| 30 years experience in retaining teachers |
6/10/04 8:53 AM |
| Author:
Joe Nathan
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Over the last 30 years I've helped start a number, and in some cases worked in some successful new small innovative public schools, including charter schools. Here are a few points to consider:
* No school should hire mostly or all brand new teachers. I've seen this mistake several times. It takes between 2 and 5 years for a person to really understand what it means to teach well. Some new schools - alt or charter, made a mistake by hiring mostly or almost all brand new or very young teachers. Enthusiasm and energy are great - but they are not a good substitute for strong experience teaching.
* The most effective schools almost always have a mix of teachers at different points in their career.
* Strong mentor programs dramatically increase the likelihood that young teachers with good talent and potential become excellent teachers, AND that these people stay in education.
* As Mark says, schools that do the best at retaining teachers have a strong, positive culture focused on accomplishment. Some schools have a very negative culture. I've seen very talented people leave schools because the environmemt for learning and teaching is toxic.
* Despite a school's best efforts some people will leave. So part of any good school's program is not just a good orientation for new students, but a continuing in-service program for faculty.
* Finally, It is far easier to type a few words onto a computer screen than to do these things - but there are marvelous examples of places where people have done what is described above - and there are enormous benefits for students and the broader community.
Posted as a reply to:
Without vision the people perish by Mark Sorensen 
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