In search of legendary teachers.

During a recent golf outing at my high school class reunion, I was struck by the fact that after the first hole, no one kept score. We were just too focused on trading teacher stories.

There was the story about our driver's education teacher who had to save the car from running off a cliff because a student failed to put the car in park and do so without yelling at the devastated student. There were the stories about our 4th-grade teacher who always smiled and ran an exciting math relay every day after lunch recess; about a 7th-grade shop teacher who patiently stayed after school for hours helping a student challenged by woodworking complete his pencil holder project.

Most were simple stories, some poignant, others light-hearted. Each one was filled with emotion and strong personal meaning that we were able to recall in detail after 30 years. These teachers had become legends. They were the type of teachers we want today in front of our children so they can relate similar stories about teachers who had an impact at their class reunions.

Profiling Legends

As a superintendent, I have set recruitment, selection and retention of "legendary teachers" as my highest priority and have put in place a road map to achieve this goal.

With a limited recruiting budget and a shortage of highly skilled teachers, I had to define clearly the knowledge, skills and attitudes we want our future legendary teachers to possess. To create a vision for legendary teachers, we synthesized the research to construct a profile of the teachers we want completing applications and knocking down our human resources office door: Teachers who actively engage students in creative learning activities; teachers who help students discover and develop a deep understanding of concepts; teachers who create dynamic learning classrooms; teachers who constantly adapt their style to match the individual student's learning style; teachers who connect learning to the past, present and future; and teachers who continually strive to improve their content knowledge and teaching skills.

The research linking high student achievement with teachers who consistently demonstrate these attributes is so compelling that we had this profile framed and displayed in every district and school office.

Recruiting Legends

Our recruiting strategy is comprehensive and a shared responsibility. We rely on informal networking between principals, university professors and staff as much as the job fairs and website job postings.

I asked a newly hired kindergarten teacher why she applied to the Flowing Wells School District when she had many choices. Arizona recently approved full-day kindergarten and this candidate was highly recruited by a number of districts. This future legend indicated her teaching methods professor at University of Arizona told her she would be a good fit in Flowing Wells and recommended she call the principal.

Our principal was quick to act because he had worked with the professor two years earlier as a loaned clinical methods professor and had strong respect for her judgment. We never underestimate the power of relationships in recruiting teachers. Relationships are often difficult to build when you rely only on the traditional methods of print ads and web postings.

Selecting Legends

Our selection process centers on the principal as the primary decision maker and provides the flexibility to move quickly while, at the same time, providing a number of checks and balances to prevent the desperation hire. The process begins with the principal completing a screening interview, using a bank of questions from a standardized interview instrument. Potential candidates then are interviewed at the school site by an advisory committee comprised of teachers, support staff, parents and students. The interview includes questions developed by the committee and a 10-to 20-minute lesson.

Once the committee recommends a candidate, the principal completes a series of comprehensive reference checks and refers the candidate to the assistant superintendent for personnel, who completes another interview using a different bank of questions. If the assistant superintendent concurs with the principal's selection, I interview the candidate and make a final recommendation for an official hiring action at the next school board meeting.

If at any point in the process we find a reason to believe the candidate is not a potential legend, our leadership team discusses the discrepancies in our perceptions. It happens rarely, but there are candidates recommended by the principal who are not hired for reasons determined by the assistant superintendent or me.

Retaining Legends

Students do not generate stories about teachers who stay only a few years and then move to other districts or professions. Our first line of defense to attrition is through our nationally recognized induction and staff development program. This program provides more than 50 hours of initial professional development along with mentoring and follow-up coaching for all new teachers.

As teachers continue their tenure in the district, we provide opportunities to choose from 30 different professional development courses and provide follow-up observation and coaching for all courses. The result is that the Flowing Wells Schools have produced more teacher-of-the-year nominees and winners than any other school district in Arizona.

The effectiveness of our legendary teacher initiative will be determined when we eavesdrop on the Class of 2010's fifth-year reunion and hear positive stories featuring the names of the new teachers we hire this year.

Nicholas Clement is superintendent of the Flowing Wells School District, 1556 W. Prince Road, Tucson, AZ 8570S. E-mail: [e-mail]