Higher Education Research
My research interests involve variables that impact teacher retention. Specifically, I am interested in factors that are not related to compensation such as employee morale, motivation, and job satisfaction because I believe that school leaders have control over many of the variables that contribute to these factors. Throughout my 16 years working in public education as both a teacher and administrator, it has become very clear to me that the teacher is the most important variable in the school building that impacts student achievement. Luke 6:40 states “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (ESV, 2009). This is a powerful message and clearly emphasizes the importance of hiring and retaining highly effective teachers. I have had the opportunity to work with some outstanding teachers and I have also worked with ineffective teachers. I have seen cohorts of students perform at a very high level for one teacher and the very same cohort of students underachieve for another teacher. Teachers are the key. Keeping highly effective teachers motivated and keeping them in their respective schools is a challenge in today’s educational environment to say the least.
Beliefs that I have regarding teacher motivation and retention is that teachers must feel valued, they must feel supported, they must have time to collaborate and connect socially and professionally with colleagues. In addition, I believe that school culture has a large impact on teacher retention. I have a current interest in this as an HR Director because teacher retention is becoming more challenging by the year. Additionally, having conducted many exit interviews, oftentimes teachers cite non-compensation related variables as playing significant factors as reasons for their departure. The good thing is that teacher support, training, collaboration, professional development opportunities, and building culture are within the span of control of school leaders, whereas state and local budgets oftentimes are not. I think that administrator leadership training must be intentional and prioritized. How many times are school-level administrators thrown right into the fire, often because they were successful teachers, without any on-going training in how to become an effective leader? Many have no leadership experience, but they often have the potential to be effective leaders.
An 2020 study conducted by James Shuls and Joshua Flores which was published in the Journal of Educational Leadership found that a consistent theme across all districts studied was that supporting building administration is seen as favorable by teachers and contributes to teacher retention. (Shuls and Flores, 2020). A second finding of this study is that building culture significantly impacts teacher retention. More specifically, teachers are more likely to stay in the profession and at the same school when the school has a culture of trust and openness and when teachers are given some level of autonomy to be creative and shine in the classroom. I hope to research the impact of principal leadership training on teacher retention. My experience tells me that school administrators can have a large impact on retention and job satisfaction amongst staff. My hope is that my research will identify the need for intentional leadership training for school-level administrators. This research aligns with the SCRIP framework. Specifically, school leaders that have a positive influence on staff morale and retention need to display commitment, integrity, and professionalism in order to build trust. In addition, districts must be reflective as they intentionally seek strategies to help improve staff morale and retention.
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