I wrote last week about the importance of considering the future of public education in Memphis as we expand school choice options. To give you an idea of the rate of expansion, in 2003, Memphis contained 3 charters with no ASD or iZone. As of this year we now have 66 alternatives to traditional public schools. The intended outcome, according to a district official, is to create “several systems of schools” within Memphis.
FOCUS ON THE TEACHER
As we shift to this “systems of schools” approach, we would be remiss if we did not focus on ensuring that we attract and retain quality educators in these schools. Study after study has shown that the teacher is the most important in school factor in a child’s education. Teachers form the backbone of school culture, run extracurricular activities and are directly responsible for the delivery of content. Therefore, as we redesign our system here in Memphis, it’s vital that we design it to encourage quality teachers to come and stay in these new systems to sustain our student’s success over time.
My concern is that nationwide data suggests that teacher turnover in charter schools is significantly higher than traditional schools. Research suggests that charters on average lose between 20 and 25 percent of their teachers each year, a rate which is 1.5 times higher than traditional schools. This is concerning given that charters make up the bulk of the alternative options in Memphis (41 out of 66). However, according to my own research, little research has been done to dig into why we see these outcomes in charters.
Our focus should be on working to ensure that charter schools are seen as a long term career option for educators, both in Memphis and elsewhere. The last thing we should strive for are schools that constantly burn out teachers after only a few years.
WHAT DO TEACHERS WANT?
With this in mind, I decided to do some qualitative research of my own with the aim to help policy makers and school leaders in Memphis and Shelby County. I reached out to my colleagues teaching in charters across Memphis and asked them the following two questions.
- What about your school makes you believe that this could be a long term career option for you and other teachers?
- What is the top ting that your school would have to change for you or other teachers to see it as a long term career option?
Before I share specific trends and quotes, I want to emphasize that my purpose in conducting this survey is not to slam any schools or organizations. My intent is only to collect and summarize feedback so that our leaders can work to ensure that we attract and retain quality educators to teach our children.
WHAT’S BEING DONE RIGHT
ACHIEVEMENT GAP IMPACT: Those indicating they can see their school as a long term career option shared their belief that working a charter allows them to make a much more substantial impact on the achievement gap than would a traditional school in specific ways:
“My largest class is 20 students which I believe should be maximum capacity. There is only one teacher in the room, so beyond classroom management I need to be able to fully engage with each student daily to help them with the material or challenge them to think deeper. My smallest class of 10 students is ideal,”
HIGH STANDARDS: Several other teachers spoke to the ability of charters to truly hold kids to a higher standard and implement real consequences if that standard is not met:
“Although it is unfortunate that [students who fail to meet the standard] have to leave, it is an example to the other students that there is a reason we expect the best out of them and if they can’t do their part to then this isn’t the place for them.”
WHAT NEEDS TO BE FIXED
HIGH STRESS: I received a much higher volume of responses to the second question, indicating that there are several areas that charters need to improve to truly make these schools long term career options for educators. The number one reason that every educator cited for not seeing teaching in a charter as a long term career option was the unrealistic hours they are required to work to meet their goals:
“The hours are too long and too intensive.”
“In charters, the long hours and high stress days set a pace that I imagine would be hard to maintain long-term.”
“Pay is not comparable to other fields requiring this much work.”
“The reason [the school] is well run and feels good for students and faculty is due to teacher’s investment in the school. Many teachers work 60/70/80 hour weeks to create and implement the systems and procedures to make the school run, which is not sustainable or desirable in the long run.”
OVERWORKED: One respondent went more in detail with what they are required to do every day and its impact on her ability to teach:
“I spend almost 3 extra hours a day just trying to take care of medial tasks such as; attendance, [entering student behavior information], printing, copying, calling parents about missing homework, calling parents about missing paychecks and managing student behavior in the halls. On top of the extended school day and need to keep in close contact with parents my time is spread too thin to plan and stay on top of a great curriculum.”
MINIMAL EARLY CAREER SUPPORT: Every young educator (under 3 years teaching) that sent me feedback cited lack of support for early career teachers as a reason they couldn’t see teaching in a charter as a long term career option. While this was not uniform across schools, it came up enough that I thought it important to cite:
“I rarely get observed, receive feedback, or attend useful professional development. I am expected to turn in full lesson plans two weeks in advance, even though I receive no feedback.”
“I feel like the administration just didn’t care about the teachers. They offered no support for first year teachers and very little behavior management help (this is from an educator who recently left the classroom).”
Lastly, several teachers cited the deficit of long term career opportunities available to educators working in charters:
“As an ambitious person not interested in school leadership, I really feel that there is a lack of opportunities in the long-term.”
“[working in a charter] Limits other opportunities for development (shortened summers stop you from doing grad school, fellowships, and teacher coaching opportunities).”
SUMMARY
Clearly we have some work to do in our new system of schools approach to ensure that educators see these new alternatives to traditional public schooling as true career opportunities. I hope that our leaders can take feedback like this from educators to heart and work to change charter environments in Memphis to ensure that we can both attract and retain the best and the brightest to teach our children as we continue to expand options for school choice.
By Jon Alfuth
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Posted on October 19, 2013
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