As much as half of all new teachers leave education within their first five years of teaching. Most of these teachers cite low pay, job dissatisfaction and lack of administrative support. Others also emphasize disciplinary problems with students, low student motivation and not being able to be involved in school decisions as key reasons for leaving. Though low pay is difficult to address, providing a professional environment for teachers can be realistically implemented.
Difficult Teaching Conditions
The discussion of poor teaching conditions often brings to mind poor or urban schools. News reports often contain images of graffiti covered schools with poorly maintained playground equipment and information about school violence. These images are extreme and contribute to high teacher attrition, but not all schools are affected.
Many schools, even in suburban and affluent neighborhoods, provide difficult conditions in other ways. New teachers are often sent to their first assignment with little or no administrative support. Lack of textbooks and other supplies are not uncommon. Some teachers may be required to float from classroom to classroom since there is not a room available for their class. Others encounter student discipline problems and do not have administrative support for handling them. Frequent assemblies and testing needs also limit a teacher's time with the students and can make it difficult for teaching all of the required curriculum.
Professional Workplace for Teachers
Each school has its own environment and culture, which could make it difficult for the environment to change in order to better support teachers. Schools with high attrition rates might start by supporting new teachers with a mentor program. Ingersoll reports that mentorship programs do improve the retention of new teachers by as much as 8% when compared to schools without mentor programs. Mentor programs are not limited to teachers who have recently received their teaching credentials but include any teacher new to the school no matter how many years of experience the teacher has.
Another primary area of change that could help retain good teachers is to increase their involvement in decisions that affect the school and classroom. Ingersoll's research and analysis has shown that schools that encourage teacher input into decisions, especially decisions concerning student discipline, benefit in several ways. These benefits include a decrease in conflict between teachers and students and a lower than average teacher turnover rate.
Teaching is a profession and many teachers want a professional environment in which to work. Each school has its own needs, but by encouraging teacher input into decisions, administratively supporting teacher needs and providing mentorship for new teachers it is possible to retain good teachers.
Reference: Richard Ingersoll: Teacher Turnover and Shortages Summaries
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