Arlington’s Sub to Teacher Pipeline

This blog is the second in a three part series sharing insights and advice from Arlington Public Schools’ Instructional Substitute Specialist, Amaris Johnson. Amaris recently completed the Substitute System Leaders Academy which has helped her bring more strategic focus to how she works with subs.  Learn more about the Academy here.

Would you think differently about substitute teachers if you knew that two thirds of them aspire to become full-time teachers in your district? I recently shared this statistic with principals at their monthly administrator meeting and was struck by the look of amazement that spread through the room. We have a huge pool of potential teachers working in our schools every day but principals and other leaders don’t always think of substitute teachers this way.  

Building a strong teacher pipeline so that we have a teacher in every classroom is a top priority for Arlington Public Schools (APS), where I lead the substitute office. But we previously hadn’t been focused on subs as a part of our pipeline. That changed when I did a survey of our subs and realized just how many were considering becoming teachers in our district.

When I joined the district last spring I noticed that almost every prospective sub that I interviewed told me that they wanted to become a teacher. That got me curious: just how many aspiring teachers do we have in our sub pool? As I wrote about last month, APS recently held our first major PD event for subs and as part of the planning I sent a survey to all substitutes. In the survey I included a question asking if subs wanted to become full-time, permanent teachers in our district. The result? Two-thirds of the subs responded yes, and I now have a list of over 250 people who are actively exploring becoming teachers in our district.  

What’s next? Here’s what we are doing to connect substitute teachers to our teacher pipeline:

1. Connect the Dots in HR: Our goal is for subs to have a “how to guide” when it comes to exploring their path to become a teacher. I am working with our Talent Acquisition HR personnel and our Licensure specialist to help me with understanding first, and from there I will come up with a program to help transition subs into a career. In the short-term, learning about the requirements to become a teacher has allowed me to better answer questions from subs.

2. Encourage Long-Term Sub Positions for Aspiring Subs: At that principal meeting where we shared the 67% statistic, one principal suggested we encourage subs interested in teaching to take long-term assignments. We have sent a message to these subs and have made the list available to principals who have upcoming long-term positions so that they can reach out to these subs.

3. Build a Program: My ultimate goal is to create a robust program that helps transition subs into a full-time teaching role. For years our district has had an assistant-to-teacher program and I am excited to create a parallel path for substitute teachers. Is this something you are working on in your district?  Please reach out, I am looking for ideas and examples.  

As we talk about the teacher shortage, it’s a pleasant reality to learn that we still have so many talented subs who want to grow within our district and eventually teach full-time. Realizing that we have such a huge (and growing!) pool of people  who want to have a teaching career with APS has transformed how we think about substitute teachers. We can cultivate future teachers today; they are already working in our schools!