Examining the Needs and Challenges of Early Career Social Justice Teachers

• In Event: Division K Section 7: Retention Roundtable

Abstract

Teacher shortages continue across the country, exacerbated by the challenge of retaining early career teachers, especially those working in schools that serve working class communities of color. We developed a survey to examine the experiences of early career teachers (i.e., 2-5 years into teaching career) from our teacher education program. We sought to learn about teachers’ roles, achievements, and challenges, particularly the extent to which they felt prepared for the challenges of working in schools that serve students from working class families of color. The experiences of our graduates can be used for program improvement to increase teacher retention by addressing the real-world issues and needs that teachers experience once they leave our programs and enter the workforce.

Authors

• Jarod N. Kawasaki, California State University - Dominguez Hills

• Darrel Skousen, California State University - Dominguez Hills

• Jennifer Hernandez, California State University - Dominguez Hills