Why then, are there not more proactive measures to ensure the type of issue-relevant professional development and administrative actions which would support educators in staying at low performing school sites in order to provide a more equitable education for students from high risk backgrounds?
REASONS TEACHERS STAY:
- Being dealt with as professionals
- A safe place to work
- Having a say in the content they taught and the strategies they used in their classrooms
- Ability to use their authority and make choices at their school sites, both has individuals and as groups
- Mutually respectful feeling among staff
- A principal who was encouraging and sympathetic
- Being valued by parents and the community
- Close personal relationships forged at the school site
- Frequent team-related associations with colleagues
- Love of students existed
- Feeling effective with their students
- Raising salaries and incentive programs (Posnick-Goodwin,2008;UNCG,2006).
The data gathered with my surveys and during interviews confirmed this information. Teachers especially cited their positive relationships with colleagues; effective, inspiring, and supportive administrators; doing what they felt was best for their students despite mandated curriculum; and the love of their students as reasons they stayed.
One fascinating piece of data was: though hard-to-staff schools have challenging student populations, this was seldom mentioned as the reason for leaving.
Conclusions are continually being drawn as more research is uncovered and data analyzed. However, I am beginning to see if administrators would listen and act on the common concerns and realities of PI teachers, perhaps more teachers would stay and teach.
3 comments:
The school I teach at has high API scores but recently our demographics have changed. It is easier in some ways to teach advanced to proficient students. Their parents are supportive, they come to you at or above grade level, and they are intrinsically motivated. On the other hand, their parents, the school district, and the principal have high expectations from you. This year I have more students that are below grade level and have little support from their families. This can be frusterating at times. I can't imagine teaching and the whole class was 1, 2, or 3 grade levels behind. Therefore, teaching at a PI school in its self is a challenge. The staff needs a different approach to keep positive attitudes and belief in their students.
That makes sense, supportive bosses are essential in every profession, particularly teaching. I say particularly teaching because it's a hard job, with innumerable facets and possible challenges. How many days go by without something new or unexpected happening? The support of my principal is essential to my happiness and my happiness is essential to my loving my job and wanting to stay.
Our school is a PI school. I would agree with your findings. I also think there is a divisive attitude between teachers. This can be a reason why teachers leave.
I see a culture of veteran teachers that do not want to change their ways, even as technology and student populations change. This leads to friction between administrator expectations and young teacher training.
My administrators have high expectations for our use of technology and new teaching strategies. Many veterans are extremely resistant to both.
Unfortunately, these same veterans are the ones that young teachers look towards for guidance. They are learning bad habits that perpetuate a negative attitude throughout the faculty.
It is our duty to do what we can to spread a positive vibe. We can lead by example, regardless of our age, experience, or grade level. By doing this, we can show our leadership skills to our adminisrators and project this to our students
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