4 Ways School Leaders Can Impact Teacher Retention

The subject of teacher retention dominates the national conversation about education reform, leaving many administrators scrambling to fill classrooms with teachers. Here are 4 ways school leaders can impact teacher retention:

Skip the rose-colored glasses

Research shows that administrators may have a more favorable view of their school. In one district-wide study, teachers saw high turnover as a result of poor leadership, administrators overwhelmingly saw it as a result of strong leadership (Bevans et al., 2007). There is a clear imbalance between what leaders and teachers perceive.

Embrace diversity and inclusion work

In the same study, male teachers, teachers of color, and novice teachers had a lower overall perception of the school than other groups. What was the area with the lowest rating? Staff affiliation (Bevans et al., 2007). I have often heard principals say that facilitating conversations about diversity among their staff is “not their job”. This is dangerous and dangerously ignorant. Having dialogue is necessary to be inclusive. This does not mean that every issue of the day will be resolved, but instead that faculty can grow and work together across their differences, rather than in spite of them.

Provide extra support to novice teachers

Unfortunately, the popular trope of the teacher crying in the classroom at the end of the day is an everyday reality for many new teachers. Teaching is one of the hardest professions around and there will be challenges that are simply part of the job. Still, there are others, that can be avoided by paying more attention and providing more support. First-year teachers cannot be left to figure it out for themselves.

Let teachers do the job you hired them to do

One author interviewed STEM teachers in an under-resourced school that had been teaching there for more than 5 years. The most common reason for staying was the level of “instructional autonomy” they enjoyed (Ilagan, 2010). Many school leaders make the mistake of hiring a brilliant and creative staff and not letting them use their talent and skill. Overprescribing content may stunt teachers’ growth.

Noelani Gabriel is a graduate student at Boston University studying Curriculum and Teaching. She currently works at an out-of-school time program for low income students in Cambridge. She is passionate about increasing educational equity for students and increasing the ranks of educators of color.

Sources

Bevans, K., Bradshaw, C., Miech, R. and Leaf, P. (2007) Staff- and school-level predictors of school organizational health: A multilevel analysis. Journal of School Health, 77, 294–302.

Ilagan, D. J. (2010). Revisiting first-year teacher burnout: New South Carolina educators in the era of accountability.