Teacher dropouts a bigger problem than student dropouts

Ron French, formerly of The Detroit News, has written an eye-opening story for Bridge Magazine that indicates teacher dropout rates may be more of a problem in Michigan that student dropouts.

The teacher “churn,” with many rookie educators entering and leaving the profession at a rapid rate, is rather stunning. French’s piece includes numerous links if you want to learn more – or if you want to find out how your school district stacks up.

Here’s a little taste of the Bridge findings:

“I started teaching in a charter school in Taylor. I showed up and they said, ‘Here’s a curriculum,’ and they handed me a USB (drive) and a pile of books and said, ‘Teach this,’ and you’re kind of left alone. You’re almost creating your own curriculum, and as a 23 year old, I didn’t have the intellectual capacity to do a perfect lesson yet.”

—Benjamin Brierre, currently a teacher at Birmingham Seaholm High School

* The percentage of U.S. teachers under the age of 30 doubled in just five years, from 2006 to 2011.  Those young teachers are dropping out at a faster rate than in the past, with one in ten educators with 1-3 years of experience leaving the classroom every year.

“There was no preparation for classroom management. I was totally unprepared for that. I was like two days ahead of the kids at all times. It’s a sink or swim profession. If you survive the first year, you can keep going. But the first year … it’s just grueling.”

— Wendy Zdeb-Roeper, currently executive director of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals

* In 1987-88, the most common amount of experience for U.S. teachers was 15 years, according to the U.S Department of Education; twenty years later, it was one year.

"You’re 22 or 23, you’ve got 150-plus students (in high school), and I’m getting about 20 minutes of feedback every three or four months. There’s no support, you’re woefully unprepared, and you’re totally isolated. You’re trying to put these lesson plans together at 10 o’clock at night, and you have to be up at 5 getting prepped. You’re making this curriculum up as you’re going it alone.”

— Amber Arellano, executive director of Education Trust-Midwest

* High-poverty schools are more than twice as likely to have inexperienced teachers than wealthy, suburban schools. The result: the kids who are most in need of experienced teachers are the least likely to get them.