Keeping New Teachers In The Profession

Districts need to support teachers more than ever in today's climate.

There is a trend on TikTok where young, new teachers are announcing that they are quitting teaching. After a few months, sometimes a year or two, young people are quitting in a very public way.

Part of it is the money. According to The Economic Policy Institute in September 2023, teachers get paid 73 cents for every dollar that other professionals made in 2022. While nobody goes into teaching to be rich, that gap for the amount of work that teachers do is large.

So, yes, paying more money would definitely keep more teachers in the profession. But, it goes deeper than that. For instance, I am lucky enough to teach in New York. Our pay is competitive. Even here, young teachers are leaving the profession more than they have in the past.

I can remember my first year of teaching like it was yesterday. I remember putting up this false bravado that I knew what I was doing. Looking back after 26 years in the classroom, I am pretty sure that the veteran teachers saw right through that and laughed privately. I also know why I was called “youthfully arrogant” by a colleague. Very few offered help.

I didn't know any better. I literally graduated from college and was given the responsibility of teaching a curriculum to 120 eighth graders. There was no formal help and no real, consistent support. I was lucky enough to be on a team which allowed me to see what three other colleagues did every day.

I remember thinking, at times, that I might be in over my head. Honestly, I thought about quitting. Obviously, I didn't and I am grateful that I had enough people to nudge me in the right direction to make me the educator I am today.

I can’t help but think that the profession is losing so many talented, hard working, intelligent, empathetic people due to a lack of support. In today’s age, even the most confident, veteran teacher needs support, whether it’s dealing with more public scrutiny, rapid technology development, political fallout, Artificial Intelligence, classroom management issues, and evolving curriculum. And, that’s just the start of it.

Now, imagine that you have no experience to fall back on with all of that.

That’s just a small portion of what our newest members are facing.

Low pay.

So many issues.

How can we support our new teachers so that they stay?

The first, most essential thing a district can do for new teachers is to give them a dedicated faculty mentor. Every new teacher needs a “go to” person to ask those million questions a day to. The mentor is needed for the day to day things that districts often ignore. How do I do attendance? How often do I update grades? How do I navigate a parent phone call? When do I call home? What needs to be collected from kids? Where do I deliver it? It’s all those practical things that districts don’t usually explicitly state or give instructions.

The mentor is also, obviously, needed to help with the art of teaching. Student teaching is not enough of an experience to prepare a new teacher for having their own class. It’s always been a “learn from your mistakes as you go” type of thing. But, a mentor can help minimize those inevitable mistakes. Mentors can help with lesson plan structure, group rotations, how to physically position yourself in the classroom, how to deal with disruptive behavior efficiently, and, of course, how to effectively deliver curriculum.

More importantly, the mentor functions as a part-time counselor. The first year of teaching is an emotional experience; there are high, highs and the lowest of lows. Someone with experience has to be there to help a new teacher navigate it all and know that they are not alone. We’ve all experienced the same thing.

That places an importance on finding the right mentor for each teacher. Districts can’t simply put someone in as a mentor because they signed up to make a little extra money. Care has to be taken in terms of personality match, commitment, and willingness to share yet also learn from the new teacher. Obviously, the mentor should be the same subject and/or grade level as the new teacher. If not, what’s the point?

I’ve seen this type of program work well. My District has a robust mentor program that pairs teachers with compassionate, experienced educators who are willing to share, listen, and help. A mentor program is needed.

Districts and their administrators also need to give new teachers opportunities to observe many classes throughout the year. Instead of giving them a hall duty every day, administrators should have new teachers observe colleagues. This way, new teachers can see how a veteran is delivering the curriculum, handling a class, and navigating it all that being a teacher entails. New teachers should observe as many teachers as possible. This not only helps with knowledge, but it is a forced opportunity for them to get to know their colleagues. That spirit of collegiality will grow, something the profession definitely needs.

Administrators also need to establish regular check-ins. Yes, an administrator’s day is hectic and crazy busy. But, a genuine relationship needs to be developed between a teacher and an admin. Observations, faculty meetings or problems cannot be the only times a new teacher interacts with an administrator. Schools can seem like gigantic spaces sometimes. Having a genuine relationship with an administrator can make it seem smaller.

This point cannot be overstated. Teaching is often a solo experience. Observations happen three times a year. For the other 178 days, a teacher is on their own. How do administrators know what type of people they have in the building? Is the new teacher struggling? Does the new teacher need more support? Administrators won’t know unless they know the new people better. Regular check-ins, along the lines of weekly check-ins, are needed to not only support the new teacher, but to develop a building culture.

The final piece is professional development. New teachers need to be exposed to workshops that develop teaching skills. At the start of the year, the focus of the workshops should be on classroom management, something that is not taught in teacher preparation programs. Early workshops should also focus on building relationships with kids, finding balance between being kind and having high expectations, and communication with parents. The better control of the classroom environment, the culture of students and parents, the more a new teacher is free to start honing the craft of teaching.

After that base of “new teacher topics”, the professional development program should shift to teaching skills, lesson planning, and technology development. The goal of every new teacher program should be to add tools to their tool box. The more tools that they have, the more secure they will feel in the profession.

And, that is precisely the point. New Teachers need to feel secure. They can’t feel like they are alone. Districts cannot simply rely on fellow teachers to take care of the new teachers. There needs to be a formal system in place that focuses on basics of teaching, support in the day to day business of the building/district, and the growth of teaching efficacy.