This is a guest post contributed by Dr. Alva Perry, Literacy Specialist at Scholastic.
Every year, over 350,000 new teachers embark on their journey into the education field. These fresh faces are brimming with enthusiasm, promise, and a genuine eagerness to serve their students. As they start the academic year, they dive into setting up their classrooms, mastering the curriculum, and establishing class structures with boundless energy and optimism. Why is it then, that by the end of their first year, up to 8% of these new teachers opt for a different career path?
New teachers, brimming with potential, often face significant obstacles, including limited access to professional development opportunities, insufficient ongoing coaching support, and the daunting workload inherent in their positions. According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, new educators are 2.5 times more inclined to leave their positions compared to their tenured counterparts. Further, research indicates that Title I schools report turnover rates that are nearly 50% greater than other schools. Consequently, 30% of novice teachers will leave the profession within five years.
The rising issue of teacher turnover rates have never been higher, and it is new teachers who are leaving in the highest numbers. In response, Scholastic has developed a new, yearlong virtual professional learning series to assist beginning educators called the Foundations of Teaching Excellence. This immersive and proactive approach is designed to address the new challenges educators encounter and ensure they receive the support needed to successfully start and sustain a fulfilling teaching career.
This program addresses three critical obstacles novice teachers face:
Building Strong Relationships
New teachers often depend on experienced educators to provide guidance and mentorship. Establishing strong relationships is crucial for creating a support system. When teachers form a community, they feel grounded and are more likely to stay in the field of education. Aligning with professionals that have a different perspective than you is important and often helps new teachers to broaden their insight and push their thinking. Within the Foundations of Teaching Excellence series, new teachers can find tips such as how mentors help in managing multiple student relationships and how to increase student well-being, manage behavior trends, and promote academic achievement.
Effectively Managing the Classroom
A lot of new teachers may find it challenging to manage their classrooms. Getting help with setting up routines, making the most of class time, and encouraging students to be independent is key. Time management is essential to keeping teachers and students on task. Consider conducting a self-audit which we expand upon in the Foundation of Excellences learning series. Tracking transition time, time on general procedures, and student time on tasks can yield data that will help teachers maximize class time, manage their classrooms well and feel good about their work.
Promoting the Importance of Well-Being
Teaching can be tough. With all the work piling up, it is normal to feel stressed and overwhelmed.That is why it is super important for new teachers to have ways to stay healthy and happy in their job. The Foundations of Excellence learning series offers ways to promote well-being, such ascultivating a class culture that promotes self-awareness. When teachers and students discuss what brings them joy and have space to discuss what is meaningful to them, then there is an opportunity to support one another and develop positive engagement that can be sustained. After all, when new teachers find joy and purpose in what they do, they're more likely to stick around and become experienced educators.
The goal of the Foundations of Teaching Excellence learning series is to alter the trend of rising teacher turnover by providing continuous and clear support. Frequent teacher attrition affects the establishment of schoolwide systems, quality of instruction, and, most notably, student achievement. Studies emphasize that when teacher turnover rates are high, it negatively impacts both teachers and students. Teacher retention enables schools to protect the quality of education and the success of our students. Therefore, the investment in new teacher support is paramount.
Supporting new teachers offers a chance to sustain their enthusiasm, nurture their professional development, and join them on their enriching journey of molding young minds! With the Foundations of Teaching Excellence learning series, new teachers can join quick and relevant learning sessions and gain actionable takeaways they can use right away in their teaching. These sessions include strategies, resources, and coaching to help new teachers succeed and stay in the profession for the long term.
Stay tuned for the next installment in this professional learning series, where we will discuss best practices, high-yield classroom strategies that maximize time, and structures that promote healthy habits and learning!
Product Description
The Foundations of Teaching Excellence is a professional development learning course designed to set new teachers up for success with an immersive series that builds fundamental teaching skills. Through this course, educators will learn the three most important skills new teachers need for continued success: best practices for building strong relationships, time-maximizing strategies for classroom management, and structures that assist with workloads and developing healthy habits. Click the link to learn more about training and resources for new teachers.
Dr. Alva Perry, Literacy Specialist at Scholastic
Dr. Perry is a Literacy Specialist who provides instructional support in the PacWest Region. She has 13 years of classroom experience and 7 years of leadership experience in elementary schools. She has a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership and a master's degree in teaching and Curriculum. Before joining Scholastic, Inc. Alva was a curriculum specialist in Compton Unified School District and a site administrator in a charter school network in South Los Angeles. Her expertise is in classroom management and data analysis. She enjoys collaborating with teachers and empowering them to be the agents of support students need for learning success.
