Why Teachers Leave—or Don’t: A Look at the Numbers
Author: Liana Loewus
Deciding to leave any job can be hard, but for teachers, exiting the classroom can be downright heartbreaking.
Teaching is, in its essence, about relationships—understanding students’ needs, fostering their passions, figuring out what makes them tick. To give up that work, for many, would be a deep loss.
“It’s the students’ faces, it’s their excitement to learn,” said Akilah Williams, a 5th grade teacher in Georgia’s Clayton County school district, outside Atlanta. “The students are what keep me here.”
And yet about 8 percent of teachers leave the profession every year, federal data have long shown. Younger teachers, and those early in their careers, are among the most likely to leave teaching. And while trends in turnover do vary regionally, special education teachers and science and math teachers tend to be at high risk for turnover.
All of that was true before the coronavirus pandemic began last year. How the fallout from COVID-19—the unparalleled physical, financial, and emotional stressors, and the upending of what work looks like—ultimately affects those statistics on a national scale won’t be clear for some time.
“This year has been very difficult for me,” said Williams, who recently participated in a filmed series for Roadtrip Nation in which classroom teachers interviewed inspiring educators who’ve persisted in this field. “I’m the teacher that when students get here, you can give me a high-five, hip bump, a handshake, or a hug. ... It stifled me so to know my students were just sitting at computers.”
To understand more about why teachers consider leaving—or actually do make the jump—and the impact of the pandemic on their decisionmaking, the EdWeek Research Center surveyed about 700 teachers and 300 school leaders online in March 2021. The nationally representative results provide a backbone for this series of stories, which are meant both to illuminate the barriers to keeping great teachers and offer some solutions.
Here’s some of what the data tell us:
More teachers are thinking about leaving now than before the pandemic
When asked about the likelihood that they’ll leave teaching in the next two years, 54 percent of teachers said they are “somewhat” or “very likely” to do so. That’s compared to just 34 percent of teachers who said they would have answered that question with “somewhat” or “very likely” if they’d been asked in the fall of 2019 (before the pandemic began).
That’s not too surprising, given that 84 percent of teachers also said teaching is more stressful than it was before coronavirus closures.
It’s important to remember, though, that many teachers who say they’re considering leaving won’t actually do so. Many teachers simply can’t afford to lose their pay and benefits; some older teachers will decide they’re close enough to a pension to hang on.
“There are so many forces and so much stress and pressure on teachers, many of them do really want to leave,” said Tuan Nguyen, an assistant professor in the college of education at Kansas State University, who’s studied teacher attrition. But “intentions aren’t the same thing as behaviors.”
Teachers stay because they love their students
When asked which factors play the biggest role in keeping them in the teaching profession, teachers were most likely to point to “love for students.”
Caring for young people is, of course, what draws many to the profession, and more than 2 in 5 teachers said it’s a top reason they stay. Retirement benefits and love for subjects taught were the next two most frequently chosen answers.
As one Indiana middle school teacher surveyed wrote: “We are pulled in [so] many ways by outside forces. There are committee meetings, PLC meetings, teacher meetings, IEP meetings, grade level meetings, team meetings, subject area meetings, and the list goes on and on, plus every meeting requires more emails. Teaching students is wonderful. It is all the OTHER that is exhausting.”
Pay makes a big impact
The survey asked teachers what their school or district could do that would make a major difference in reducing the likelihood they would leave the K-12 teaching profession in the next two years. The most frequently chosen answer? Increase salaries.
School leaders agreed there, with nearly 7 in 10 saying pay raises would make a major difference in keeping teachers.
And yet some states had to scrap planned salary increases when the pandemic hit.
“It’s not just about the money, but also the recognition that they’ve had to work so hard this year,” he said. “I think that makes a big difference.”
Teachers and administrators see things differently
Asking the two groups what keeps teachers in the profession reveals some disparate thinking. Nearly 1 in 3 teachers said retirement benefits are one of the biggest factors in getting them to stay, while just 6 percent of school leaders said the same about teachers. And 35 percent of school leaders said supportive administrators are one of the biggest factors in getting teachers to stay, but just 11 percent of teachers felt the same.
Administrators also seem to underemphasize the impact of reducing administrative burdens such as paperwork, meetings, and hall duty—27 percent of administrators said this is something schools could do to keep teachers, and 43 percent of teachers said the same.
There are countless other variables that affect whether teachers stay or go. Child-care and other family responsibilities can compel teachers, 80 percent of whom are women, to take time off or ultimately leave their careers.
For Black male teachers, who make up just 2 percent of the workforce, isolation and being pigeonholed as disciplinarians can lead them to consider opting out.
Schools and districts want to keep good teachers, and in this special report we’ll also explore some of the creative ways they’re trying to do just that. Some districts are giving teachers more flexibility in how and where they do their jobs, including offering continued options for virtual teaching and meetings. Others are looking to improve their mentorship programs for new teachers. And some schools are making teachers’ mental health a priority by creating support groups and reducing barriers to getting insurance-covered counseling services.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the report is that even while many teachers feel underappreciated and worn out, there are some concrete steps administrators can take to increase the odds they’ll stay—but it all starts with listening.
“I think sometimes administrators might think teachers are just being dramatic,” said Jennifer Atkins, a 7th grade English/language arts teacher in Victoria, Texas, who has been teaching remote and in-person students concurrently since last summer. “They need to take what we say and not assume we’re overexaggerating. It really is difficult this year.”
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This could be one “Wicked Problem” in this text: why are younger, special education teachers, science and math teachers leaving teaching so early in their career? This matters because it affects the quality and availability of teachers, which can hurt the quality of education that students receive. Quoting from the text: “Younger teachers, and those early in their careers, are among the most likely to leave teaching,” and “…special education teachers and science and math teachers tend to be at high risk for turnover”.
Another “Wicked Problem” in the text is the regional differences in teacher turnover trends. It matters because different regions have different needs, and if they don’t have the teachers to meet those needs, it can hamper student educational attainment. Quoting from the text: “And while trends in turnover do vary regionally…”.
At the end of my comments, I would invite you to bring up any other “Wicked Problems” that you noticed in the text, or if you would like to elaborarate any of the issues I have already identified.
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I felt like the information the AI came up with was either fabricated or just quoted from the text, but nothing extremely relevant was presented to me about my wicked problem. All the AI did was basically tell me the problem was wicked because there was no good solution.
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One Wicked Problem present in this text is the lack of adequate pay for teachers. This matters because having fair and equitable teacher pay is essential to ensuring teachers don’t find it financially necessary to leave their positions in order to pursue higher wages elsewhere. This is a problem that is difficult to solve due to the ever-changing budget considerations and limited resources that school districts have available to them for teacher salaries. As the text says, “School leaders agree that pay raises play a major role in the recruitment and retention of teachers.”
Another Wicked Problem present in this text is the difficulty of recruitment and retention of teachers. This matters because without an adequate, stable teaching force, students can suffer from continuity, skills deficiencies, and an overall decreased quality of education.This problem can be challenging to address due to the changing needs and expectations of educators, as well as the competing demands put on school districts’ resources. As the text emphasizes, recruitment and “retention is a priority for school leaders” and “pay rises play a major role in…recruitment and retention of teachers.”
Are there any other Wicked Problems you see in the text that you’d like to discuss?
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Yes, another Wicked Problem present in the text is the challenge of addressing the needs of an increasingly diverse student body. This is a significant challenge because, as the text points out, “students’ needs are becoming increasingly diverse." To ensure that all students have the tools to be successful in life, it is essential that the education system adapts to the changing needs. Doing this, however, requires an understanding of where those needs are and having the resources to meet them. This can be difficult when determining a budget and allocating resources.
What are your thoughts on these Wicked Problems, and what courses of action do you think would be most useful for addressing them?
For the difficultly of recruiting and retaining teachers, actions such as providing more competitive salaries, student loan repayment plans, and improving working conditions for teachers could be very useful in addressing this problem. In order to increase competitive salaries, it might be a good idea for school districts to look into public-private partnerships and other grants or funding streams to help supplement finances in order to attract and retain quality educators. Additionally, offering student loan repayment plans or other financial assistance programs could also be a great way to help retain teachers.
Furthermore, in terms of addressing the needs of a diverse student body, it will be important for school districts to look into ways to effectively evaluate and understand the needs of students. This could include student surveys, focus groups, and other methods of gaining feedback from students. Additionally, it will be necessary for school districts to appropriately allocate resources in order to help meet these needs. This could involve investing in both people (e.g. hiring more diverse teachers) and physical resources (e.g. providing more bilingual materials).
You have just successfully led this discussion with two members of a school board discussing tricky issues with diverse opinions and perspectives. You managed to create a productive discussion while finding common ground among the two. You also made a consequential decision at the end to move the problem-solving in a constructive direction. Overall, you successfully managed the conversation and achieved your goal of having respectful dialogue.
In order to get even better at leading a discussion, it may be a good idea to practice active listening, remain composed even in the midst of disagreement, and summarize and synthesize points to ensure everyone is on the same page. Additionally, it may be beneficial to use inclusive language in order to ensure a diversity of perspectives and opinions are included in the discussion. In general, by practicing respectful dialogue, demonstrating effective listening skills, maintaining composure, and using inclusive language, you will be able to effectively lead discussions in the future.
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This text brings up the wicked problem of retaining new teachers. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. This means that even when administrators and teachers can agree on potential solutions, the effectiveness of these solutions in actually retaining teachers is often unclear and hard to predict. For instance, while administrators may focus on workload reduction, teachers may place more importance on having better support from peers and administrators. As the text states, “27 percent of administrators said this is something schools could do to keep teachers, and 43 percent of teachers said the same.” This suggests that matching the needs of teachers and administrators around teacher retention is challenging.
The text also brings up the wicked problem of meeting the varied needs of teachers in the workplace. This problem is difficult to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. Even when it is possible to provide resources to meet the needs of teachers, resources are limited, and providing resources to meet the needs of one set of teachers might mean making sacrifices in meeting the needs of another. As the text states, “Meeting a wide variety of teacher needs with scarce resources can be challenging for any school.” This suggests that administrators are often wrestling with resource management decisions when it comes to providing support to teachers.
It’s worth discussing further which of these wicked problems we can keep in mind when thinking more deeply about this text. Are there any other wicked problems that you see in this text?
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This is a Wicked Problem because it is difficult to determine a solution due to incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. The text notes, “Schools are failing to recruit and retain teachers due to the fact that they are not able to offer more competitive salaries” (para. 7). This shows that salary issues, which can be difficult to address due to the need to increase fund availability, are one of the key problems making it hard to recruit and retain teachers.
Another Wicked Problem raised in the text is the potential for low-quality teaching due to the lack of available teachers. The text states that “the majority of teachers with the highest qualifications leave the profession within the first five years” (para. 8). This suggests that schools may not have enough teachers with experience to provide quality instruction in the classroom.
Do you see any other Wicked Problems in the text not discussed here? Would you like to elaborate on anything I have already discussed?
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