http://www.nea.org/teachershortage/index.html
Attracting and Keeping Quality Teachers
A historic turnover is taking place in the teaching profession. While student enrollments are rising rapidly, more than a million veteran teachers are nearing retirement. Experts predict that overall we will need more than 2 million new teachers in the next decade.
This teacher recruitment problem, which has reached crisis proportions in some areas, is most acute in urban and rural schools; for high-need subject areas such as special education, math and science, and for teachers of color.
Teacher compensation is a significant deterrent to recruitment. Teachers are still paid less than professions that require comparable education and skills. Teachers still are not valued and respected to the extent of their actual contributions to society.
Keeping teachers in profession is part of the puzzle
But solving the teacher shortage is not strictly a numbers game. Much has been said about the need to bring more young people into the teaching profession. But too little attention has been paid to holding onto the quality teachers already hired—both the beginning teachers as well as the more seasoned ones.
The statistics for turnover among new teachers are startling. Some 20 percent of all new hires leave the classroom within three years. In urban districts, the numbers are worse—close to 50 percent of newcomers flee the profession during their first five years of teaching.
New teachers overwhelmed, don't get enough help
Why do new teachers leave? They say they feel overwhelmed by the expectations and scope of the job. Many say they feel isolated and unsupported in their classrooms, or that expectations are unclear.
In education today, the first-year teacher is typically assigned to the same tasks, in and out of the classroom, as a long-time veteran. Quality mentoring programs for all first-year teachers are vitally important. Mentoring enables them to learn “best practices” from seasoned professionals, and research shows that new teachers who participate in induction programs are nearly twice as likely to stay in the profession as those who don't.
It is unacceptable for teachers to be assigned out-of-field. Such assignments are a disservice to students and teachers alike.
NEA believes all teacher retention efforts must begin with the recognition of the complexity of teaching. And that means we must give teachers the time they need to plan and confer with their colleagues. Provide them with the mentors and professional development they need. Reduce class size so they can devote more time to each student. To meet the growing demand for teachers, first we must do more to keep the good teachers we already have."
Does anyone know the true stats on HCPS (or HCDS) teacher retention?
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