The Problem Of Teacher Attrition

While salary is a contributing factor to poor retention, administrators must investigate measures to adequately support their teachers. Greiner et al. (2005) created a five step plan to increase teacher retention. Their plan included designing collaborative training programs, developing flexible scheduling, strengthening relationships between experienced teachers, and developing partnerships between schools and local school districts.

The state of Arizona is facing a serious education crisis in the retention of qualified teachers. Personally, my school in Yuma, Arizona encountered an average of seven new teachers every year. Yuma High School District allowed for a teacher to teach chemistry when his/her Bachelor’s degree was in mathematics. According to the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ enacted in 2001, schools are required to provide “highly qualified” teachers to teach at all times (Educator Excellence). Having quality, long-term teachers is imperative to develop students in becoming productive members of society. Unfortunately due to federal budget cuts directly affecting education, Timothy L. Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, says, “Arizona has faced the most dramatic cuts to K-12 education spending of any state in the nation” (Lopez). As a result, administration is forced to have teachers make up for the lack of a certain subject by teaching it without qualifications. Due to this, out-of-state teachers leave within the first 5 years, and 25% all leave within the first year. Some reasons for this include a

Fifty percent of new teachers quit with in the first five years of teaching (NEA, 2015), with this number being so alarmingly high it begs the questions: Why do so many teachers leave after going through years of college for this profession? Were teachers not prepared for the job, through college training, what should colleges teach in order to better prepare teachers?

Overall, high rates of teacher turnover have direct monetary costs and alter the distribution of teacher experience and skill across districts. Dr. Maxwell, the Superintendent of PGCPS formed a Transition Team from which four subcommittees were formed one being the Teaching and Learning Committee (TL). The TL examined research on professional literature to answer the question and determined that in order for students to receive the high-quality education that prepares them to succeed in post-secondary opportunities, staff members must have instructional resources and professional learning opportunities to build their capacities

Teachers today face a number of challenges that contribute to a lack of job satisfaction, leaving schools for other professions that are more lucrative, low comparative compensation, and poor working conditions:

Many states across the country are experiencing teacher shortages. Without enough teachers, we can not successfully educate our children. According to Glori Chaika “Forty-two states issue emergency credentials to people who have taken no education courses and have not taught a day in their lives. Many teachers are hired based solely on their experience leading church or camping groups.” (Chaika) Due to the shortages, States are allowing those who are not even qualified to teach. One can not believe that children are being educated as best as they can be, if those teaching them have no experience or training before hand. Another problem is that teachers are not being place in the fields were they can perform at their best, Glori Chaika also states that “One-fourth of new teachers -- if they are licensed -- are not licensed to teach in the field they are teaching.” (Chaika) Many teachers have very little knowledge on the subject they are teaching, “About 55 percent of students taking physics in the United States, for example, are taught by someone who never majored or minored in the subject.” ( Asimov) As a result of the current teacher shortage, the quality of America’s educational system has gone down. People are being hired with no teaching experience and teachers are being forced to teacher subjects that they are not familiar with. Adding to the current teacher shortage is the problem of teacher

Did you know that only one of a thousand teachers is fired for performance-related reasons? Teachers with bad performance are not being fired in America, which is caused the fact that teachers are backed up by tenure, but it can be fixed through changing the criteria a teacher should be fired on. Today, I will go over in detail what the problem, causes, and solution is to the issue of having bad teachers keep their job in America. So, first and foremost, I will discuss the problem about bad teachers not being fired.

The purpose of exploring this phenomenon of teachers leaving their profession early in their career is to determine why it is happening and how it can be prevented in the future.

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

After reading the article by Owen Phillips, I find that there are several things I can do as a special education director to support teacher retention. First, special education teachers under my leadership would have a voice. For instance, when the school board or higher officials decide that a new program or method of instruction is needed, our team will collaborate to create a course of action and timeline for these changes to be made. They would also have a voice in decision-making and discipline. Secondly, I would be available to my special education teachers as much as possible. I want them to feel supported and heard during their time under my leadership. I would send out anonymous surveys quarterly to my staff to find out how they

One of the many problems in education is the attrition rate of teachers (Boyer Para 4). Many

Assistant Superintendent Denise Bartlett reviewed a report, containing results of the district’s teacher retention survey that was administered to certified staff during 2014-2015. Also included for the board’s information was the Arizona Department of Education Teacher Retention and Recruitment Report. Dr. Bartlett informed the board that the survey had several goals, which included 1) ascertaining what attracted teachers to the district, 2) why teachers continued to work in the district, 3) what factors might influence teachers to seek employment outside of the district, and 4) what factors provides job satisfaction. Dr. Bartlett also reported that there was a 90% rate of return from the survey with 280 of 311 teachers responding. The district

Without data revealing what works to keep teachers in hard-to-staff schools in Indiana, solutions to the perceived teacher shortage problem are a shot in the dark. Data from this research will provide educators and policy makers with numeric descriptions demonstrating which working conditions are present in high minority and high poverty schools that experience less teacher turnover than schools with low minority and low poverty schools. Analysis of these data can help educators and policy makers make strategic decisions about how to craft effective policy to keep more teachers in their current schools, thus slowing the revolving door that leads to excess demand for teachers.

Consequently, high attrition rates characterize the first 3 years of teaching, underscoring a need to provide better support for beginning teachers.” Every new teacher becomes part of the school community. The special education teachers must work across the boundaries of general and special education and communicate effectively with general education teachers, related services personnel, administrators, and parents. They should know how to coordinate their work with other professionals to accomplish important goals. I think that learning to interact in a positive and productive manner with colleagues is a critically important part of the new teacher’s work. As I observed at school, the tension can arise if the paraprofessional keeps disagreeing with the teacher’s decision. It can easily happen if the teacher is new. I strongly believe that it is a responsibility of every new teacher to take time to build relationships with others from the moment she/he begins interacting with them. Strong partnerships with other teachers should lead to productive interaction with other professionals in the school and better teaching. Building strong relationships are important for helping students meet their goals. According to Billingsley, Brownell, Israel & Kamman (2013, p. 27), “Teachers who establish positive relationships will be less stressed and more satisfied with their work, and those who experience chronic interpersonal problems have greater stress, withdraw, and will likely be

In the first year of teaching, four out of ten teachers quit. An educators job is not a walk in the park. In Kansas, we are facing a shortage of teachers. The most areas that are facing these shortages are Special Education, Adaptive and Functional Special Education, Early Childhood Handicapped, and hearing and visual impaired. It has been reported that Fewer students have chosen to major in education. There are many reasons that are causing the shortages, lack of