HOW TO RETAIN TEACHERS

1. HOW TO RETAIN TEACHERS Marcela Uribe

2. What is one issue school administrators, school board members, parents, students and in general anyone dreaming with a better world, agree on? The need of keeping good teachers teaching

3. What drives teachers to leave the classroom? • Less and less time to do what they love: Teaching • Lack of control over how school is being run • Feeling of isolation from like-minded colleagues • Ineffectiveness of administrative disciplinary practices • General lack of administrative support • Excessive amount of paperwork • Too many jobs in one, plus mandatory side jobs • Accountability for test scores • Teaching out of field • Lack of quality professional development • Salary • Retirement

4. Numerous studies confirm that more than 1/3 of new teachers leave the profession within 5 years especially if they are: • Academically talented • Teaching in high-poverty schools • With a disciplinary specialty in high demand outside of education (math, science)

5. Where do they go? The best teachers often have options in: • Administration (School or Central Office, but hardly ever mentoring new teachers) • Private Sector Fields • Other Schools, usually better ones

6. Retain Teachers by Listening to Their Wants and NeedsResearch Study by Katherine O’Connor, East Carolina University What do teachers need and want? • Quality staff development • Control/choice in staff development • Technology training • Time and funding for graduate work (credit hours applied to a higher degree) • Time to observe other professionals • More and protected planning time • Time to integrate workshop ideas into lessons • Better salaries, especially if they work at hard-to-staff schools

7. Teachers’ wants and needs (cont.) • Administrative support New ideas, recognition, supplies, professional development, academic decisions…. • Discipline enforcement • Small size and equally created classes • Less non-teaching duties • More professional treatment from administrators • Teachers want administrators and central office staff to remember what was it like to be in a classroom. • Weekends for themselves • Parent support and involvement • Board-certified

8. “Teaching is not just something anyone with a bachelor’s degree can do. Good teaching is extremely complex and subtle and it’s well worth anything we can afford to spend on it”. Daniel Moulthrope, Ninive Clements Calegari, Dave Eggers

9. What kind of things can school leaders do to retain teachers? • Improve the professionalism of teaching by shifting influence and ownership of the learning environment to the teachers. • Empower teachers as researchers in their areas of expertise. • Create and promote professional networking. • Support them in all areas. • Alleviate the work burden. • Believe in them. • Raise their salaries to match any other profession

10. Encouraging effective teachers to stay in the profession is a must if we want all our children to receive quality education. Principals play an important role in determining whether teachers leave or stay They need to remember: • Without great teachers, no one shines. • Teachers who are supported, are supportive. • Teachers who are trusted, are trustworthy. • Teachers who are encouraged, are successful. • Teachers who are treated as professionals are less likely to leave. Principals have the power to make teaching an attractive and respected profession Why should they?

11. Because excellent teachers are: • Problem solvers • Questioners • Imaginative • Highly motivated and motivators • Hard workers • Optimistic And… What do businesses and industries look for when hiring? ALL OF THE ABOVE

12. Teachers often have to worry about personal safety Teachers are seriously underpaid Teachers today are often made the scapegoats for all the problems facing education Teachers do not have good opportunities for advancement Teachers do not get the sense they are respected and appreciated “Teachers Have It Easy” The New Press 89% 78% 76% 69% 66% Drawbacks of teaching% of young college graduates who say:(Young graduates in other careers)

13. ELCC Standards • Vision:Teachers are the heart that pumps the school spirit so the vision becomes a reality. • School Culture and Instruction:Good teachers inspire and get high student achievement. • Operation:Teachers that are good and happy make of their environment one that is safe and appropriate for learning

14. ELCC Standards cont, • Community:Teachers have a very important relationship with their students’ families. • Ethics:Teachers are a box full of confidential and non-confidential information. • Big Picture:Without teachers there are no schools, and without schools there is no big picture.

15. References • Barnett, B. (2005). Recruiting and retaining board-certified teachers for hard-to-staff schools, Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 290-305 • Weld, J. (1997, October) Keep good teachers teaching, The School Administrator, Retrieved Oct. 18, 2007 from American Association of School Administrators database. • Starr, L. (2007, June) It’s the principal of the thing, Retrieved Oct. 21, 2007 from Education World database. • O’Connor, K. Retain teachers by listening to their wants and needs. Retrieved Oct. 18, 2007 http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol122004/oconnor.pdf • Moulthrop, D /Clements Calegari, N. & Eggers,D. (2005) Teachers have it easy: The big sacrifices and small salaries of America’s teachers. New York, London The New Press