When adults look back at their K-12 years, most can cite a teacher or two (or three) who had a profound effect on the trajectory of their lives. For me, it was Mr. Miller in 11th grade English class – junior year, a critical year. He taught the standard curriculum “The Canterbury Tales,” “Catch-22,” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and helped us prepare for the SATs (whether you were planning to attend college or not). But every Friday, his “going rogue” teaching style impacted us the most. Thirty minutes before the bell rang, he would read aloud a chapter or two from A.A. Milne’s classic, Winnie the Pooh. At first, we scoffed, “Seriously? I read that when I was five,” but he ignored us and began reading. We listened, transfixed; we laughed aloud when Eeyore lamented, “It’s not much of a tail, but I’m sort of attached to it.” And cried when Winnie the Pooh told Piglet, his best friend, “If you live to be a hundred, I hope I live to be a hundred minus one day, so that I never have to live a day without you.” His less-than-traditional teaching method distracted us from the stressors of our teenage lives and showed us how deeply he cared about us. Year after year, students would pass down the praise – “Oh, you have Mr. Miller? You’re going to love him!”
So, we were devastated when Mr. Miller decided to leave our high school for another, better-paying teacher position. How could this happen? How could the school let him go?
Retaining a teacher holds more significance than most other industries. Teachers become enmeshed in students’ lives, shaping their thoughts and inspiring their dreams as supporters and de facto mentors. It’s one of the most intensely personal professions.
Today’s increased demands on teachers, low pay, long hours, and superhuman expectations make it more challenging for teachers to be happy in their roles. Federal data shows that about 8 percent of teachers leave the profession yearly. One Indiana middle school teacher surveyed by EdWeek wrote: “We are pulled in [so] many ways by outside forces. There are committee meetings, PLC meetings, teacher meetings, IEP meetings, grade level meetings, team meetings, subject area meetings, and the list goes on and on; plus, every meeting requires more emails. Teaching students is wonderful. It is all the OTHER that is exhausting.”
While teacher turnover leveled off during the pandemic, an above average uptick is sounding alarms. The most concerning statistic is from the 2022 – 2023 school year, which showed that 26% of teachers with 3 – 7 years of experience and 17%- 20% of more experienced teachers left their roles. This means that students will be more likely to experience teachers that are new to their school each year, and siblings will be less likely to experience the same teacher.
Understanding the Impact of Teacher Retention
Retaining teachers is crucial for maintaining stability, enhancing the quality of education, and ensuring a consistent experience for students. High turnover rates have been shown to have the following impact on students and schools:
Student Impact
- Inconsistent Instruction – Frequent changes in teachers interrupts the continuity of instruction, which can negatively affect student understanding of the curriculum
- Teacher-Student Relationships – Students may struggle to develop meaningful relationships with their teachers when a school’s turnover is high
- Reduced Peer Learning – With different teachers, students are less likely to experience a stable learning environment together
School Impact
- Undermines a school’s culture – Teachers contribute to the community and culture of a school. Frequent changes erode traditions, weaken the development of positive relationships and compromise a unified vision
- Interrupts teacher mentoring opportunities – Lack of older, more experienced teachers impacts new teacher development
- Adverse effect on a school district’s “reputation” – Districts with high turnover rates are considered less appealing to families
What Strategies Can Schools Use to Retain Teachers?
Understanding the factors influencing a teacher’s decision to leave their role is critical to developing an effective retention strategy. Although compensation is cited most often as a primary reason teachers leave their positions or seek new opportunities, feeling heard, along with recognition and various other factors, plays a role in a teacher’s decision to either stay or leave.
Here are several strategies schools can use to boost morale and increase teacher satisfaction:
Make Teachers Feel Valued – Most teachers stay in their roles because they love their students despite complaints of relatively low pay and insufficient benefits compared to the rest of the job market. In Teacher Burnout Statistics: Why Educators Quit, Taquanda Hailey, Chief Analytics Officer for Schools That Lead says “teachers often feel undervalued or unappreciated by society, policymakers, or even their school communities.” Schools can make teachers feel appreciated by creating a positive atmosphere at school, frequently recognizing and acknowledging good work and prioritizing teachers’ well-being.
Reducing Administrative Workload – 43 percent of teachers say that reducing their administrative workload such as paperwork, meetings, and hall duty is something schools could do to keep teachers. Assuring the proper technology is in place to assist teachers with paperwork can help alleviate their workload and save time for teachers. Posting homework assignments online (via learning platforms like Google Classroom and Moodle) is a timesaver for teachers along with Google Forms, Power Points, games, or online grading systems.
Collaborative Practice – Empowering teachers to share their ideas and points of view is critical to teacher retention. Teachers tend to thrive in environments where they feel seen and heard and where their experience, education, and point of view matter. School leaders can increase motivation and improve teacher job satisfaction by fostering a sense of community rather than relying on a hierarchical environment.
Mentors – Mentor programs for teachers promote teacher growth, create a culture of inclusivity and improve student outcomes. By pairing new teachers with mentors, they can build trust, adapt more swiftly to their new environments, and develop greater confidence in their teaching abilities.
Professional Development and Career Growth – Teachers thrive in an environment of continued learning. By providing professional development workshops and coaching, teachers can expand their skills and stay abreast of the latest methods in education. In his paper, Why Professional Development Matters, Hayes Mizell asserts that professional development yields three levels of results:
(a) educators learn new knowledge and skills because of their participation;
(b) educators use what they learn to improve teaching and leadership; and
(c) student learning and achievement increase because educators use what they learned in professional development.
Career growth is also important in motivating teachers to remain in their roles. Schools that provide clear pathways for advancement and leadership opportunities often see lower turnover rates.
Addressing Classroom Challenges – Reports of disruptive behavior in the classroom have been on the rise for more than a decade. A survey by APA Task Force on Violence Against Educators and School Personnel notes that “Teachers reported the most significant increase in rates of verbal and threatening aggression (e.g., verbal attacks, verbal threats, sexual harassment, intimidation, public humiliation, bullying) and physical violence (e.g., objects thrown, objects used as weapons, physical attacks), experiencing a sharp rise since covid-19 to levels well above pre-pandemic levels.” School leaders have an obligation to address classroom challenges and implement protections for their teachers which can include enhancing SEL curricula to promote emotion regulation, enforce anti-bullying policies, and providing school-based mental health support for students.
Mental Health Support for Students – helps share the responsibility of supporting students, which teachers were never meant to handle alone. Addressing mental health concerns, particularly students with the most intensive mental and behavioral health challenges reduces the burden for teachers and creates a calmer atmosphere in the school setting. Partnering with a mental health provider creates a support system for teachers, provides training and can improve teacher retention.
Conclusion
Retaining quality teachers is essential for the stability of our school systems, not just to ensure the quality of education for our children but also to retain public trust in our education system. Schools can create a sustainable workforce by prioritizing teacher retention and ensuring competitive compensation, addressing teacher concerns such as administrative workload, classroom challenges, and shared points of view, and providing opportunities for growth with professional development and clear career paths. Investing in teachers means investing in our children, the generations to come, and the future of our society.