Clinical Faculty Training to Reduce Teacher Attrition

© H. Jurgen Combs Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2011 1

Hawaii International Conference on EducationH. Jurgen Combs, Ed. D.

Professor, School of Education & Human DevelopmentShenandoah University

Clinical Faculty Training to Reduce Teacher Attrition

© H. Jurgen Combs

• 30-40 percent of teachers leave the classroom in the United States during the first five years of teaching

• In Canada-15-20 percent of new teachers leave the profession during first five years

Hawaii International Conference on Education – January 2011 2

Teacher Attrition is a problem

© H. Jurgen Combs

It has been said that we are in a profession that eats its young and

That we introduce teachers to the profession in a “trial by fire” induction process. Since early 1970’s, literature has described the work of teachers as “isolated’ and “individualistic


© H. Jurgen Combs

There are two major categories of turnover – ◦attrition, which is composed of those teachers

who leave the profession completely and ◦migration, those who move to other teaching

jobs in other schools. While one might expect some turnover

among experienced teachers, it is the high turnover rate among beginning teachers that is so troubling.


Ingersoll and Smith


Percent Turnover After First Year of Beginning Teachers, According to Amount of Induction Support They Received

0 10 20 30 40 50

PercentMovers Leavers

18

27

39

41No Induction

Basic

Basic & Collaboration

Basic & Collaboration & Extra Resources

Source: Smith, T. & Ingersoll, R. 2004 "What are the Effects of Induction and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Turnover?" American Educational Research Journal. 41: 3: 681-714.


Of Those Who Left Teaching for Another Job or Career, Percent Who Rated Various Aspects of Their New Position as Better, or Not Better, Than in Teaching (2000-2001)

17

16

12

18

28

19

20

19

36

29

56

62

60

58

49

48

49

48

28

22

0 20 40 60 80 100

Opp. For Advancement

Autonomy over Work

Workload Manageability

Professional Prestige

Salary

Recognition and Support

Intellectual Challenge

Influence over Decisions

Benefits

Job Security

Percent

Better in New Position Better in Teaching

Source: Ingersoll, R. 2003. Who Controls Teachers’ Work? Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.


13

15

17

20

23

0 10 20 30 40 50

Four

Three

Two

One

None

Percent

Source: Ingersoll, R. & May, H. 2009. What are the Effects of Teacher Preparation on Beginning Teacher Turnover?Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania

Percent Beginning Teachers Who Left Teaching, According to the Number of the Pre-service Teacher Preparation Components They Received: (1.) Coursework in Selection of Instructional Materials; (2.) Coursework in Learning Theory/Child Psych.; (3.) Observation of Others’ Classes; (4.) Feedback on Teaching (2000-01)

© H. Jurgen Combs

Researchers have suggested it costs approximately 20-25 percent of the teacher’s salary to replace the person

In Virginia, that works out to be about $11,000 to $12,000 per

Recruitment costs include things ◦ hiring incentives, ◦ administrative processing of new hires and their

training, mentoring and induction support◦ ongoing training, transfer costs, and separation

costs for departing teachers.


There is a cost to this turnover

© H. Jurgen Combs

Beginning teachers tend not to be the most effective teachers due to a lack of experience; a school that has significant turnover often hires inexperienced teachers which impacts student learning.

The rapid teacher turnover has an impact on the existing faculty and administration which always seem to be scrambling to fill the vacuum.


There is another “cost” - - -

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“We’re misdiagnosing the problem as ‘recruitment’ when it’s really “retention’”


Merrow writes

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will not solve the problem of teachers leaving as the organizational structure of schools must be changed.


Simply hiring more teachers

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that appropriate teacher induction program can reduce this turnover rate.


There is evidence

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describes a training program which had a turnover rate of 29 percent for first time teachers who enter the teaching profession and leave the school after the first year whereas the predicted probability of leaving was 40 percent


Ingersoll

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People with mentors have a higher likelihood of staying (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004).

Involving novice teachers in professional communities and professional development reduces the turnover rate.

Sergiovanni (1996) suggests that teachers involved in a professional community will work more effectively in the classroom and are more focused on individual student needs.


There is clear evidence that

© H. Jurgen Combs

A partnership program between Shenandoah University and our partner schools

• SU offers one graduate credit at no cost to the school, we pay for the trainers and meal costs.

• The districts pay a small stipend to each participant.

• SU offers a higher stipend to teachers who completed the clinical faculty training program and who work as cooperating teachers with our student teachers.


Bridges to Success

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Level 1 – introductory session – one graduate credit

Level 1.5 – a follow up to the initial training Level 2 – 2 graduate level training


Three levels of Training

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One full day of training – often held in August and sometimes in early October, if there is need for a second training session that year.

There are two evening follow ups, one and two months after the training.

The training is intended to help our field experience students and student teachers.

We identified that new teachers have the same basic needs so have “combined” the training we provide.


Training

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1. Participants will identify the characteristics of adult learners

2. Participants will acquire a model to mentor or coach student teachers

3. Participants will identify various models of co-teaching with a student teacher

4. Participants will identify areas of need of student teachers and methods of providing assistance


Syllabus

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1. Cooperative learning activity on teaching adults based on research on this topic

2. Presentation and discussion on differences between student teachers and experienced teachers focusing on supervisory needs of student teachers

3. Presentation and discussion of a mentoring/coaching model to be used with student teachers

4. Role play of cooperating teachers and student teachers during pre-observation and post-observation conferences

5. Presentation and discussion of methods to encourage student teachers to reflect on student reaching experiences


Major activities

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1. Viewing and discussion of a video on conferencing/mentoring model

2. Presentation and discussion of co-teaching model for student teaching

3. Presentation and discussion of expectations of student teachers by Shenandoah University

4. Discussion with cooperating and student teachers regarding experiences in student teaching

5. Discussion and presentation of Virginia Uniform Performance Standards as they relate to requirements for entering the teaching field

6. Discussion and presentation of assistance cooperating teachers can provide to student teachers on areas that potentially can be difficult for student teachers and first year teachers


Major activities – con’d

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When the new teacher is first hired – that initial contact is critical also in helping to reduce the “retraction” of the signed agreement

As soon as the teacher is hired, the mentors begin to contact them via e-mail and phone; this has reduced the “early resignation” syndrome that plagues school districts.


The contact begins

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Advise on teaching strategies and content and offering demonstration lessons.

They do observe new teachers but the results of the visits are not shared with administration.

They consult on planning and lesson delivery and offer advice about learning resources and advice about student and parent relations.


What do the mentors do?

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They offer information about the community, often providing maps of the community with information about physicians, stores, and other things that newcomers need to know.

Mentors provide their mentees with “who to ask” information sheets

Some mentors have started Blackboard discussion groups which are open only to the mentees and mentors

In some cases, these Blackboard sites also contain additional resource material for the mentees.


Non school information is also important

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Other mentors arrange periodic lunches or breakfasts for their mentees; these can easily be scheduled on inservice/staff development days.

Many of the mentors report developing calendars with “heads up” information about upcoming events – school events, PTO meetings, report cards, academic notices, etc.


Social Events

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Regular, scheduled meetings are held; in some cases, these are weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly;

The mentors report that is important to schedule these meetings carefully so they don’t add to the feeling of being overwhelmed.


In all cases,

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Surveys are sent to◦ Administrators◦ Mentors◦ Lead Mentors◦ Mentees◦ Student Teachers


Regular Evaluations of the program are done yearly

© H. Jurgen Combs

Beginning Teacher Skills Supporting Teacher Morale, Communication,

and Collegiality Building a sense of Professionalism and

Positive Attitude Providing a Seamless Transition to Teaching Putting Theory into Practice Preventing Teacher Isolation Building Capacity for Self Reflection


Surveys ask how well the training helped with ~~~~~


What are the Results?Question mentor mentee admin

research based practices 4.41 0.67 3.81 0.89 3.97 0.84

use of formative assessments 4.15 0.83 3.94 0.81

helped with curr inplementation 4.25 0.75 3.98 0.93

working with diverse populations 4.1 0.91 3.9 0.95

collaborative 4.46 0.77 4.17 0.93 4.45 0.85

professional relationship 4.43 0.76 4.33 0.86

classroom procedures 4 0.96 3.96 0.91

behavioral expectations 4 0.96 3.91 0.92 4.13 0.99

implement behavioral expectations 4 0.96 3.85 0.98 3.97 1.11

theory into practice 4.03 0.86 3.66 0.82 4 0.68

whole school experience 4.45 0.7 3.96 0.81

proessional dialgue and isolation 4.62 0.56 3.98 0.82

community outside of school 4.23 0.7 3.74 0.94

stressed self reflection 4.37 0.64 3.47 0.95 3.79 0.56

feedback in positive manner 4.58 0.56 4.17 0.7

© H. Jurgen Combs

Differentiate between teaching issues and procedural issues – often teachers need more help with the procedural issues – where is the paper? How do I get …?

Don’t overwhelm the new teacher – in the process of helping, we can make things too overwhelming for the novice teacher.

Different strokes for different folks – everyone does not need the same thing – it is important to differentiate; training is provided even for experienced teachers who are new to the division but they do not need the same kind of training as the completely novice teacher.

Be proactive rather than reactive Key role of administration – administrative support is critical –

both on the building level and at the central office. Provide some district standardization yet allow for individual

school differences


What did we learn?

© H. Jurgen Combs

Graduate student completing qualitative study to gather additional data

Continue providing the training to area teachers

As of Sep 2010, we have trained over 450 teachers since 2002.

www.edulink.org/hice


Now what?

http://www.edulink.org/hice

© H. Jurgen Combs

To continue this dialogue or for further information:


Thank you

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Clinical Faculty Training to Reduce Teacher Attrition