October 2007 — Features
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Ultimately, the challenge of consistent data collection and reporting related to teacher turnover may need to be resolved at the state level, but in the meantime school officials must develop local systems for accomplishing this task. "You can’t manage what you can’t measure," says NCTAF’s Carroll. "Every district needs a comprehensive human resources plan that includes a system for record keeping." Steps to take in designing local plans include:
- Develop evaluation questions that specify what needs to be known about local attrition patterns and costs. Make certain the questions are specific and measurable. For example: What information is gathered during exit interviews? How are attrition costs specified in the human resources budget?
- Identify data elements that can be aggregated and will provide answers to the evaluation questions. Exitinterview data elements to be considered include current assignments, or reasons for leaving the current position. Carroll recommends that school administrators review the Teacher Turnover Cost Calculator available on the NCTAF site to identify appropriate data elements and estimate turnover costs.
- Determine how/if existing data collection systems can be used to collect and report teacher data. What’s needed here is for information technology and other district leaders to pool their resources. Hopefully, existing data management systems will fit the bill for this new task. But districts might need to invest in additional data tools to get the job done. This may mean expanding the existing system using add-on modules designed to handle teacher data, or purchasing an entirely new data tool. However, this initial investment will quickly pay for itself if the outcome is a decrease in teacher attrition.
Once the data is gathered, evaluated, and reported, the information can be used to reduce teacher turnover and the associated costs. School districts with high teacher attrition rates simply cannot afford to allow this mass exodus to continue; those "associated costs" are devastating to a district’s bottom line and ultimately damaging to its students. While technology tools are not a panacea, they can be leveraged to support data-driven decisions related to staffing and to strengthen the safety net every new teacher needs to be successful. Fortunately, these tools are readily available to most districts and can be implemented in a timely way.
Above all, Carroll believes, school officials need to be held publicly accountable for teacher turnover and its associated costs. "Teacher turnover is a serious issue," he says. "The public needs to be aware of how attrition impacts schools and what’s being done to lower the rate."
-Susan Brooks-Young is an education consultant and author based in Lopez Island, WA, and Vancouver, BC.
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