Why so many teachers quit, and how to fix that - LA Times

Why so many teachers quit, and how to fix that - LA Times:

Why so many teachers quit, and how to fix that

Every year, thousands of young and enthusiastic teachers all over the country start their first day of work. Within the following five years, at least 17% of them will leave the profession. Teacherattrition is especially high in poor, urban schools, where on average about a fifth of the entire faculty leaves annually — that's roughly 50% higher than the rate in more affluent schools.

Not only is recruitment and retraining expensive, costing the United States about $2 billion each year, but research also shows that teacher stability is crucial for building strong relationships between staff and students. Reducing attrition among new hires is especially urgent in California, where about a third of teachers are expected to retire in the next 10 years. Meanwhile, fewer graduates are lining up to replace them. In 2001, 77,700 graduates were enrolled in teaching programs in California. By 2012, that number had dropped to 19,933.

What's pushing so many teachers out of the profession? Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has been trying to answer that question for years. He's found that teachers often cite long hours and low pay as contributing to their dissatisfaction. But teachers are even more upset by their lack of say over key decisions affecting classrooms. Volumes of other research echo this theme. In a 2014 Gallup Poll, teachers ranked last among 12 professional groups in agreeing that their opinion at work matters.



Politicians have tried to solve the country's teacher attrition problem by giving bonuses to teachers working in high-poverty schools or tying pay to standardized test scores. But recent research shows that such approaches have been mostly unsuccessful. Perhaps giving teachers more power could make a difference where other interventions have not.Why so many teachers quit, and how to fix that - LA Times: