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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2001

News Release

Young Teachers Flee the Profession

Washington, D.C. - With three years of teaching under her belt, Jennifer Gartell has reached a crucial point in her career.

About 20 percent of new teachers leave the profession within three years. "I hope to stay in teaching," she says. But Gartell, a third-grade teacher in Tempe, Arizona, recalls that her first year in the classroom was "rough, very rough." Hired just a week before school began, she had to buy many of her classroom supplies herself at Target - including chalk - and like many new teachers, Gartell struggled with classroom management.

This school year, teacher recruitment remains a difficult task. But the toughest hurdle facing America's public schools is not finding qualified teachers - colleges graduate more than enough teachers each year to fill all teaching vacancies. The challenge is keeping qualified teachers in the classroom once they are hired.

With shortages in some areas reaching crisis proportions, the bidding war for new teachers has reached an all-time high: hefty signing bonuses, gym memberships, housing assistance and day-care options are among the incentives being offered to new hires.

But wooing teachers with perks won't solve the deeper problem, cautions the nation's largest teachers union.

"It's vitally important that we attract more bright young people to the teaching profession," says National Education Association President Bob Chase. "But my message to school districts is that you should pay more attention to keeping the teachers you have. And I am convinced that all teacher retention efforts must begin with the recognition of how difficult teaching really is."

Mentoring for teachers An emerging solution to the teacher recruitment and retention issue is to focus resources on the quality of learning once teachers get into the classroom. Instead of looking to recruiting gimmicks to make up the shortfall, some school districts are finding new ways to grow their own crop of veteran teachers through intensive on-the-job mentoring.

* In Cherry Creek, Colorado, the S.T.A.R. program assigns mentors to beginning teachers throughout their first year, and mentors serve a three-year term. Each mentor is assigned an average of 15 new teachers, and meets with the beginners and observes their classroom techniques at least once a week. Mentors help new teachers with lesson plans, strategies, and conferencing.

Results: Retention rates for first-year teachers in Cherry Creek have increased from less than 70% in the program's first year to 91% in the 1999-2000 school year. The overall retention rate of new teachers has jumped 22% since the program's inception five years ago.

* In Elgin, Illinois, a mentoring program now in its second year is credited with improving teaching performance and enhancing teacher retention. Two hundred and twenty-seven mentors and new teachers signed on initially, with each beginning teacher matched with a veteran teacher for his or her first two years. Today, 618 teachers are working collaboratively to improve student learning.

Results: After the first year of the mentoring program, the district saw close to a 90% retention rate among new teachers. New teachers report feeling supported in their efforts in the classroom.

* In Brunswick, Ohio, an entry year/peer assistance program is helping the district's large number of first-year teachers be successful. Full-time mentors serve as consulting teachers to entry-year educators, meeting with them up to 45 times a year. Mentors provide coaching, mentoring and support, and even serve as substitute teachers on occasion to allow new teachers to observe their peers.

Results: In the last three years, Brunswick has hired 179 new teachers. Today, 175 of them are still teaching successfully in the district. The program is also hailed as a recruitment tool, as first-year teachers report that they chose the Brunswick School District over others that offer higher pay because of the support provided to those entering the classroom.

Experts agree that investing in new teachers is a strategy that pays dividends for years to come.

"We find that when new teachers have support from master teachers in their schools, they stay longer and adjust better," says Mary Hatwood Futrell, dean of the George Washington University School of Education.

And the facts bear this out. Beginning teachers who do not participate in an induction program are twice as likely to leave as those who do participate.

"Give teachers the time they need to plan and confer with their colleagues," Chase advises. "Provide them with the mentors and professional development they need. Why make teaching even harder than it already is?"

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support personnel, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.