(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Principals Advisory Council discussed what school leadership can do to increase teacher retention during their meeting on Sept. 30.
Veda Stewart, director of the Division of Educator Recruitment and Development in KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, said it’s important for schools to focus not only on recruiting teachers, but also retaining them. She said hiring and training new teachers is expensive for schools, but building a positive and supportive environment can help teachers feel more at home in their schools.
“As we talk with other state leaders across the country, (we hear that) principal support and administrative support is valued by teachers and that was an avenue for them to feel wanted in their school; and a lot of them stay because of the great support they’re given along the way,” Stewart said.
She shared a retention tool spreadsheet principals can use to calculate their retention rate and better visualize teachers’ reasons for leaving.
Stewart encouraged principals to find ways to get teachers involved in their community and asked the council to share any ideas they have or initiatives they already do in their school.
Lynn Petrey, principal of Kentucky School for the Deaf, said he writes handwritten personal notes for teachers to recognize them for things they’ve done in the classroom or on campus. He said when he was a teacher, a principal gave handwritten notes to him and he remembered it as something special.
Geco Ross of the Paducah Independent school district, said many new teachers in his district are not involved in local community groups or activities right away, but that he and others in the district encourage new teachers to get involved.
“It’s been a huge task and one that’s taken some intentionality, to make sure that all of our newer faculty are getting connected into the community, make sure they’re making friends, trying to connect them with resources within the community so they can make a home here,” Ross said.
Jarrod Hankins, representing Webster County Public Schools, said on Thursdays after school, staff enjoy refreshments in the school lounge where teachers can hang out and talk to each other.
Liz Kirk, representing Fayette County Public Schools, said there’s been very little turnover the last few years at Yates Elementary School, where she is principal. She said one thing that helped is having teachers recognize other teachers.
Kirk said teachers rotate a “gratitude journal” throughout the year. When a teacher receives it, they write something they’re grateful for in school and then give it to someone else in 48 hours.
Sarah Williams of Jefferson County Public Schools, said they give teachers the Teacher Upbeat Survey twice a year, which focuses on teacher retention and allows teachers to give feedback on school culture and how they are feeling about their jobs.
Meredith Brewer, associate commissioner in KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, said when she was a teacher, her school had a sunshine committee that would throw parties for events in the lives of staff. Run by volunteers, the committee would celebrate birthdays, baby showers and more. Other advisory council members said they also have sunshine committees.
Stewart said she will be reaching out to Kentucky principals to get more input on what school leadership is doing or can do to increase teacher retention.
Sarah Snipes, director of the Division of Innovation in KDE’s Office of Continuous Improvement and Support, shared an update on KDE’s reimagined assessment and accountability model. She said as part of the process, KDE is encouraging more districts to design their own local accountability models using the new Local Accountability Design Guide and Toolkit.
Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said several districts have already implemented local accountability models, and those districts have seen great success in building trust with their communities.
“We have an opportunity to do an accountability model that is relevant to an individual district or an individual school,” Fletcher said. “When you’re convincing people through a local accountability model that they need to be a part of public education, this has the potential to make a huge shift in what we do every day.”
In other news:
- Nicholas Brake, a professor at Western Kentucky University, shared information about the university’s principal preparation program. He said the school put together a pre-apprenticeship program with a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, allowing them to redesign their principal preparation program to include more work in districts both at the beginning and at the end of the program.
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