How Do We Retain Excellent Teachers?
Yesterday, I had the privilege of Skyping with students of Kathleen Nolan (whose book, Police in the Hallways, I reviewed on this blog last summer). They are currently studying education reform and the urban teaching experience. One of the students asked about teacher burnout, and it sparked a need in me to write about it.
You hear the statistic often: Nationally, one-third of teachers leave after three years, and nearly half leave after five. And attrition affects urban schools more than it does suburban or rural schools.
We want excellent teachers to stay in classrooms. So the statistic seems worthy of investigation.
Why do so many teachers leave, and what can be done to prevent the best from going?
Burnout
"Poor working conditions" is among the reasons teachers cite when they leave the profession. But what does that mean?
I can think of a great number of stresses that come with any teaching job, particularly in a struggling school. Students bring trauma and emotional distress from home; administrators and districts sometimes hold expectations that seem unreasonable; dilapidated buildings and lack of equipment make your job more difficult; and, perhaps most challenging, most schools lack the resources to support teachers effectively.
Nearly every district offers a new teacher mentoring program on paper. But in my experience, a "mentoring program" can range from three written comments on a lesson from September by a "mentor" who was also my evaluator to three meetings in a year with another teacher in my building who observed me teach once coupled
You hear the statistic often: Nationally, one-third of teachers leave after three years, and nearly half leave after five. And attrition affects urban schools more than it does suburban or rural schools.
We want excellent teachers to stay in classrooms. So the statistic seems worthy of investigation.
Why do so many teachers leave, and what can be done to prevent the best from going?
Burnout
"Poor working conditions" is among the reasons teachers cite when they leave the profession. But what does that mean?
I can think of a great number of stresses that come with any teaching job, particularly in a struggling school. Students bring trauma and emotional distress from home; administrators and districts sometimes hold expectations that seem unreasonable; dilapidated buildings and lack of equipment make your job more difficult; and, perhaps most challenging, most schools lack the resources to support teachers effectively.
Nearly every district offers a new teacher mentoring program on paper. But in my experience, a "mentoring program" can range from three written comments on a lesson from September by a "mentor" who was also my evaluator to three meetings in a year with another teacher in my building who observed me teach once coupled