Got new teachers? Invest and save 2 billion dollars!

Not only do about 500,000 teachers leave the teaching field every year, two-thirds of the U.S’s BEST teachers leave teaching for other careers (Rankin, 2016). When teacher leave, especially good teachers or those with the potential to be good teachers, it is a nightmare for many school leaders. Not only does school culture suffer from lack of consistency, student achievement also drops (Rankin, 2017). It costs more than 2 billon dollars to replace and prepare replacements for teachers who quit (Rankin, 2017). So how can we retain the 40%-50% of new teachers who usually leave within the first five years (Rankin, 2016)?

3 Way to Increase New Teacher Effectiveness and Decrease Burnout:

• Induction:

• Attending an induction seminar reduces the chances of leaving the school by 49%-58%. Each of the induction supports helps new teachers become more prepared for the school year and reduces the odds of them leaving by 18%-22% (Ronfelt & McQueen, 2017). Use induction days to show new teachers what resources are available, introduce them to their coach or mentor, and school culture norms.

• Hold off Academic PD for year 2:

• It might be tempting to develop intricate content professional developments for your first year teachers so that they can jump into the art of their content, but research shows that the gains are not very significant for first year teachers (Strong, 2006). First year teachers’ priorities are on management and getting caught up on school culture. Feel free to jump into more comprehensive PDs for second-year teachers as they will get the most out of the PDs.

• Communication and Input:

• When making changes to school policy or considering changes, make sure to ask your teachers. Also provide opportunities to feedback to establish an open communication between staff and administration. Research shows that teachers who have supportive communication rom administration are 47%-48% less likely to leave the school (Ronfelt & McQueen, 2017). When staff feel like their opinions are not taken into consideration in important decision, it will easily cause morale to fall (Brown & Schainker, 2008).

Rosy He is a SED masters student in Curriculum and Teaching at Boston University. She is currently teaching at Roxbury Prep Lucy Stone as a math teacher. She is constantly learning to better her teaching through practice and what she is learning at BU.

References

Brown, K. M., & Schainker, S. A. (2008). Doing all the right things: Teacher retention issues. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 11(1), 10-17.

Rankin, J. G. (2016, November 22). The Teacher Burnout Epidemic. Retrieved December 3, 2017, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/much-more-common-core/201611/the-teacher-burnout-epidemic-part-1-2

Rankin, J. G. (2017, Feburary 1). The Teacher Burnout Epidemic, Part 2 of 2. Retrieved December 3, 2017, from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/much-more-common-core/201702/the-teacher-burnout-epidemic-part-2-2

Ronfeldt, M., & McQueen, K. (2017). Does New Teacher Induction Really Improve Retention?. Journal of Teacher Education, 68(4), 394-410.

Strong, M. (2006). Does new teacher support affect student achievement. Research Brief, 6(1), 1-4.