Who Persists? How Context, Care, and Community Contribute to the Development of Teacher Leaders

• In Event: Roundtable Session 10
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Development for Urban Schools: From Preservice to Induction to Teacher Leadership

Abstract

A key challenge to educational effectiveness is the high level of teacher attrition. Since the early 1990’s, the number of teachers leaving the profession has increasingly exceeded the number of entrants. Less than 20 percent of this attrition is the result of retirement (Ingersoll, 2001). About one third of all teachers leave teaching within five years; the proportion is higher in poor urban and rural schools (Darling-Hammond, 2006). Teacher attrition has financial costs; money must be spent on recruiting, hiring, and supporting new teachers. It also has educational costs; teachers learn a great deal in those first few years and become more effective in meeting student needs and school and district demands (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Kain and Singleton, 1996; Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin, 1998; Feiman Nemser, 2001). As teachers leave, they take with them the knowledge and skill developed in those first crucial years of teaching and learning.

After their third year in the classroom, most teachers have attained tenure and many report feeling competent and confident about their instruction. These second-stage teachers are particularly valuable to their schools because they have surmounted the challenges of classroom management and curriculum design. As individuals enter this second stage, some look for opportunities to deepen their understanding of teaching and learning, and to take on responsibilities beyond the confines of their own classrooms. According to Berry et al (2010), "Teacher leadership is a critical component of effective teaching and school success… Expanding leadership roles and advancement opportunities for teachers may be an excellent and cost-effective strategy for retaining the most effective teachers.” Leadership development involves more than just developing discrete leadership skills, but also focuses on how leadership competencies must be deployed in particular work contexts (Day, 2000).

This study examines the specific factors that contribute to teachers’ decisions to stay in urban classrooms beyond the fifth year. The conclusions draw from a qualitative study of two innovative programs initiated to support talented new teachers working in urban schools: a New Teacher Induction Program and a 2-year Urban Teacher Leadership Institute, the latter funded by the Ford Foundation. Analysis of interviews with the 47 participants in these programs suggests that teacher leaders value opportunities to develop professional knowledge and skills—but what truly sustains their commitment to the profession of teaching and their openness to continuing growth is the sense of attachment to a genuine learning community.

These networks can be developed within a school or district, or take place outside of the boundaries of the specific teaching context. Interview data indicate that teachers who participate in such learning communities develop skills and social capital that allow them to effect changes in schools (Leana, 2011). This presentation offers concrete examples of how teacher education programs can contribute to these networks in ways that support teacher retention and urban renewal.

Author

• Lisa Smulyan, Swarthmore College