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Stimulating Teacher Retention Strategies

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By Ariel Sacks on May 27, 2009

Editor’s note: We wondered what ideas accomplished teachers might have about good ways to invest stimulus funds. Answering our call, members of the Teacher Leaders Network to give us their straight-from-the-classroom perspectives. The ideas, of course, are their own and do not necessarily represent those of LFA or its member organizations. In the first of four teacher contributions, Ariel Sacks offers her thoughts:

This June will complete my fifth year of teaching at a high-need public middle school in New York City. At age 30, I’ve developed skills as a teacher and a leader, and I’m looking to advance my career. But the only way, it seems, to move up in the field of education is to leave my students and move out of the classroom.

This year, startling numbers of my colleagues across the city with three, four or five years of experience will leave teaching. They aren’t leaving because they feel ineffective or because they’ve lost interest, but rather because they see no real career opportunities moving forward as classroom teachers. They will go on to become administrators, pursue doctorates, or enter the world of education policy.

These may be fine options for them, but not for our students. New teachers, with neither skills nor experience, will replace my colleagues in their urban public school classrooms. In an age of “no excuses” and “high standards for all,” students are continually shortchanged, as they watch novice teachers struggle to lead them effectively—while many of their best teachers leave. When this happens, students know they are being left behind, and schools reel from the loss.

A school full of accomplished teachers can support—even benefit from—a few new teachers. But in urban schools, the number of inexperienced teachers is disproportionately large, putting undue pressure on experienced teachers to “hold their schools together.” Professional learning communities and mentoring programs provide support for new teachers, but the investment is mostly lost when teachers leave the classroom after a few years.

Teachers from the baby-boom generation will retire in droves over the next five years. This will result in an even greater crisis as more and more inexperienced teachers fill vacancies in schools across the nation.

MY PROPOSED STIMULUS INVESTMENT: I recommend designing policies as soon as possible to keep strong teachers in the classroom. This will require more than bonuses for raising test scores, which fail to recognize the complexity of teaching and learning or the need to compete with salaries and working conditions of other professions.

Secretary Duncan has spoken optimistically about using test scores and “other measures” to design a performance pay system for teachers. It’s time to start developing—with teacher input—those important “other measures.”

One such measure should be teacher leadership. I serve as a grade team facilitator, mentor teacher and curriculum developer, as well as a full-time teacher. These positions help teachers support one another and gain a voice in their schools, which can improve working conditions and outcomes for students. However, the titles and responsibilities don’t represent career advancement for me (or most other teachers) because, unlike in other professions, I’m not paid for my leadership skills. I could switch back to lunch duty and see no change in salary. Teacher compensation must be reshaped to reward and retain teachers who make valuable contributions to their school communities.

Our schools need great teachers, and great teachers need career opportunities beyond their first few years. Help create those opportunities, and you can count on me, and my bright and talented colleagues, to stay in classroom teaching, where we count most for students.

Ariel Sacks, a graduate of Brown University and Bank Street College, began her teaching career in Harlem and now teaches eighth grade English in Brooklyn. Her blog On the Shoulders of Giants appears at the Teacher Leaders Network website.

Stay tuned for more teacher ideas in the coming days.

Link to this story: http://www.learningfirst.org/stimulating-teacher-retention-strategies

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This is needed AS SOON AS

Submitted by on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 20:09

This is needed AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. It takes years to become an strong, effective teacher. We can't afford to spend years developing teachers only to lose them to other pursuits. Or worse, replace strong teachers with scripted curriculum

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I absolutely agree. It leads

Submitted by on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 20:47

I absolutely agree. It leads to burnout and frustration when you WANT to stay in the classroom but you don't see the work you are doing being valued. I'm finishing my 7th year teaching and don't want to leave but I also don't want to be standing at the copier making the same copies, and nothing else, in 20 years.

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Ariel: I think I have just

Submitted by Linda Johnson on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 21:03

Ariel: I think I have just the idea for you. Find some like-minded teachers and start your own charter school. Choose a head teacher who would still have the opportunity to teach for part of the day. Have a career ladder (assistant teacher, associate teacher, teacher, mentor etc.) and include all teachers in decision-making. Use the stimulus money to have the best possible educational program for your students. If I understand things correctly, this is exactly the kind of innovation President Obama and Arne Duncan looking for. Good luck! Linda Johnson Long Beach, CA

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Ariel, As always, your words

Submitted by Heather Wolpert-Gawron on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 21:33

Ariel, As always, your words bring a a fresh take on ideas that have inked the placards of strike signs since time began. You bring a new voice with a wisdom of a teacher leader. Merit pay is a nickel-and-dime scenario when leaders in this profession, that is, those who are committed to their own growth and the growth of their students, are compensated at a no greater a rate than those who chaperone the occasional dance. Subs earn more per hour than a trained teacher does, so how is it fair that we should be green carding our efforts? And how does a hard-working, progressive teacher with commitment to both her profession and her family, earn enough to have her own children educated in a district that is only adequate? Our profession is plagued by the past practice of teacher sacrifice. It's time to simply insist on professionalism. Sincerely, Heather Wolpert-Gawron aka Tweenteacher

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"the investment is mostly

Submitted by Nancy Flanagan on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 16:38

"the investment is mostly lost"--Ariel Exactly. It's foolish to induct, mentor, form professional learning communities, and then lose all of that talent and spirit because teaching is a flat career. Twenty years at the copy machine, indeed. As for taking all the talented teachers and creating a charter school led by teachers--that's fine. But it doesn't address the systemic problem of ignoring teachers' genuine leadership capacities in favor of interchangeable teaching technicians who come and go in the poorest schools. There is more at stake here--schools populated with poor children and inadequate teachers tear at the fabric of society. Nancy Flanagan, Teacher Leaders Network

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Something to stop and think

Submitted by Robyn Ulzheimer on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 19:43

Something to stop and think about: understanding the complexities of teaching is putting it lightly. As teachers how is our expertise valued in public policy decisions? How are experienced educators provided with opportunities to still stay in the classroom while sharing their areas of expertise with newer teachers? Can the job description be re-imagined? In other systems and countries, teachers can job share- split a classroom position and then have other professional opportunities that further enrich their teaching thus impacting the education of students in classrooms. Ask policy makers to re-design the role of school within a community. I think any politician/policy maker would have a different point of view if s/he spent a week in a classroom- meaning seeing the day to day life of classrooms and schools (without an entourage or photographers). Robyn Ulzheimer, Ed.D.

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Lunch duty indeed! So,

Submitted by David Cohen on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 20:59

Lunch duty indeed! So, Ariel, who do you talk to? Who do you bug? Who are your allies in high places? Who are your colleagues with the same aspirations? I don't know how I'd take on such a project in a large district. I'm lucky enough to be in a small district where I know most of the school board, the superintendent, and most of the other district administrators, along with the current union president and her predecessor. My district is not as far along as I'd like in these regards, but moving in the right direction. And when I have something to say on these matters, I have someone to talk to. Good luck! - David Cohen

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Teacher leadership says it

Submitted by Anne on Sun, 05/31/2009 - 18:09

Teacher leadership says it all, Ariel. I can't imagine any school or school system that could really improve and reach potential without tapping the expertise and experience of teachers. Alabama is in the process of designing a program that will open several avenues to teachers. They may elect to stay in the classroom, or they may take one of two teacher leadership options - and also teach. The teacher leadership options would involve pay increases and a way for teachers to progress without leaving their first love - teaching and learning. Great stimulus option!

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Thank you for taking time to

Submitted by coach factory outlet on Thu, 01/06/2011 - 21:53

Thank you for taking time to share it with the readers, I am more than happy to have come across it. Keep up the good work.

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