Teacher Recruitment and Retention: From Principal Practice to Teacher Perceptions

  By: Cynthia L. Johnson

As the number of teachers that leave a school increases, the struggle to recruit highly-qualified teachers also increases.

At the same time, the quality of the teacher workforce decreases, negatively impacting student achievement.1

Nearly half of all teachers that enter education today will leave within the first five years of teaching. Those that teach in low-socioeconomic schools are twice as likely to leave. This continuous revolving door is detrimental to students, staff, and education as a whole. The study, Phenomenological Study: Recruitment and Retention of Highly Qualified Teachers in North Florida Title I Elementary Schools by Cynthia Johnson, reviewed literature regarding the background of teacher attrition and conducted a qualitative analysis on the best practices of principals of high-performing Title I schools in their efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. Through principal and teacher interviews, the study found a positive relationship between the intentional practices of principals to create a positive school environment and provide teacher support and their ability to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers. Why should we care?

Teachers leaving the profession have been well-documented throughout the years and range from the lack of leadership, lack of support, toxic environment, the type of school, challenging student behavior, teacher accountability, inconsistent teacher preparation programs, dissatisfaction with salary, stress, to job satisfaction. When a teacher leaves the classroom, not only is there a financial impact, which is estimated to be in the millions of dollars each year, but the institutional knowledge of that teacher is lost. Also, one of the greatest influences on student performance is the quality of their teacher, no matter the student’s background. High teacher attrition tends to lower the quality of the teacher workforce, directly impacting student success. As the number of teachers that leave a school increases, the struggle to recruit high-quality teachers for that school also increases. The rift may be too great to fill if the current trend continues. What needs to change? Despite the efforts to make teaching more economically inviting, the teacher shortage continues. Current state policy suggests an increase in base salaries. In 2020, Governor Ron DeSantis, through HB 641,

Prepared from a dissertation by Cynthia L. Johnson in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership in the School of Education at Florida Southern College.

Teacher Recruitment and Retention:

From Principal Practice to Teacher Perceptions

Impact of Teacher Attrition

the salary purse strings, to retain teachers, principals focus on building a positive school environment and intentional support of their teachers. The top two reasons teachers accept a position and stay at a school are a positive school environment and teacher support by the principal. The majority of methods the principals in the study use to create a positive environment and provide teachers intentional support require little to no money, only effort upon the principal. Principals commented on the importance of putting their teachers first, creating a family-like atmosphere, ensuring that the teachers are heard, and having high expectations of the teachers while providing support to obtain goals.

What do principals need to do to recruit and retain teachers?

5 accomplished principals and 11 of their highly-qualified teachers were asked. Their responses are in the graph below.

In the study, teachers shared the significance of their schools’ family-like feel, which they credited their principal for creating. Teachers also enjoy their principals’ acknowledgment of the effort and hard work towards their students’ success. Teachers shared that their principals listen to them, allow them the opportunity to participate in decisions, support them with student behavior, provide constructive feedback, and allocate for the sharing of ideas with their peers. These simple strategies help build a positive school environment and support the teacher. How to change?

There is an undeniable relationship between a positive school

environment, including increased recruitment teacher support, and retention of teachers. This relationship suggests that educational policies related to building positive school environments and intentionally supporting teachers have the potential to improve teacher attrition substantially. State and district policies should focus on creating recurring professional learning for district and school-based administrators in proven, low-cost methods to build a positive school environment and multiple ways to provide intentional support of teachers in instruction, personal growth, and student behavior. These are essential steps towards addressing the revolving door epidemic of teacher attrition. budgeted over $500 million to increase teachers’ starting salaries.

Though increasing salaries is a step in the right direction, according to the study, teacher recruitment and retention runs deeper than money. The principals in the study most often use three recruitment methods: word of mouth, networking, and requesting college interns. However, as principals do not hold

Resources:

Johnson, C.L. (2022). Phenomenological Study: Recruitment and Retention of Highly Qualified Teachers in North Florida Title I Elementary Schools [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Florida Southern College.

1 Martinez-Garcia, C., and Slate, J.R. (2009). Teacher turnover: a conceptual analysis. OpenStax CNX. http://cnx.org/contents/9a19a310-fa71-4636-a370-a5363013e2c1@3.

About the Author

Dr. Cynthia Johnson, a graduate of Florida Southern College, is Supervisor of Instructional Resources for a Florida school district. Email: cynthia.johnson777@gmail.com.