Date

Winter 2022

ESRP 9000 Professor

Don Hall, Ed.D.

ESRP 9001 Professor

David B. Ross, Ed.D.

Executive Summary

Teachers are leaving the profession at high rates. This has been a nationwide issue for at least the past nine years. Beginning, mid-career, and veteran teachers are leaving at different points in their careers, creating a problem for school districts, as the number of teachers leaving is increasing faster than certified teachers can be recruited. Moreso, newer teachers are leaving at the highest rates. This disruption is causing schools to be left without teachers in some classes, and to use substitute teachers, situations which do not supply students with the proper and needed instruction to prepare them for state exams, college, and life. Due to the shortage of teachers because of high teacher attrition, the research seeks to find solutions that address the high teacher turnover rates and reverse this trend by retaining teachers in the profession.

This study analyzed possible solutions to help reduce high teacher turnover and retain teachers. The focus was aimed at newer teachers, since the research found they had the highest numbers exiting the field. Teachers need a support system, guidance, feedback, modeling, and professional growth within the profession. To help increase the longevity of these teachers in the profession, the solution proposed is to use teacher mentoring. In-depth analyses of the pros, cons, and barriers are discussed for the potential and selected solutions. This study looks at strategies to implement teacher mentoring as the best solution to help mitigate the retention problem. The strategy to accompany this solution was a clinical supervision program. Such a program could provide the support that new teachers need to be successful in their first few years of teaching. An action plan is presented for the selected strategy to be implemented effectively. The action plan details the steps to take, the responsible parties that will be involved, the resources that will be needed, the list of barriers and ways to combat them if they should arise, and the desired outcomes that are expected after implementation. It is recommended that future studies explore more teacher mentoring strategies that can be implemented in school districts to address teacher attrition.

Document Type

Strategic Research Project-NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

College

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education

Language

English

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