Recruit, Train, Retain
Vital steps to ensure all children receive the best teaching possible.
After writing and publishing my last article, I have decided to split the second half of “Common Sense Innovation” into multiple pieces. Therefore, sections 4 through 6 will each be a separate article over the next couple of weeks. Refocusing our priorities in education is huge in scope and requires a focus and dedication to each aspect. I am also still a full-time Principal and for time’s sake, it is easier to chunk it this way.
Outside of early childhood development and nutrition, there is nothing more important to the education of a child than a high-quality teacher. In fact, it has been shown that having the right teachers matters more than any other factor in a child’s schooling.
In study after study, including one conducted by the Education Trust, it has been well documented that highly effective teachers can help students achieve a full achievement level higher than students in a lower-performing teacher’s class. High-quality teachers not only utilize effective teaching pedagogical methods in their classroom, but they build relationships with students, they make learning relevant to the students, and they ensure to laugh and have fun with the students on a regular basis.
There is no mistake why kids love being in some teachers classes’ and not others. It is also the reason parents jockey and advocate to get their children into specific teachers’ classrooms year after year. The potential for missed educational opportunities is just too great.
No matter what zip code a child is born into, they should have the best educators in front of them at all times.
All kids deserve great teachers. I have been lucky enough to work with some of the most amazing people I know as teachers and educators. No matter what zip code a child is born into, they should have the best educators in front of them at all times. As a country, we like to say that education is important and that we value our school system, however, yet again, our system is not built and resources are not allocated in a way that reinforces what we say.
Recruit: Teaching as a Destination
In order to staff our school buildings with the best people possible, we need to make sure we are always recruiting the best and most diverse talent possible. With college costs rising, it is difficult to convince many people that they should start their career making a teacher's salary (especially in many parts of the country) and be happy that they will have a pension 30 years down the road.
According to US News & World Report, the average college graduate will graduate owing over $30,000 in loans (I am 40 and still paying mine off). They could start off making three times a teacher’s salary, have large raises early in their career, and pay off their college debt much faster.
…we need to make sure we are always recruiting the best and most diverse talent possible.
Just the other day, I was speaking to two colleagues at my school who both have college seniors. Coincidentally, they both were explaining how they were trying to convince their respective child that teaching would be a great backup plan if they weren’t able to find a career path in their respective fields. I, for one, got my undergraduate degree in Special Education and couldn’t wait to get into the classroom and work with children. I know many, many other educators who felt the same way.
However, the fact that we are trying to convince people who could be incredibly skilled educators to come into the field as a backup plan, shows just how out of balance our system is. If we can’t significantly increase wages right now, we should suspend and forgive all college loans for anyone that works as a teacher for 10 years. The ability to teach our future citizens should be a high honor and a premier career in our society, not a backup plan.
Train: Recommitment to Pedagogy…Not Simply Results.
There is no profession more rewarding and more difficult than teaching. When successful, teachers have the ability to change a student’s life trajectory and also help to inspire and propel students forward so they feel like they are able to take on the challenges ahead. There is no reward greater than a student coming back years later and saying “thank you” for what you did for them.
However, the challenges and struggles are also incredibly real. Engaging, entertaining, and ultimately educating 25+ children for 5–7 hours a day is no easy feat. Many parents struggle to do this with their own children, let alone a class full of perfect strangers on day 1. For many, the struggles are too real and the delayed payoff of “thank you’s” and pensions are not nearly enough.
You have to be trained and feel like you have the tools necessary to be successful.
In order to be successful in any position, you not only have to feel like you can make a difference, but you also have to be trained and feel like you have the tools necessary to be successful. However, there is nothing more humbling and sobering than when a lesson falls flat and you feel like you just did nothing for the future of our country.
Twenty-five students will let you know very quickly whether the lesson was a success or a flop. Once someone encounters this disappointment on a day-in and day-out basis, often they will leave and pursue a career elsewhere. On top of recruiting a broader base of talent, we must support our new teachers the way they need to be in order to feel prepared, capable, and inspired to make a difference.
We also know that a teacher that incorporates these tools (effective practices) can generate 5–6 months more learning than someone who is less effective.
The fact is, we have the research that tells us what makes effective teaching practices and what does not. We also know that a teacher that incorporates these tools can generate 5–6 months more learning than someone who is less effective. The catch is, how do we empower young and new teachers to be effective knowing the practices that work in the classroom and those that do not.
Create a two-year paid residency for aspiring teachers.
Currently, aspiring teachers complete one college semester of teacher training (not even in programs like Teach for America or NYC Teaching Fellows). In actuality, most of these programs equate to 3–4 weeks of actual full-time teaching by the young/new teacher. Then they are ready to be hired and start teaching full-time in a school.
To think that this is adequate for a new teacher is absurd. Often this leads to a very difficult first year of teaching, long sleepless nights, early mornings, lots of head-scratching, and very often tears. Any new job has its challenges, however, in a job as critical as teaching, we shouldn’t be “falling asleep at the wheel” when it comes to adequate training and setting people up for success.
With a two year paid internship, you would ensure that teachers are gaining critical on-the-job training and receiving feedback on a regular basis.
With a two-year paid internship, you would ensure that teachers are gaining critical on-the-job training and receiving feedback on a regular basis. This will create a shared responsibility between the apprentice and mentor teacher, and also establish a minimum of two-year mentorship prior to being set off on their own. This would also allow enough exposure and experience for those that decide the profession is not for them. These people would have the time to self-select out. All of this before becoming an official untenured teacher with a school district.
If a residency is important enough for doctors why isn’t important enough for educators? Both have monumental impacts on children’s lives…and all doctors had to be taught.
Build an Army of Highly Effective Teacher Coaches
As Sarah Sparks reported in Education Week, many of the top countries in education often use research and practices from the United States. We have some of the best educators in the world, however, we have never built a system that can scale this level of competence and excellence.
The first step would be to create an Army of Teacher Coaches to help train the masses in effective practices.
The first step would be to create an Army of Teacher Coaches to help train the masses in effective practices. Obviously, this would take resources, and most importantly would require pulling effective teachers (with a minimum of 5–6 years solo experience) out of the classroom to train other teachers. However, the large-scale and long-term implications would be system-altering.
Just like new doctors that face multiple years of training with a multi-dimensional workplace, teachers need to be able to receive the same sort of training from the most skilled teachers. Employing and empowering this cohort of teachers to train and mentor the next generation of quality teachers would provide in-coming teachers with the skills necessary to be successful, would create accountability to the coaching process, and ultimately would ensure that students were receiving the best instruction possible.
Commit to Pedagogy, Commit to Results
Currently, our system is set up in a way where results on high-stakes tests drive decision-making. I’m not saying take away all tests (I actually love quality academic data), but I am saying that the high-stakes nature of the testing should go away.
If we commit to student-centered, data-driven strategies that are proven to engage and empower our learners while also improving outcomes, then we will see an improvement in results across the board. If we continue to incorporate reactionary practices to see small bumps in test scores, then we will continue to see overall stagnation. True success will be relegated to those schools where they’ve committed themselves to best practices.
If we commit to student-centered, data-driven strategies that are proven to engage and empower our learners while also improving outcomes, then we will see an improvement in results across the board.
To use another medical analogy, if we simply treat high blood pressure after it is a problem, we will see success from medication in the short term, however, the best remedy is committing to healthy eating and exercise early in one’s life. If you commit to healthy practices, then naturally your blood pressure will be lower than it would have been later on in life (if you didn’t commit). The same is true of test scores or any other measure in education. If we commit to proven practice, we will see widespread improvement.
Place Highly Effective Staff, Supports, and Resources Where Needed
It is imperative that we fill our classrooms with the best educators possible in order to educate all of our children. However, if we really want to make a difference and raise achievement for all, our best educators should teach in our highest-need areas.
In no other industry would the person in charge take people who aren’t yet highly effective and put them on the toughest challenge in the company. To use another NASA analogy, I’m pretty confident in saying that NASA did not put random scientists on the recent Mars Rover Mission. They assigned their best and their brightest and compensated them well in order to get the job done at the highest level possible. The same could be said for advertising, doctors, restaurant workers, accounting, or athletics. If I am facing a difficult deadline, client, or challenge, I am going to put my best people on the job to ensure the job gets done right. There is no shame in saying it and nor should there be…it is simply common sense.
Our best and most competent (teachers) should be teaching the students and the communities that require the greatest level of support.
Education refuses to commit to the same common-sense approach. Our best and most competent should be teaching the students and the communities that require the greatest level of support.
However, due to the intense challenges a teacher may face, even the best teachers have to be surrounded by a team that is capable and willing to work together to get the job done. There should also be increased financial compensation, 100% college loan forgiveness (really for all teachers of 10 years), and free healthcare.
Also, if we already implemented the other common-sense approaches to improve education I proposed in my last article, the challenges facing any one teacher would not be as large. Due to local funding of schools, currently, teachers in the wealthiest and most resourced school districts make the most money and have the most support. This is counterintuitive and leads to the achievement gaps that we have witnessed generation after generation. If we really want to make a difference like we say we do, then we have to change the way we staff our schools.
Retain: If We Build It, They Will Stay
One in three teachers will leave the teaching profession within the first five years. There are many studies to refer to, however one study by the Economic Policy Institute and another documented in Forbes clearly display how fragile retaining teachers can be.
It is a profession, unlike many others. Planning, engaging, and sometimes entertaining 20–30+ children in a classroom within an academic area is incredibly difficult and it can be some of the most humbling and defeating when it isn’t going well. If we truly commit to properly training our teachers, mentoring teachers, creating an army of coaches of pedagogy, evaluating teachers based on best practices in the classroom, and properly staffing our schools, then I do believe that a great deal of teacher retention will take care of itself.
When people feel competent, possess tools and resources to do their job, and feel a part of a team working together, they usually perform better and feel better. If people feel respected, successful, well-compensated, and supported, there is no doubt that they will come back to teach again the following year.
Highly effective teachers make a major difference in the lives of children. One teacher for one school year can leave an impression for a lifetime, so imagine the impact if we ensured 14 highly effective teachers (pre-k — 12)? Yet again, we have the tools and resources, but we refuse to make the choice to allow all children this opportunity. It is time we take a good hard look in the mirror, re-evaluate our processes, and reform the way we recruit, train, and retain educators in this country. In the end, everyone will benefit from a stronger, more educated population.
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