Talent management directly impacts on student achievement, says the new organization, which recently released case studies of the human resources practices of five large urban school districts. The districts are in New York City; Chicago; Boston; Long Beach, CA; Fairfax County, VA. SMHC has also done case studies of Minneapolis, Minnesota's "Q-Comp" program, and national organizations Teach For America, The New Teacher Project and New Leaders for New Schools.

"For most of these districts, implementing the components of strategic management of human capital is still very much a work in progress," says a SMHC report. "Their efforts involve overhauling longstanding, often entrenched bureaucracies."

The case studies describe current human resources practices in the eight areas at the core of SHMC's initiative: recruitment, selection, induction, mentoring, professional development, compensation, performance management, and instructional leadership.

Among the findings of the case studies:

• Urban districts were able to fill every vacant position with new strategic approaches to recruiting. These include working with local universities on programs that include tuition reimbursement, summer fellows program, and "grow your own" initiatives to train teachers and principals for districts.
• Early Hiring/No Bumping are some of improvements districts are making in their practices. One of the challenges urban districts often face is being able to make job offers to well-qualified candidates in a timely manner. Districts have moved up the budget calendar and transfer schedule so hiring decisions can be made in the late winter and early spring, rather than late summer. Seniority "bumping" is being eliminated in some districts, though senior teachers are given the first opportunities to apply for open positions.
• Districts are using a variety of "screener" systems designed to identify individuals who might be good teachers, though the predictive power of the instruments is limited.

Strategic Management of Human Capital website, http://www.smhc-cpre.org/resources/