How are school districts making sure classrooms without full-time teachers are still meet learning goals?

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- As students return to the classroom for the new school year, some in Central Virginia will not be taught by a full-time teacher with a background in education.

Many districts are not at full staffing levels, but some of those school districts are trying new methods to make sure long-term substitutes without education backgrounds are delivering the best instruction possible.

Petersburg City Public Schools officials categorize their teachers in three ways: fully licensed teachers, novice teachers that were recently certified, and long-term and day-to-day substitutes.

This is the first full year that PCPS has had an instructional framework for all of its teachers.

"Our teachers needed something to grab onto in terms of instruction and what is that supposed to look like," said Eboni Massey, elementary and secondary director of curriculum and instruction at PCPS.

"Anyone, maybe they just worked at Chick-fil-a two weeks ago, and now they're expected to teach students," Massey said. "The instructional framework really helps teachers understand what needs to happen from the top of the lesson to the bottom."

"That model is 'I do,' as a teacher model, 'we do,' the students and teachers do it together, and then kids have an opportunity to work together, or work independent," said Chief Academic Officer Paul Brown.

The framework gives instructors a model they can follow no matter the subject they're teaching.

"If kids have that pattern of learning, then learning will increase because now they don't have to guess," Brown said.

The impact of the framework goes beyond a daily lesson. It teaches students the skills they need to do well on state tests.

"This year, as I think abut what SOLs (standards of learning) [are] asking kids to do, they're asking kids to be critical thinkers," Brown said. "The instructional framework sets kids up to be critical thinkers because it starts with teachers engaging students, and engaging them through things they may already know or connect with."

Staffing shortages are not unique to PCPS. Chesterfield County Schools also has vacancies it's looking to fill. And like in Petersburg, the district wants to set classrooms up for success, especially for the brand-new teachers.

"New teachers are assigned a mentor teacher," said Rob Hammel, president of the Chesterfield Education Association. "So you'll have someone in your building that you can go to and say, 'hey, what's this lesson plan supposed to look like?'"

Both districts have paths for employees who want to become teachers to get certified. One new partner for Petersburg this year will help teachers get licensed, and make sure they stay in the district for at least another year.

"It's also helping us build a workforce here in Petersburg," Massey said. "It's 13 more vacancies we don't have to fill next year."

As of July, PCPS had 82 school-based vacancies.

Their first day back is August 19, 2025.