Teacher retention

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) published a study in 2003 entitled No Dream Denied: a Pledge to America’s Children [PDF].  In the summary report, NCTAF framed the issue this way:

The number of teachers entering the schools increased steadily during the 1990s. The problem is that teacher attrition was increasing even faster. It is as if we were pouring teachers into a bucket with a fist-sized hole in the bottom…

An analysis of the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics found that approximately a third of America’s new teachers leave teaching sometime during their first three years of teaching; almost half may leave during the first five years…

Not surprisingly, turnover is highest in low-income urban schools.  The turnover rate for teachers in high poverty schools is almost a third higher than the rate for all teachers in all schools…

This is old news.  We’ve heard these statistics before.  But the report had an interesting addition to the last part, about turnover in low-income schools:

Teachers who initially benefit from staff-development investments in low-performing schools often end up leaving the profession or moving on to more “desirable” teaching positions in affluent communities, contributing to the talent drain in our most troubled schools…

Schools serving the students with the highest needs are left to constantly restock their staff with brand new teachers who must be trained and mentored, who then leave the system or the profession within five years.

Statistics don’t tell the whole story, though.  There are schools out there who are beating the odds and retaining their teachers.  There are plenty of teachers who are out there every day making up the half that DO stay in teaching, that DO stay at high-need schools.

I recently sat down with Temp Keller, the founder of a fascinating program that tries to match these groups up.  RISE (Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators) identifies job seekers with 2-5 years teaching experience who are in danger of leaving the profession (or of staying in teaching, but moving to a wealthy district) and matches them with schools in low-income areas that value effective teachers.

It seems to be working.  After seven years, 71% of RISE teachers are still teaching in low-income schools, where statistics show that nationally up to 70% of teachers in low-income schools are gone within five years.

Apply to become a RISE Teacher or a RISE School on their website.

Labels: Conversations, Resources