WASHINGTON 鈥� Turnover in the teaching field is high. Just how high that churn is has been the subject of debate.
A study published in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 National Center for Educational Statistics found that 17 percent of teachers with less than five years of experience end up leaving the field for good. In urban school districts, the number is higher.
This academic year, from 2016-2017, that a higher-than-normal number of teachers left before the school year ended. Two hundred teachers systemwide left District of Columbia Public Schools.
At one school, Ballou High School in D.C.鈥檚 Ward 8,聽more than a quarter of the staff headed for the door. Rowan Langford was among those who decided to call it quits before the last day of classes. The novice teacher was painfully aware of the impact her midyear departure could have.
鈥淚 hate to be a part of this problem. A lot of these kids have had their teachers quit on them before,鈥� Langford told 蜜桃视频app.
But Langford said she was struggling almost immediately. She said she thought about quitting just two months after she was hired. She鈥檚 frank in pinpointing her own shortcomings as well as where DC Public Schools fell short.
鈥淚 felt like I didn鈥檛 have that much support in like, making lesson plans. I had no control over my classroom, really.鈥�
Langford says her assistant principal, Dr. Kimbria Jackson, tried to help the floundering newcomer.
鈥淢y assistant principal was really, really, honestly fantastic and she really wanted to help me. But I think that she just didn鈥檛 have the time or resources to help me,鈥� Langford said.
When asked about the management of the principal, Dr. Yatunde Reeves, Langford would only say 鈥淚鈥檇 rather not talk about that.鈥�
DCPS press secretary Michelle Lerner responded to 蜜桃视频app in an email late Tuesday: “DC Public Schools is proud of the leadership of Principal Reeves at Ballou.” Lerner cited increases in graduation rates and a reduction in student suspensions, among other benchmarks.
Regarding the issue of teacher retention, Lerner wrote, “It鈥檚 a challenge for school districts across the country when teachers leave mid-year, and DC Public Schools is working to ensure that all teachers feel supported and have the ability to hire high-quality teachers when positions become available.”
Ballou saw 21 teachers leave during the period from August 鈥� the start of the school year 鈥� to February, The Washington Post reports.
Langford, who graduated with a B.A. in math, picked up some training while teaching summer school 鈥� but that was at the elementary school level. As a newly minted college graduate, she wasn鈥檛 much older than many of her students at Ballou.
鈥淚 was 21 when I started and a lot of them were like 17, 18 years old.鈥�
General Vice President of the Washington Teachers Union Jacqueline Pogue Lyons says new teachers need intensive support.
鈥淥ne of the things that we鈥檇 like to see the District put a lot of time and investment into is induction programs.鈥�
Those would include mentoring with teachers who have extensive experience and professional development courses that would help teachers deal with management and behavior issues in the classroom. The induction period would go far beyond the early part of a new teacher鈥檚 first school year, says Pogue-Lyons.
鈥淭hese are programs that teachers would be a part of from one to three years,鈥� she said.
Langford says she was paired with a mentor teacher, 鈥渂ut she actually also wound up quitting Ballou at the same time I did.鈥�
Looking back, Langford says her young age and her lack of professional training played a role in her difficulties. The workload was also daunting; she taught seven classes and had 200 students.
Student absenteeism and some of the behavior issues she dealt with also took a toll.
鈥淥ne student threw a stapler at me,鈥� Langford said.
But she recognizes that a lot of her students had challenges outside of school that made attending hard. She taught Algebra 2 and says when students came back from absences, they struggled to catch up to an academic level that already outpaced what they鈥檇 managed to master. Despite her experience, Langford, who is now learning to code and looking at entering the world of IT, says she might return to teaching.
鈥淢aybe after five years.鈥�
Pogue-Lyons says many new teachers enter the field with passion, but little of the kind of educational training that can help them survive the first years of teaching.
鈥淚f teachers are not involved in any type of induction program, they鈥檙e more likely to leave teaching within the first three years,鈥� she said.
Reality can be a slap in the face to new teachers eager to play a role in the lives of young people, she added.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a difference between having a passion and actually getting in a classroom and working with students.鈥�
