A Final Reason For High Teacher Turnover Rates

Based on my experience in the classroom and my educational background, I want to pursue a certification as a K-12 administrator because I want to help and work with a larger population of students. My desire to enhance the culture and community in a school building has come from working with three amazing, passionate, and dedicated administrators (one principal and two vice principals) in my school building. Their drive to positively influence the lives of students, collaborate with parents, and enhance the teaching styles of all the faculty members in the building, has motivated me to want to do the same. A new challenge is presented every day in a school building, and I want to be part of an administrative team that will successfully work together to overcome each and every obstacle in order to better the educational experience of students.

Dr. David Bolton has had an interesting spring, to say the least. He has served in the capacity of the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education in Central Bucks for two years. At the end of Dr. Bolton’s second year, the retiring Superintendent planned to retire officially on May 30, 2016 but in a series of events involving new School Board members, he was asked to clean out his office on Monday, May 9, 2016. The Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education also retired early in March of 2016, leaving Dr. Bolton currently with the title of Substitute Superintendent until a new Superintendent begins on June 6, 2016. Dr. Bolton has been completing tasks since March as Elementary and Secondary Assistant Superintendents and Substitute Superintendent all at once. My original interview was scheduled with the outgoing superintendent during the week of his departure. In light of this complication, Dr. Bolton was gracious enough to answer my questions in an email but I was unable to interview him in person or on the phone due to his busy schedule.

Rhonda Haus started her career in the secondary school system where she has seen and been a part of many changes. She gave a unique perspective into Regina Public Schools and highlight the systems specific goals along with their successes and failures. Underlining it all was her message to put the students and to provide the best education for all kids. These goals were measurable and attainable. Kaylan Gazda spoke about the elementary school system and her experience in a variety of grades and schools. Her time in an experimental classroom and in another country provided many challenges. However, those challenges and obstacles made her a better teacher for her current job in a split classroom. Jordan McFarlan was able to provide insight in process of building a new program in a high school from the ground up. He was able to list challenges he faced and ways to respond to those challenges. Jesamy Unger presented what is was it is like to be a student taking education and the lessons she learned throughout her journey. She gave us useful advice for our field experiences and the tip that not everything you need to know about being a teacher will be taught in school. Every member of the panel highlighted you need to make relationships and networks with students, colleagues and even

In a study conducted by S.M. Johnson on the complexity of the superintendent’s role in school district leadership, she identified three types of leadership evident in the practice of successful superintendents: “educational leadership (focus on pedagogy and learning), political leadership (securing resources, building coalitions), and managerial leadership (using structures for participation, supervision, support, and planning)” (as cited in Fullan, 2006, p. 210). For the RTI change initiative, the superintendent showed these three types of

Since my first day of grade school I have dreamt of becoming a teacher. It was not until my junior year of high school that my dream grew into a passion for wanting to teaching in an urban environment. During a field tip to a Chicago Public School, I observed that the students where clearly in an underfunded and disadvantaged environment compared to my own experience in school. The moment that I saw that teacher earning respect and influencing her students, it was obvious to me that these teachers were the most influential factor in the classroom. The teacher’s attitude and ability to influence was more important than any other resource.

The case study of the Branden Smith and his first year in the Parkland School District is a prime example of what can happen when there is a lack a control and guidance in the educational setting from an administrative perspective. Branden’s mentality is soon completely altered and jarred from optimism to pessimism within a matter of months after working in the Parkland district. He has formed a common mentality amongst many teachers that teach in an urban setting develop which I like to refer to as “Urban Fatigue”. Urban Fatigue is a mental, physical, and emotional state that you often find teachers in the urban school settings develop over time. This state seems to be far more progressive amongst teachers in the urban school setting than teachers in the suburban school settings. I attribute this fatigue to the fact that many teachers in the urban settings often are challenged with more disciplinary and behavioral issues, lack of parent support, lack of departmental and district funding, and overall structural issues within the learning environment and community. These factors attribute to the concept of “Urban Fatigue”. The case study of Branden Smith is an example of what can happen when the factors of “Urban Fatigue” set in due to a lack of school cultural, climate, and structural framework are not fully implemented by the administrative parties.

Teachers working in inner city high schools in the United States face enormous challenges. Their students, most of whom come from economically disadvantaged minority families and often do not speak English as a first language, present a daunting array of educational needs for teachers and schools. Resources and school structures are seldom sufficient for the task. Despite such conditions, some urban high school teachers persist for many years in the classroom and experience success and satisfaction in their work. Through a survey and extended interviews, this study identifies three broad factors that motivated a group of these teachers to remain in inner city classrooms for more than 12 years: (1) the students, (2) professional and personal

There is a consensus among the concerned stakeholders that the quality of teachers is the leading factor in determination of student performance. In the case of United States, the student performance can only be given an impetus by the efforts which the state can make, under all costs, to develop and retain high quality teachers. The measures undertaken determine the level of turnover of the school teachers. Lazear (2009) similarly argues the length of employment is a critical factor in averse risks of employment a trend contrary to teachers treatment. The turnover of public school teachers will refer to the rate at which the state, which is the teacher’s

In light of accountability requirements, fear of not meeting AYP (Annual Yearly Progress), and required school improvement plans, often the idea of “school improvement” is considered a negative attribute. Obviously schools do not want to be singled out or identified as in need of improvement. Teachers often take the same view towards the idea of improvement. We as teachers take very personal that concept of improvement; we often parallel the need for improvement to failure. However my belief is that effective schools are always in a school improvement process and effective teachers too also are constantly adapting their practice in a culture of continuous improvement and growth. Therefore it is important as an effective leader to build a community of trust and collaboration. I quote “We are all in this together. Once we know that we are, we’re all stars and we see that we’re all in this together.” (Disney High School Musical, 2006) These lyrics from a popular Disney movie put to light exactly the school culture where the goal is not personal but as a community to use data driven and research based approaches in reflection and growth that assist all stakeholders.

Teachers are a critical aspect to urban schools, they give children hope that they can succeed, they give families satisfaction that their child is being cared for and pushed, and they show society that even though urban schools are not properly funded and lack supplies that they can make a difference in these students. These risks are scary, but urban schools are risky. Urban schools are risky because they have overcrowded classrooms, students with many outside difficulties that are brought into the classroom, lack of supplies, teachers who constantly are transferring in and out, and not enough support from families. Urban schools are difficult, but they are worth the risk of

Motivating teachers to achieve better results at Marshall Metropolitan High School will require administrators to meet the basic and higher motivational needs of the staff (Kinicki & Williams, 2013). After dismissing 80% of the previous staff and the alarming amount of student violence at Marshal, administrators must start by fulfilling the basic motivational needs of physiological, safety, and existence (Ahmed, 2010). As a result, administrators will need to start by addressing the teachers’ need for self preservation by assuring this new group of teachers they are committed to their success, providing the teachers with clear criteria regarding what they must do to maintain their employment, and provide them with support to help them succeed

During my second preclinical experience at Westview Hills Middle School, I learned the importance of cooperation and collaboration among teachers at a school. I was able to observe team and department meetings during this experience. It became clear that it is important for teachers to work together in order to provide a positive atmosphere at a school and in a specific department. Although it became obvious that personalities and teaching styles were different throughout the school, the teachers still acted professionally and used each other as resources in

Administrators and teachers must work together to develop the PLC plan addressing the needs of their students. This means administrators need to trust teachers and allow them to work in a way that is autonomous from leadership. Delegating more responsibilities to staff was a way of creating a more knowledgeable community that could cope with the diversity of demands created by schools moving from being relatively simple organizations to highly complex ones. It was also recognized as in accord with the rhetoric of distributed leadership recommended as a strategy for school improvement and raising pupil attainment (Bolam et al. 2005, Webb, et al.

In terms of becoming a mediator and consensus builder the authors detailed the need for principals to possess relational leadership skills in order to be able to both facilitate groups and coach others on staff in the ability to facilitate their own groups, and stressed that the key to this is the ability to effectively participate in conflict resolution (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009). The authors suggested that conflict is part and parcel of school reform and that in addition to being able to deal effectively with conflict the successful principal needs to develop the ability for bringing about consensus within the group, noting that interpersonal and intrapersonal skills were as much or more important than knowledge (Donaldson, Marnik, Mackenzie, & Ackerman, 2009).

In any collaborative environment, an open-line of communication is a critical factor. Communication is a two way interaction of listening and speaking in turn. One speaks while the other listens for true comprehension is a key factor. One must get an understanding before the vision can be implemented within any leadership role. The presence of collaboration in schools are the result of principals, educators, parents, and administrative leadership in working as a team. The purpose of this essay is to explain the importance of teacher leadership, the principal 's role in developing teacher leaders, and their connection to the development of a collaborative culture in schools.