A Tough School Assignment: Holding On to New Teachers

A University of Cincinnati partnership is garnering national recognition and funding for its approach to preparing new teachers and keeping them in the classroom. This partnership between the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) and the West Clermont Local School District is one of only 12 such affiliations from around the nation to receive Carnegie funding through an initiative to align college teacher education programs with the orientation of new K-12 teachers. The goal is to support and improve the development of new teachers by creating stronger mentors in K-12 schools, thus ensuring that no child is left behind when it comes to education.

Teacher turnover comes at a cost for students as well as school systems. “If schools are forced to rehire for the same position over and over again, they’re losing the skill that a teacher develops, and of course that is going to affect student learning,” says Angie Ferguson, director of the West Clermont Schools Teacher Induction Program.

A 2005 report from the Alliance of Excellent Education estimates the cost of replacing public school teachers at more than $2 billion per year by conservative estimates, and national research also shows the turnover is highest among new teachers entering the profession, with the most turnover occurring in urban schools.

Researchers, administrators and school systems around the country are examining how to turn new teachers into veteran teachers who will remain at the same school for years to come. One successful strategy is providing the new teacher with guidance and support through those early years through a mentor to turn to when the idealistic young teacher is experiencing realities on the job that were never imagined.

One such partnership between the University of Cincinnati’s College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services (CECH) and the West Clermont Local School District is now getting support from a national resource. The New Teacher Center at University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) is dedicated to improving student learning by supporting the development of highly qualified teachers. Through the New Teacher Center, the UC/West Clermont partnership was awarded an equivalent of more than $65,000 in Carnegie Foundation support in direct professional development and consultation services, research and other support services.

As part of UC’s partnership with West Clermont, UC students complete a year-long teaching internship, teaching three classes throughout the year and serving as the “teacher of record,” under the guidance of a West Clermont mentor. They teach during the day and then attend UC classes in the evening to gain their licensure. A stipend from the school district and UC graduate scholarships support most of the UC/West Clermont teaching interns’ tuition during this crucial year. The school system reports that the UC interns hired by West Clermont have an 83 percent retention rate in the classroom, compared with national estimates that place the dropout rate of new teachers as high as 50 percent within the first five years of the job.

So, why are new teachers also among the most likely to leave the teaching profession? “They have an idealized vision of what life is going to be like in the classroom,” explains Chet Laine, a UC associate professor of teacher education who is also an active faculty member guiding the teaching interns in the UC/West Clermont partnership. “In the classroom, they need to vary their activities frequently, especially during a 90-minute period, and when they’re new, they’re still building that reservoir of activities and ideas.”

“Typically, a first-year teacher may spend between 70-to-80 hours per week on the job,” Ferguson adds. “They may be teaching between 100-to-150 students a day. It can become overwhelming.”

Ferguson says that through the mentoring partnership and the teaching intern’s year-long experience in a West Clermont classroom, the interns develop an affinity for the students and staff, strengthening their ties to the teaching profession and strengthening West Clermont’s retention rate of their new hires. In addition to working with school-based mentors and university-based supervisors, the interns and first-year teachers at West Clermont participate in workshops that provide them with valuable skills in classroom management, long-range planning and conferences with parents.

The partnership was among 12 such affiliations nationally to be selected for an 18-month collaboration with the New Teacher Center, chosen from among 40 finalists pursuing how to strengthen mentoring programs for new teachers. On Feb. 20 and 21, New Teacher Center Outreach Coordinator Geoffrey Baker will provide the partnership with a workshop to be held at West Clermont, themed on the analysis of student work. The workshop will analyze student work samples, identify specific learning needs and then reveal teaching strategies to reach every student.

A teacher for more than 15 years, Baker has taught high-school and college students and previously worked with Stanford University’s School Redesign Network and Teachers College (Columbia University) National Academy for Excellent Teaching.

Other universities selected for the New Teacher Center’s initiative to strengthen teacher education programs include

• Alverno College
• California State University, Northridge
• East Carolina University
• Jackson State University
• Montclair State College
• New York University
• Stanford University
• Southeastern Louisiana University
• University of North Carolina, Greensboro
• University of Texas, El Paso
• Western Kentucky University

In an age when schools are struggling to hold on to new teachers as well as anticipating a wave of Baby Boomer retirements, Laine says this UC/West Clermont partnership is a UC|21 success story as the partnership strives to “create an environment where highly skilled, well-trained, passionate professionals will grow and thrive.”