on their own professional development. They can take absences to attend conferences and seminars with the assurance that their students will continue learning while they’re away.

The problem with just trying to cover absences

While every administrator would love to focus on providing students with quality substitutes, finding enough substitutes takes priority. Many schools and districts lack the time and resources to look beyond daily coverage.

Highlighting this problem, the substitute fill rate across the U.S. is about 85% of those requested.⁴ To close the gap, schools combine classrooms, call in teachers who have the day off, or ask present teachers or other qualified school staff to provide coverage.

Shuffling personnel like this happens a lot. In fact, substitutes cover less than 50% of short-term absences.²

As the nationwide pool of substitutes continues to shrink, schools and districts are forced to get more creative as they turn to existing staff to make up the gap. This puts pressure on administrative staff and educators, which negatively impacts students and prevents districts from operating at their best. But the right tools can make all the difference by giving schools and districts the power to focus on substitute quality while still improving substitute fill rates.

Boosting quality and attracting candidates with substitute teacher training

After addressing quantity, the focus can shift to quality. Investing in substitute teacher training can boost effectiveness and offer an additional incentive for substitutes to keep working in your school or district. Investing in teacher training for substitutes can also help you recruit and retain more substitutes. Some may even decide to pursue teaching full time and apply for open positions.

One way to do this is to offer professional development training to substitutes in your school or district. If you’re already using a professional learning system like PowerSchool Professional Learning, open it up to substitutes so they can learn on their own time. Setting a basic learning requirement like a course in substitute teacher classroom management establishes a baseline of skills that will help substitutes and their students succeed every day.

Offering professional learning options can also help to attract more substitutes to your district. In addition to a paycheck and work experience, you’ll offer aspiring full-time teachers the chance to build their skills and become qualified for the teaching job they really want. When you’re competing with neighboring districts for substitutes, you’ll maintain an edge by giving those with career aspirations another reason to choose jobs in your district.

Winning the long game with data

Managing the daily work of filling teacher absences is one thing. But how can your school or district look ahead and solve big-picture problems and trends related to teacher absences, substitute availability, and substitute quality?

Winning the long game calls for a clear view of the data. Your school or district can then identify unique needs and goals, spot issues that increase teacher absences, see the talent depth of your current substitute pool and track how it changes, and gather data to help your school or district build on success.

PowerSchool HRMS gives your school or district the ability to track current data and trends to craft long-term strategic plans and address big issues. It’s designed to inform better policy, so you can optimize your substitute pool and ultimately ensure that students never miss a day of learning.

Loudoun County Schools in Virginia uses HRMS to help them maintain a high substitute fill rate as their district grows. Easily accessible data insights improve communication between HR and district leadership, helping schools get the resources they need.

Sub-Central Specialist Bonnie Robertson says, “Fast, accurate reporting has helped me get more new positions budgeted for our department, so we can hire more substitutes.”

Powerful visual analytics backed by years of research help schools and districts make sense of their data. With PowerSchool SmartFind Express, data collection happens seamlessly without interrupting daily work. The best part is that PowerSchool dedicates experienced implementation staff to help your district move into the future of K-12 HR with clear, accurate data insights.

Using substitute management software to manage coverage

Investing in teacher professional development brings big long-term returns while providing students with quality substitutes leads to immediate benefits in student achievement.

Our substitute management software, SmartFind Express, helps schools and districts more efficiently manage substitute placement to improve fill rates and substitute quality while reducing administrative staff pressures. Plus, our mobile app for substitute management simplifies job browsing and accepting for your substitute pool, so absences get filled fast. Knowing their classes will be covered allows teachers to stay home sick, focus on professional growth activities, or take self-care days knowing their students won’t miss a beat.

Efficiency can be a real game-changer. Reducing the amount of time spent scheduling, contacting, and managing substitutes gives administrators the time and resources they need to shift focus to quality over quantity.

A Canadian district boosts quality with efficiency

Brenda Basran, an Administrative Assistant at School District No. 20 in British Columbia, Canada, says her district was very familiar with the struggles of placing quality substitutes without the right tech tools. “Our clerical staff would go through a long list of available replacements and their list of qualifications,” she says. “This was a very time-consuming process.”

Using SmartFind Express, her school reduced the amount of time spent finding substitutes and focus on the right fit to fill each teacher absence.

Basran says, “When a primary teacher is away, we are getting a replacement that is qualified to teach our kindergarten students, benefitting the students. The substitute is happy because the system is calling them for assignments they wish to teach.”

Additionally, Basran says her district makes sure substitutes arrive ready to teach by entering day plans within the system. “With the ability to add a day plan when creating an absence, the replacement walks in fully prepared for the day.”

Because learning shouldn’t stop

Whether your school or district struggles with a high number of teacher absences, or if you’re looking to provide your teachers with the flexibility to attend more conferences and seminars, you need quality substitutes.

Fortunately, tools exist to help your school or district make the most of your current resources and start building toward a future of seamless learning for students. Getting substitute coverage right means learning never stops, even when the teacher is out.

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