Brian Cohen
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Helping New Teachers

3/28/2012

3 Comments

 
Many are aware of the unfortunate statistic that almost half of teachers leave the profession before their fifth year. Teacher retention is a huge issue in relation to both the social capital of a school and the economic situation of the school district. The time and money it takes to train new teachers is quite large and could potentially be used for other, more important, efforts (like having more teachers, for example). 

To that end, the RAND Corporation conducted a literature review in 2004 on teacher training and retention. A quick glance at the Executive Summary will yield some amazing findings, including the fact that, "the highest attrition rates seen for teachers occurred in their first years of teaching and after many years of teaching when they were near retirement, thus producing a U-shaped pattern of attrition with respect to age or experience." This turnover is an egregious phenomenon that needs to be stopped. As a third year teacher I have had a chance to reflect on the opportunities afforded to me that ensured my continuation in this profession. 

One of the most important of these was having a mentor teacher to consult with whenever I had questions. My "math coach," as she was called, visited my classroom on a weekly (sometimes more) basis and provided me with constructive feedback, supplies, lesson plan ideas, and general support. She had many years of experience and it was a pleasure to talk with her about pedagogy specific to my subject area. Without her I would most definitely not have improved much my first year. 

Two months ago one of my colleagues went on sabbatical and was replaced by a new teacher with little experience in the classroom. He is earnest and willing to learn but unfortunately doesn't have enough time to gain true understanding. One specific recommendation I have been reading a lot about recently is transforming the first years of teaching into more of an apprenticeship where a "Master teacher" guides a newbie so that they can gain the experience necessary to become professionals. The RESPECT Project run by the Department of Education has a document making suggestions like this.

Imagine if in your first year of teaching - instead of teaching a whirlwind of five classes a day - instead you taught 3 or 4 and observed experienced teachers for the rest of the day. So much of what I do I learned by observation - if I was given designated time at the start of my career, I might be 10 times better today because of it. Somehow we must get more people talking and pushing for something like this.
3 Comments
Noah M. Wager
3/29/2012 02:18:09 am

Great post, Brian! I also believe in the importance of mentoring and nurturing new teachers. We were so fortunate to have Jen to support us at West. It's sad she wasn't in the classroom to teach students directly, but it's amazing the impact she had by reaching all of our students through us. As a matter of fact, I just taught my students today how to factor polynomials by the method she taught me years ago. We need more mentors for our teachers!

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Kyla
5/1/2012 02:52:44 am

As someone who recently quit mid-year, I absolutely agree that teachers need to spend much more time as student teachers and in a variety of school settings. Would you then say that programs like Teach for America and the New Teacher Project (Teaching Fellows) are doing a doing teachers a disservice with their 5-week training model, which essentially de-professionalizes the job? (I would.)

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Idaline Gardner link
6/22/2012 04:05:21 pm

Loved your blog layout that I created a weebly account too.

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    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

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