Whether you are a principal, HR leader or superintendent, what steps can you take to begin 'growing your own' from the OST pipeline?

Arrange for time with the OST Director. Ask them about program quality and whether or not the OST program has engaged in a program quality assessment (PQA). Talk with them about their staff. The OST director recruits, hires and trains diverse staff members who already work closely with students and families. Ask them, who are the natural program leaders? What are their future plans?
Set up time to do an OST walk together. Notice the quality of the program. Is there a link between the instructional day and after school beyond "homework time"? Are there enrichment activities that the students are responding to? Who is leading those activities? Those are the people you want to talk with.
Talk to OST staff that you and the director agree might be interested in expanding their professional practice into the school day as a teacher or other professional. Make arrangements for that person to spend time in a school day setting by pairing them up with a teacher leader on campus.
If they’re interested, develop a short-term support plan to connect that person with your school system's transition to teaching program. Make time to check in with them and the OST director on their progress.
If possible, consider monetary incentives to boost their pay. Retaining OST staff poses its own challenges. Most staff report lower pay as a primary reason for leaving the job. Investing in a professional growth plan that includes compensation is a win/win for these staff who work with students for more hours per day than in-school time staff.

OST connections to the school day are powerful. These connections offer not only extensions of learning and enrichment, they offer a potential pipeline of high-quality future teachers. We recommend these five steps to encourage collaboration with OST directors, evaluate program quality and engage all OST staff.

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