More subs are required to stand in for regular teachers engaged in much-needed professional activities like mentoring, collaborative assessment, and development workshops. Several studies have shown that students typically spend 5 to 10 percent of their K-12 class time with subs. That's an average of one entire year of schooling over the course of 13 school years. The shortage is prompting school districts to find new ways of attracting and, more importantly, keeping good substitutes. Some are trying the obvious way, offering better pay and benefits, more professional opportunities, and other perks.
Some schools develop partnerships with local colleges and universities.
Traditionally, substituting has served as a training ground for new college graduates who want to try out the teaching profession, but few schools have developed formal ties with college education programs. Trotwood-Madison City School District outside of Dayton, OH, is an exception. The district developed a program with Wright State University in which fifth-year education majors work an entire year as graduate assistants in a school, shadowing a teacher, student teaching, and substituting. Each student is assigned to one classroom, though they may help out elsewhere at times. And we get people who are on the cutting edge of teaching strategies.