SEASIDE >> There are several reasons for an ongoing teacher shortage that’s been felt acutely in Monterey County. A wave of retirements. Changes in school funding that’s allowing for hiring more teachers, causing more openings. Declining interest for the profession.
But a new study is pinning the blame largely on teachers who leave the profession — and not because they’re retiring. An analysis of the 2012 School and Staffing Survey by the National Center for Education Statistics found that those who leave are dissatisfied with the profession or not receiving enough support or they’re unhappy with the amount of testing they have to administer.
These types of dissatisfactions were noted by 55 percent of those who left the profession and 66 percent of those who left for another school, as documented by Desiree Carver-Thomas and Linda Darling-Hammond of the Learning Policy Institute. In “Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It,” researchers found that turnover is 50 percent higher in schools that serve low-income students and 70 percent higher in schools that serve large concentrations of students of color.
Mark O’Shea, a professor of education at CSU Monterey Bay who’s done research on the teacher shortage, said he was struck by the finding that the percentage of teachers leaving the profession has increased substantially over the past two decades.
“I would conjecture that this may be attributed to the increase in the percentage of teachers provided through alternative routes to licensure,” he wrote in an email, referring to teaching credential programs that accept students coming from non-traditional teaching careers such as business. “In California, the teacher credentialing commission has placed a lot of faith these alternative programs to meet the teacher shortage.”
Money also seems to be an issue. Teachers in districts where the maximum teacher salary is greater than $72,000 are less likely to leave than those working in a district where the maximum pay is $60,000.
In other words, teachers in wealthy districts tend to stay put, while teachers in poor districts leave at higher rates.
In their analysis, Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond proposed several solutions, including establishing residency programs, cultivating homegrown talent and providing high-quality mentoring and induction to beginning teachers.
The last two approaches are already being used locally. CSUMB and Hartnell College launched last year the “teacher pathway program” that allows students to obtain an associate degree for transfer in elementary teacher education at the King City Education Center of Hartnell and guides them through the transferring process to CSUMB, where they would earn a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies.
“We know that grow-your-own programs result in much higher retention for school districts as compared to teachers recruited from out of the area,” said Jose Luis Alvarado, dean of education at CSUMB, in an email. “Our goal is to replicate this model within the city of Salinas, with Hartnell College offering the first two years of the program and CSUMB offering the remainder of the teacher pathway at our CSUMB @ North Salinas facilities.”
As part of reinventing instruction at Seaside Middle and Seaside High, teachers are working in pairs to co-teach some subjects. It’s not only better for the students, Seaside Middle School Principal Manny Nuñez said, but it’s also better for the teacher.
“We’ve been doing this for the last two years and we’re seeing some results,” he said. “There’s a lot of benefits, not just for supporting the students but for the co-planning you have expertise. It helps a lot.”
This year, new teacher Naomi Catterlin was paired with Bea Mendoza to teach English and Social Sciences. Not all of the co-teaching duos at the Seaside schools pair veteran with new teachers, but Nuñez is attempting to offer support through other methods.
“We have monthly gatherings,” he said. “The administrators organized a hike for the whole staff at Huckleberry Hill. We create those opportunities to build relationships and community.”
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 726-4370.
