The Top Ways To Attract And Retain Extraordinary Educators Part I

There is a huge demand for educators and yet one third of America’s new teachers leave after 3 years of teaching, half quit within 5 years, and every year more than 133,000 teachers leave for reasons other than retirement. This is a 34% rise in teacher attrition since 1988. Some teaching fields, such as science, are experiencing huge shortages. So why are teachers leaving? Some leave for personal reasons such as childcare, but most leave because they are dissatisfied. Dissatisfied with school policies, dissatisfied with administration, dissatisfied with pay. Some leave due to lack of preparation—teachers who have inadequate preparation are two and half times more likely to leave than teachers with more preparation. Some feel a lack of support for new teachers.

Unfilled Vacancies and Uncertified Teachers

There are states with up to 2,000 unfilled vacancies (2,476 vacancies in Arizona alone) and up to 14,000 teachers who are not fully certified for their assignment (14,735 in New York alone). The minimum number of teachers who aren’t fully certified for their assignments nationwide is over 87,000. Just one year with a teacher who isn’t fully certified in their field costs students $50,000 in lifetime earnings as compared to students with teachers who are certified in their assignments. In addition to this, the nation is experiencing a huge number of retirements as those of Baby Boom era reach the age of 65 and the number of college students planning to teach is at its lowest since 1970. Needless to say, there is a widespread teacher sparsity. Educational Innovator 360 has the answers to help teacher sparsity decrease and retain quality, qualified educators.

High-Poverty Areas

This is especially prevalent in high-poverty areas. During the 2012-2013 school year, one in ten teachers left the profession in high-poverty, high-minority areas as compared to fewer than one in fifteen in low-poverty areas. Schools where more than one fifth of teachers are less prepared have significantly lower graduation rates. Administration also tends to be weaker in high-poverty, high-minority schools, resulting in a teacher turnover rate of nearly 25%—double the attrition rate of teachers whose administrators are supportive.

Resolving the Problem

So how does this problem get resolved? The answer is in steps that administrators can take. For example, creating a supportive environment for teachers. One place to look for help is Educational Innovation 360, which has great coaching service providers for professional development of teachers. They help administration in supporting and retaining teachers. Schools had lower turnover rates when the principal made communication a priority and created a respectful environment. Another step administrators can take is to create a mentoring program where experienced teachers mentor new teachers or residency programs where they work as paid apprentices. One could also improve the hiring process as oftentimes hires are made with inadequate information, especially when there are time constraints on interviews. This will create more prepared teachers and increase graduation rates.

Work Environment

Perhaps the easiest way to decrease educator turnover is to make sure the work environment is conducive to teachers. One way to do this is to survey teachers about what they think could be improved. Making sure the environment is conducive to teaching includes making sure teachers are placed in assignments in which they are fully certified as well as supporting them in their decisions. A big way to reduce teacher turnover is for administrators to view teachers as co-workers instead of employees. Another easy thing is to provide incentives, such as increasing compensation when teachers are doing exceptionally well or for staying a certain number of years.

Hiring and fulfilling Vacancies

In order to not have unfilled vacancies, improve hiring tactics by doing thing such as hiring early, setting timelines for resignations, and developing partnerships with teacher preparation programs. In addition to this, districts can create high school career pathways into the profession. When hiring, look for potential teachers who have a masters degree and who are passionate about teaching. As shown by Finland’s ranking as number one on the World Economic Forum’s overall quality of primary education index and the fact that they require teachers to complete a post-graduate level of education, teachers with a masters degree provide better education to their students and are more likely to stay in their profession. And teachers who are passionate about teaching—and learning—are most likely to stay in their profession. People who actually want to be teachers are the ones that are going to stay put. Also, hire early to make sure decisions are made early with the best candidate pool.