AN URBAN

PUBLIC SCHOOL &

TEACHER
RETENTION
Christopher Harris
4/10/2018
 Teacher Retention
■ In conjunction with an urban, Midwestern school district, I was able to conduct an Equity
Audit, in the form of a Teacher Retention survey.
■ Through the work that I did earlier in the Spring 2017 semester, I found that there was an
uptick in teachers either leaving the district, or requesting transfers.
■ For the Equity Audit, I worked closely with the district’s Executive Director for Teaching
and Learning, and the district’s Labor Relations Manager. I also conducted interviews with
two Elementary School principals in the district.
 The Importance of Teacher
Retention
■ Research and studies that have been conducted in the last two decades show that there is
a clear and definitive link between that of teacher retention and student achievement
(Hirsch, Emerick, Church, & Fuller 2006).
■ Teacher quality–focused research by Kati Haycock and the Education Trust has found
that “poor students, low-performing students, and students of color are far more likely
than other students to have teachers who are inexperienced, uncertified, poorly educated,
and under-performing.”
■ A high rate of turnover is one of the reasons that teacher quality is lower for poor, low-
performing, and minority students.
 Treating Teachers as a
Resource
■ The Education Trust outlines a list of rational things to do to support and keep
your vital resources:
1. Trying to get as much of the resource as possible
2. Thinking about how best to distribute and deploy that resource.
3. Continually evaluating the policies you adopt to accomplish 1 and 2,
revising them, improving them, and always focusing on how to maximize
the resource and use it as effectively as possible.
The following slides will include:
• Demographics of the teachers
1 and other staff members who
participated in the survey

• Questions asked, and their

2 responses

• Summary with final

3 recommendations for school
district
Survey Demographics
 Selection Procedure
■ I decided to disperse surveys to the 10 schools in the district with the highest
turnover/transfer rates.
■ No sampling method was used; I selected the schools and sent an electronic survey to
everyone in the building in an effort to get a larger number of responses.
■ We received 137 responses.
■ Other pertinent information that I gathered include: individuals length of service with the
district, their job title, and grade level(s) taught.
Survey Questions
and Direct Quote
Responses
Question # 1
Question # 2
 Question # 3: What are some additional
reasons that teachers may be leaving at
such a high rate?
■ “Lack of classroom management experience.”
■ “May want to teach in a suburban district”
■ “No matter how high you score, how far you move students along IT’S NEVER ENOUGH.
Also, there are only so many hours in a day, you cannot expect 2-4 more hours in
preparation or data analysis each evening in addition to a full day at school!”
■ “The extra stress to get students to perform on one test out of the entire year.”
■ “Money.”
“Health Issues.”
 Question # 4: If you feel that you were
not adequately prepared for your role,
please share why.
■ “Behavior management should be a class. This should include role plays, consequences, and inclusion
from various special ed. Units.”
■ “None of my prep was practical – all theory.”
■ “Training for teaching in discipline at the college level is poor.”
■ “I was prepared.”
■ “Inner city education is not taught in college.”
■ “I do not feel that way. Every career has a learning curve, so it is to be expected that we do not come out
of college knowing everything and feeling comfortable with all expectations.”
 Question # 5: The district strives to be an employee-oriented
organization where employees experience positive morale and
motivation. What are your experiences/thoughts regarding the
employee morale and motivation at your location or for the
district?
■ “We are truly respected within the building – it’s at the district level that’s a problem.”
■ “I enjoy my school and love teaching.”
■ “I’ve always had supportive principals.”
■ “I think employee morale is at an all time low this year in the district and at my location. A few years ago
we were told to “Fly the plane” while it was being built, but it didn’t work and I feel like we’ve been
treading water in the middle of the ocean this year – surrounded by sharks.”
 Question # 6: What ways could APS aid in
strengthening the meaningful connections
that you build with your students?

■ “Offering valid professional development from professionals who are still active in the classroom.”
■ “More parent involvement.”
■ “LESS TESTING and more time to add fun to learning.”
■ “Back us up and support us with our students in our buildings. Having taught a lot of subject areas in a
lot of buildings, there is no consistency between buildings in APS. Each building is its own world and
they all act differently.”
■ “Stop cutting teachers.”
■ “I feel that it would be helpful to know a bit more about our student population more outside of the
school setting.”
 Question # 7: What motivates you to
continue teaching in Akron Public
Schools?
■ “My love for students.”
■ “I LOVE bringing kids and books together and sharing and encouraging the magic and love of reading.”
■ “The people I work with.”
■ “The pay is good.”
■ “The students.”
■ “I know that I am an HQT and that I can make a difference in the lives of the children I teach. I would
teach even if I didn’t get paid.”
■ “I love my district. I love my kids. I couldn’t possibly think of doing anything else.”
■ “My paycheck and benefits; wanting better for the kids.”
 Question # 8: What are the strengths of
your building?
■ “We have a good support system within the staff.”
■ “Dedicated and supportive staff, admin., and coach. This is a great place to teach.”
■ “Good leadership, strong teachers, and excellent follow up among staff. We communicate well.”
■ “Regardless of our trials we all have our hearts in it for our kids.”
■ “Academics.”
■ “Teachers.”
■ “Collaboration between students, teachers, tutors, intervention, and administration.”
■ “Caring, compassionate staff, who are good teachers, considerate colleagues.”
■ “Our willingness to collaborate, share ideas, and willingness to help each other.”
 Question # 9: What are some areas of
improvement for your building?
■ “Discipline procedures.”
■ “Smaller class sizes.”
■ “Being able to keep families and students accountable for their actions.”
■ Improving relationships with students who have had brain trauma or are of diverse cultural populations
than the staff.”
■ “To be able to have more fun with the kids.”
■ “The PLC meetings seemed very unorganized and I felt that the goals weren’t always clear.”
■ “Smaller classes, especially for the lower grades.”
■ “More flexibility from administration for the principal to issue appropriate and more firm discipline
when needed.”
 Question # 10: If you have ever
transferred out of a building, what were
your reasons for doing so?
■ “Building or school closing.”
■ “Conflict between staff.”
■ “My position was cut.”
■ “Stress level with students distruptive/disrespectful behavior.”
■ “Low enrollment. I wanted to be full time, better opportunity.”
■ “Did not get along with 2 vindictive principals. They spoke down to teachers and had no follow through
with discipline.”
■ “I wanted to teach a different topic at a different level, and there was nothing available in my building.”
 Question # 11: Is there anything else you
would like to share?
■ “Computers cannot replace hard copies of books for all learning. Doing so interferes with
interpersonal relations and communication skills which are sorely lacking in today’s
society.”
■ “I love teaching. It isn't my job- it's my life. But in the past few years it has become more
and more discouraging and I think about quitting each year. I love my students, and I know
they need me. But I also know that I need to take care of my own emotional stress so I can
be a good mother to my young children at home as well. I may not take much work home
with me at nights, but I take home so much emotional stress and it spreads into my home
and that is my greatest regret right now with my job.”
■ “Can we be a part of a focus group and share out with people?”
 Summary &
Recommendations
 Key Takeaways from Survey
Questions
■ Many teachers cited money, lack of classroom management
experiences, lack of trust as a professional from the district and their
administrators, and inconsistent or non-support from parents and
administrators.
■ Not being adequately prepared to deal with behavior and discipline
challenges was a theme that was repeated over and over by the teachers
for this question. One response said “Behavior management should be a
class. This should include role plays, consequences, and inclusion from
various special education units.”
■ Over 50% of the respondents said they would be unlikely or very unlikely
to encourage teaching as a profession to their students. This should be
troubling and startling for most educators. It begs the question, “Why are
you a teacher?” And it’s implications are far reaching.
■ Define our challenges
– Disconnect between staff and district leadership
– Low morale, especially when concerning student discipline and feeling that voices of teachers
and staff are not being heard
– Lack of familial involvement
– Too large of class sizes
– An increased focus on testing and not enough focus on teaching
■ Set realistic expectations
– Success is not achieved overnight
– Success is a continuous process
– What can be achieved in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, etc.
■ Keep your eye on the goal
– Initiatives to increase familial participation and communication with teachers and administration
– Wellness and Self Care programs for teachers and staff
– More extensive cultural competency programming for teachers and staff
– Focus groups
■ Teachers
■ Parents and guardians
Teacher Residency Programs

■ Looking at the responses from the staff, professional

development was astonishingly requested throughout multiple
questions.
■ One of the most successful and innovative methods that will
promote the preparation of teachers is through the creation and
establishment of residency program that would help to recruit,
train, and retain talented teachers.
■ I used the San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR) program as
a guide through my research.
 The San Francisco Teacher
Residency (SFTR)
■ SFTR is a consortium that includes the San Francisco Unified
School District, the United Educators of San Francisco, and two
area colleges, the University of San Francisco School of
Education and the Stanford Teacher Education Program.
■ SFTR pairs graduate students (“residents”) from both
universities with mentors (called “cooperating teachers”) who
are classroom teachers in San Francisco.
■ After completing the program, SFTR graduates are guaranteed
teaching positions in San Francisco public schools.
 SFTR Continued

■ Since SFTR’s inception in 2010, they have graduated nearly 175

educators, with 80% still teaching in the city.
■ Recently, research has highlighted the promise of teacher
residencies: they retain teachers for more than the three to five
years that new teachers tend to stay in the classroom, they recruit
a greater proportion of teachers of color, and the handful of
programs that have been studied have shown a positive impact
on student achievement.
 References
■ E. Hirsch, S. Emerick, K. Church, & E. Fuller . (2007). Teacher working conditions are student
learning conditions. Chapel Hill, NC: Southeast Center for Teaching Quality.
■ Terry, L. A., & Kritsonis, W. A. (2008). A national issue: Whether the teacher turnover affects
students’ academic performance? Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED499543
■ Winters, M.A. (2012). Teachers matter: Rethinking how public schools identify, reward, and
retain great educators. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012.
■ Dublin, J. (2017). Investing wisely in teacher preparation: A San Francisco residency program
recruits and retains classroom talent. American Educator, 1. Retrieved from
https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/ae_fall2017_dubin.pdf