Teacher retention
It’s February, time to start thinking about next school year. Already??!! At my site, we are planning for state testing in April in addition to planning for summer school. Our admin is already sending out emails about what our intentions are for next year. Currently, I am an instructional coach at my site. I am in meetings where placements for next year are being discussed. There will be some teachers that are asked to move grade levels. Hopefully, those teachers will be fine with switching grade levels. We have some valuable teachers that are considering moving to another school or district and we want to keep them, but the trick is how do we keep them? Teacher retention has become a real issue in the last few years. Teachers are leaving the profession in high numbers since the pandemic. When researching teacher retention, I found a few fun facts about teacher retention.
- Retention saves money and resources.
- Student achievement can increase with strong teacher retention.
- Teacher retention positively impacts climate and culture.
As a classroom teacher, I already knew that retaining high-quality teachers was important, but in my new role as an instructional coach, I am finding it essential. What can we do to keep highly qualified, highly motivated, positive teachers in the classroom? I also spent some time looking into this as well.
- We need to create a culture of connection and belonging from the beginning of a new teacher’s time at our school. (Veteran and new teachers alike)
- We need to have supportive school leaders who promote a strong climate and culture among the staff.
- We need to have an instructional coaching program that includes a variety of support in and out of the classroom. (This one is my favorite!)
It seems that more demands are being placed on teachers, students, admin, and staff in recent times. We are given a new curriculum to assist students in achieving goals, but we aren’t always given the time to become well-versed in the new curriculum before something new comes along. Even the state is starting to require more endorsements for teachers. These new requirements are being built in for upcoming teachers in college now, but for those of us that have been around a while, we are being asked to take coursework and assessments for new endorsements. It can be very demanding for teachers that are already working more than 40 hours per week.
We need to find a way to show teachers that they are valued and appreciated. We need to create connections and a positive climate at school to assist all teachers in their desire to stay and make a difference in our students’ lives. We need to offer all teachers (veteran and new) support in the classroom and outside of the classroom. We need to have schedules that are conducive to student learning. We need to let teachers have some ownership and aid in the decision-making in the school. We need teachers to feel as though they matter and they make a difference. Administrators and coaches need to get in the classrooms and provide time for teachers to plan and collaborate with their teams.
If we want professional, high-quality, effective educators to stay, we need to treat them with respect, kindness, and grace. How do your administrators and coaches motivate you to stay?
Image from edutopia.com
Sarah Kirchoff
Sarah Kirchoff is an instructional coach in Mesa Public Schools. She has over 20 years of experience in early childhood education. She began her teaching career way back in August 1999, when everyone was worried about Y2K. She did not even have computers in her classroom at that time! Since then, she has taught first grade for four years, preschool for three years, second grade for two years and kindergarten for twelve years. She has worked for three different school districts during her teaching career. During this time, she has been able to identify which grade she found to be the most enjoyable. Her greatest teaching passion is for kindergarten. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University and a master’s degree in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University. She was teacher of the year at her school in the 2019-2020 school year. She became a National Board Certified Teacher as an Early Childhood Generalist in December of 2020. She currently serves on numerous committees at her school including school site council, the instructional leadership team, and the culture and climate team. She is a mentor teacher at her school and has mentored numerous interns and student teaching candidates. When she is not busy with school commitments, she spends time with her family. She has a husband who is also a teacher, and four children. Two of which are students at NAU and two that are in high school. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, reading books and spending time with family, friends and her two dogs. Children need a teacher that is always advocating for them, socially, emotionally, and academically. Sarah wants every student she encounters to realize their potential and she is willing to help in any way she can. The impact early childhood educators have on students reaches far beyond their younger years. Sarah wants to leave a positive impact on her students so they can continue to have wonderful educational experiences beyond her classroom and school.
Comments 2
I completely agree with you and I think the most important thing for me is the connection aspect. I work with a team that has become family! Without connection, it would be much easier to move to a different school or position.
I also got that intention survey and have ignored it this year…I know I’m coming back, but I’m not ready to commit to that yet. Putting it in writing makes it so permanent, even if the Google Survey isn’t a binding contract. I think the hesitancy has a lot to do with your final question- I don’t know if I can name anything our admin is doing to motivate our staff… maybe I should pass your thoughts on.