ERIC Identifier: ED341762
Publication Date: 1991-09-00
Author: Ascher, Carol
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban
Education New York NY.
Retaining Good Teachers in Urban Schools. ERIC/CUE Digest,
Research makes clear that student learning is affected by teachers'
qualifications and experience (Webster, 1988). Yet, the very schools where
students most need excellent teachers often have the greatest difficulty hiring
and retaining the best. This is because these schools that serve poor and
minority children--often urban schools--have such limited funds for teacher
salaries, educational materials, and general maintenance of the educational
Central city schools suffer from far greater teacher shortages than do
suburban or rural districts (Council of Great City Schools, 1987). Urban schools
also tend to have higher teacher absenteeism, higher teacher turnover, and a
higher percentage of substitute teachers compared to other schools (Bruno &
Negrete, 1983). Moreover, these schools must function with more new and
uncertified teachers (Darling-Hammond, 1988). In fact, the single greatest
source of educational inequality is in the disproportionate exposure of poor and
minority students--those students who fill inner-city schools--to less trained
and experienced teachers (Darling-Hammond, 1988).
RETAINING GOOD TEACHERS
Besides common salary differentials
between urban teachers and teachers in surrounding suburban areas, urban
teachers work under greater bureaucratic constraints than do suburban or rural
teachers; they tend to teach more students a day; and they do so while lacking
basic materials such as books, desks, blackboards, and paper (Council, 1987). At
the same time, their students often bring into the classroom the social problems
that plague their inner-city communities.
Nevertheless, good working conditions--even more than students' socioeconomic
status--are associated with better teacher attendance, more effort, higher
morale, and a greater sense of efficacy in the classroom. These conditions
include (Corcoran, Walker, & White, 1988):
supportive principal leadership;
physical working conditions;
levels of staff collegiality;
levels of teacher influence on school decisions; and
levels of teacher control over curriculum and instruction.
The problem for urban administrators, then, is to create supportive working
conditions, even when they have few resources.
IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT OF EXISTING RESOURCES
lack of resources--whether staff, material, equipment or funds--creates stress
among school staff (Corcoran et al., 1988).
Money spent on attractive, well-stocked classrooms; private and accessible
telephones; and good copying machines may be a wise investment when compared
with the cost of continually replacing disgruntled teachers (Darling-Hammond,
1988). Moreover, it is important to involve teachers in decisions that can be
made at the school level. When teachers help make decisions about such resources
as books, paper, and other classroom supplies, they can use their own expertise
to improve the professional culture of the school (Corcoran et al., 1988).
WORK FOR SMALLNESS OF SCALE
Students learn better in small
classes and minischools, and black students are helped even more by small
classes than are whites (Word, 1991). Teachers also feel more effective and have
a greater sense of community in these smaller environments, and burnout is less
likely when classes are small (Bruno & Negrete, 1983).
REWARD GOOD TEACHING WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO REMAIN IN THE CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL
Seniority rules, especially in inner-city
schools, tend to create high teacher mobility as experienced teachers leave
their classrooms for better assignments (teaching middle-class students) or for
promotions to administrative positions. These seniority rules also
psychologically remove those about to be transferred out, while leaving the
remaining inexperienced teachers feeling especially vulnerable and stressed
(Farber, 1991). "Combat pay," an incentive program that offers a salary
differential to teachers willing to serve in difficult school sites, is
apparently not the answer. Such an incentive is used largely by teachers at the
low end of the salary scale, and so does not lead to the stability of senior
teachers (Bruno & Negrete, 1983).
However, career ladders that afford creative and experienced teachers the
power, prestige, and money they deserve as master teachers, within the school
where they have made their reputation, enable both students and neophyte
teachers to benefit from their expertise. At the same time, master teachers can
work with new teachers in teaching teams and in other ways, breaking down the
isolation of the classroom (Darling-Hammond, 1988).
MINIMIZE BUREAUCRACY AND EMPOWER TEACHERS
While less able
teachers can feel protected by the structure of large, impersonal, urban
schools, good teachers often leave these schools because bureaucratic
constraints blunt their individual authority (Haberman, 1987).
However, unless teachers are given the training and support to manage their
new responsibilities, the empowering possibilities of decision making will not
be realized. On the other hand, it has also been argued that teachers' sense of
empowerment may be increased more by greater knowledge about their field, their
professional community, and educational policy than by controlling school
management details (Lichtenstein, McLaughlin, & Knudsen, 1991).
BREAK DOWN TEACHERS' ISOLATION
Team teaching and joint
planning can be instituted in schools without the addition of major resources or
restructuring. These strategies offer the opportunity for enhancing teachers'
sense of effectiveness (Corcoran et al., 1988). Teacher and parent-teacher
councils can also give teachers new arenas of authority, while breaking down the
isolation of the classroom and creating new partners in schooling.
HELP TEACHERS FUNCTION AS CONTINUOUS LEARNERS
reason why urban teachers fail as teachers and drop out is that they themselves
do not function as continuous learners. Instead of changing their approach when
it seems ineffective, teachers often continue with the same teaching methods
until they are as demoralized as their students (Haberman, 1987).
Teachers need both administrative support for trying out new teaching methods
and real help in generating new ideas for work in the classroom.
Despite administrative and financial constraints
in many urban schools, a variety of innovations can be used to provide
inner-city students with creative and experienced teachers. Since the
effectiveness of urban schools is largely dependent upon such teachers, effort
to retain them should be a high priority.
Bruno, J. E., & Negrete, E. (1983). Analysis
of wage incentive programs for promoting staff stability in a large urban school
district. The Urban Review, 15(3), 139-149.
Corcoran, R., Walker, L. J., & White, J. L. (1988). Working in urban
schools. Washington, DC: The Institute for Educational Leadership. (ED 299 356)
Council of Great City Schools. (1987). Results in the making. Washington, DC:
Darling-Hammond, L. (1988). Teacher quality and equality. Unpublished paper
prepared for the College Board's Project on Access to Learning.
Farber, B. (1991). Crisis in education: Stress and burnout in the American
teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Haberman, M. (1987). Recruiting and selecting teachers for urban schools.
Urban Diversity Series No. 95. New York: Teachers College, ERIC Clearinghouse on
Urban Education; Reston, VA: Association of Teacher Educators. (ED 292 942)
Lichtenstein, G., McLaughlin, M., & Knudsen, J. (1991). Teacher
empowerment and professional knowledge. Stanford: Stanford University, Center
for Educational Policy Research.
Word, E. (1990). Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR). Tennessee's K-3
class size study. Final summary report, 1985-1990. Nashville: Tennessee State
Department of Education. (ED 320 692)
Webster, W. J. (1988, March-April). Selecting effective teachers. Journal of
Educational Research, 81(4), 245-53.