District Administration - July 2007 - (Page 42)

STAFFING Substitute teacher This is Mary Lambert’s job history on SmartFindExpress. This Job Shopping Screen on SubFinder shows what a substitute views while looking for work. Nuts and Bolts Many makers of the newer systems don’t require the district to purchase or install any new special hardware or software. The makers of the systems can host the data and operate the software on their own servers. District administrators and employees can access the system by visiting the maker’s Web site or by using a touch-tone telephone. And the district has no up-front costs, says Michael Blackstone, managing partner of Frontline Placement Technologies, which produces AESOP. The advanced Internet-telephone systems make it easier for a teacher to call in and manage absences, as well as help prepare substitutes for that day’s lesson plan. Teachers can notify the systems of absences by logging on to a Web site from home or at work. When registering an absence through the Web site, teachers must select from a predetermined list of reasons for the absence, such as personal leave, illness or training. Teachers can also leave notes or lesson plans for the substitute on the online system so that the substitute will be prepared before walking through the classroom door. Alternatively, teachers can also register their absences, including a reason, by using a touch-tone phone. Helping Subs Systems like AESOP, SubFinder and SmartFindExpress also have made life easier for many substitutes. The systems 42 July 2007 allow substitutes to use a Web site to search for and accept jobs, change availability dates and review teachers’ notes. They can do the same functions by telephone, where they can hear a teacher’s voicemail explaining the day’s lesson. Using the systems, districts allow substitutes to select which subjects and in which schools they prefer to teach. Additionally, districts set the dates and hours during which the automated phone sys- touch-tone telephones. By tracking these preferences, systems like AESOP, SmartFindExpress and SubFinder can contact only those substitutes whose skills and availability match the assignments, saving time and improving eﬃciency, says Katherine Christopher, director of human resources for Madison Public Schools in Connecticut that has been using AESOP since January. “It’s really very, very customized and “It allows our substitutes to plan their days and their weeks or their months.” —Tammy Conway, human resources support specialist, Eagle County Schools, Eagle, Colo. tem will begin calling substitutes to oﬀer them assignments, for example, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. the day before the scheduled absence. But districts can let substitutes narrow that time to suit their needs, permitting them to specify that they don’t want calls after 8 p.m. “It allows our substitutes to plan their days and their weeks or their months,” Conway says. After a teacher logs in an absence, the job appears on the Web site so that substitutes can search for and accept the assignment. The system at the programmed time starts to call suitable substitutes, who can hear the assignment’s details and accept the job by pushing buttons on their automated to the point where we are having 100 percent ﬁll rates most of the time,” says Christopher, adding that the system has been so successful that some substitutes complain the assignments are snatched up too quickly by others after being posted on the Web. Administrators also may ﬁnd the systems to be powerful tools. They can access their system by telephone or Internet to see which teachers are going to be absent that day and whether the absence has been ﬁlled. Not only can this information bring peace of mind to administrators, but it can help them plan for faculty meetings, professional development or rearranging District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2007

Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Facilities/Construction Update
Curriculum Update
Inside the Law
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Cover Story: Rethinking School Bus Safety
Broadening Collective Bargaining
Searching for Subs
Jersey City’s Broad Appeal
Improving Nutrition in Schools
New Products
Computer Literature
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Research Corner
Problem Solution
Online Edge
Speaking Out
Supervisor’s Opinion
Calendar of Events
Understanding the Times

District Administration - July 2007