Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Charles Greco
Committee Member
Carole Trueman
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
ASD, Aspen School District, beginning teachers, building principals, Colorado, focus groups, hiring, interviews, literature review, new teacher benefits, new teacher salaries, personnel data, probationary teacher resignations, probationary teachers, professional development, qualitative research, quantitative research, retention, school climate, support systems, surveys, teacher salaries, teacher shortage, veteran teachers
Abstract
With a teacher shortage sweeping the country and an estimate that over 200,000 new teachers will need to be hired yearly for the next decade (Darling-Hammond, 1999), the Aspen School District took steps to address this potential crisis of hiring and retaining qualified teachers. Located in an isolated, expensive, mountain community, this District was facing a major challenge that is not easily solved. This applied dissertation studied the causes of probationary teacher resignations in the Aspen Schools, identified new teacher needs, and instituted programs that led to an increase in the retention of probationary teachers. The study examined numerous factors that helped as well as hindered the hiring and retention of qualified teachers in the District. The study included qualitative as well as quantitative research, and involved probationary teachers who resigned from the District, new teachers seeking non probationary status, veteran teachers, and building principals. Surveys, focus groups, interviews and personnel data allowed for triangulated research that was thorough and accurate.
A literature review identified low salaries, inadequate hiring standards, sub par professional development programs, unhealthy school climate, and weak support systems for new teachers as major issues (Quality Educators: The Best Opportunity for Maine Children, 2001). Surveys and discussions with current probationary teachers and probationary teachers who recently resigned from the Aspen School District identified low teacher salaries and inadequate professional development programs as their two major issues. New teacher salaries were increased by 22% to place them within $130 of the highest paid new teachers in Colorado, and additional teacher benefits were offered by the District. Professional development programs were revised to meet the needs better of these probationary teachers. These two interventions significantly decreased the number of resignations of probationary teachers in the ASD from 40% to 14% in the first year of implementation.