To raise teacher morale, rethink the role of the teacher

Key points:

A new interactive resource from the National Council on Teacher Quality questions the effectiveness of the traditional classroom model and underscores that it is not structured to help teachers succeed.

The resource, Reimagining the Teacher Role: How Strategic Staffing Can Attract and Retain Effective Teachersillustrates how more modern teacher staffing strategies, such as team teaching, paying an expert teacher more to take on larger classes, and creating new teacher leadership roles, can improve teacher retention, alleviate hiring challenges, and , ultimately giving more students access to high-quality education. teachers.

In any classroom today, students arrive with varying degrees of knowledge and skill. Teachers are often unrealistically expected to meet each child's individual academic needs alone, with little support. They largely work alone without opportunities to advance their careers. In fact, only 26 percent of teachers agree that the teaching profession is dynamic, meaning it has role flexibility and opportunities for growth and leadership. (Sources: Learning Policy Institute & Educators for excellence.)

As a result, teachers experience high levels of work-related stress, leading to lower job satisfaction and higher turnover rates. During the 2022-23 school year, just over 40 percent of public schools in low-income areas and those with mostly students of color were fully staffed. Furthermore, teachers do not stay in the profession as long as they used to. If teachers had been surveyed about their years of experience in 1988, “15 years” would have been found to be the most common response. In 2016, the most common answer was “one to three” years of experience. (Source: Ingersoll, RM, Merrill, E., Stuckey, D., & Collins, G. (2018). Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force)

Reimagining the Teaching Role offers a bold solution through strategic and innovative staffing structures that make the profession more attractive and sustainable for teachers and can ultimately boost student learning outcomes.

“Just as the Ford Model T does not meet today's transportation needs, the traditional teaching model of the same era does not work well for many students and teachers,” said NCTQ President Heather Peske. “States must take steps to catalyze innovative staffing models, and districts must take advantage of these opportunities to attract and retain the teachers who will help our students succeed.”

NCTQ's new resource highlights how state policies have the potential to help or hinder a district's ability to implement a better approach to staffing classrooms. While the analysis found that state policy is not a barrier in many cases, there are four key policy areas where states can do more to support innovations:

Class size

• Class size and student-teacher ratio laws can hinder strategic staffing models by not allowing more than one adult to be assigned in the same class to support students, or may prohibit a teacher from highly effective accept additional students, even with additional support and support. pay.
• Five states do not allow districts to request a waiver from restrictions on class size or student-teacher ratios, 25 states allow waivers, and 20 states and the District of Columbia do not address class size or class size in their policies. the student-teacher ratio.

Teachers as observers.

• When policy restricts teachers' ability to be formal observers, it limits the career paths of teachers who do not want to be administrators but want to serve in a leadership capacity. It also limits districts' ability to think creatively about reconfiguring roles to provide more support to help teachers grow.
• Thirteen states prevent teachers from formally observing other teachers, 28 states allow teachers to observe other teachers, and nine states and DC are silent on the issue.

Team results

• Districts need flexibility to create team-based accountability, where teachers are responsible for team results. Currently, 30 states include student growth as a measure in teacher evaluation.
• Eleven states do not allow districts to attribute team results to teacher evaluations, 21 states do allow it, and 18 states and DC do not address the issue in state policy.

Restrictions on the use of support staff and time.

• Restricting the roles of paraprofessionals, residents, and other support staff too severely limits how schools can think creatively to leverage all the adults in the building to best meet the needs of students. When state policy limits the time teachers have to collaborate, it can impede team-based instructional approaches.
• Fourteen states have policies that restrict the use of support staff or teacher time, which may restrict new models or collaboration, and 36 states and DC do not restrict teacher time or how support staff are used.

Besides, only eight states provide some form of supplemental pay for teacher leadership roles beyond mentoring novice or aspiring teachers, meaning that even if policy allowed for these innovative staffing models, many states are not structured to compensate teachers for the additional leadership responsibilities they would assume.

State leaders are uniquely positioned to create opportunities for school districts to reimagine the teaching role by helping districts pilot new staffing models; get them to evaluate the results of the models and share what works; offer waivers from restrictive policies (such as class sizes), if they have a plan and commit to tracking results; and finance the design, development and evaluation of the models.

See more recommendations and evidence for reinventing the role of teachers, and examples of states, districts, advocacy organizations, and teacher preparation programs taking steps to achieve this in Reimagining the Teacher Role: How Strategic Staffing Can Attract and Retain Effective Teachers. You can also find individuals state profileswhich offers a snapshot of how each state's policy may be helping or hindering innovation in the classroom.

This press release originally appeared online.

eSchool Media staff covers educational technology in all its aspects, from legislation and litigation to best practices, lessons learned and new products. First published in March 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information needed to help K-20 decision makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and universities. and achieve their educational goals.

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