In the neighborhood public schools of the past, teachers were familiar faces to the families who attended, cultivating close, years-long relationships as multiple family members passed through their classrooms.
Today, it’s less common for a student to have the same teacher as their older brother or sister. Frustrated, burnt-out and underpaid, many teachers aren’t sticking around past the end of the school year. In fact, 44% of educators leave the classroom within their first five years of teaching.
While the revolving door may be slowing down as turnover rates return to pre-pandemic levels, school districts, especially those in urban areas, are still struggling to retain quality educators.
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For the Leadership Academy Network in Fort Worth, a partnership between the Fort Worth Independent School District and Texas Wesleyan University, teacher retention was one of our biggest challenges as we worked together to turn around the city’s lowest-performing schools. However, in six years, our teacher retention rate has soared from 50% to 93%.
The key? As an innovation school, we have the autonomy to take some big risks, and, in some cases, learn from our mistakes. While we may have more flexibility and agility than traditional public schools, the practices we developed can be successfully applied anywhere.
Innovations schools are a chance to change
In 2017, Fort Worth ISD designated five schools as “multi-year improvement required.” Two of the schools were at risk of either a takeover by the Texas Education Agency or a permanent closure.
The passing of SB 1882 by the state legislature that same year allowed Fort Worth ISD to reimagine and relaunch the five as Leadership Academy Network innovation schools within the district.
Two years later, a partnership between Texas Wesleyan University and Fort Worth ISD helped build on the Leadership Academy Network’s success. Today, the university provides support for academics, operations and management while the two organizations share oversight responsibility for the schools.
Because teacher attrition impacts student achievement school-wide, creating the foundation for an effective teacher-to-leader pipeline was one of the Leadership Academy Network’s top priorities.
So, we did what any organization would do to entice new employees—we increased pay and offered additional stipends. However, the out-of-pocket solution didn’t land the recruits we needed and those who joined often left by year two.
It wasn’t simply a financial issue we had to address, we needed to create a collaborative culture that provided educators with the resources and support they needed to excel.
Without the confinements of a traditional public school, we had the opportunity to design and implement different retention models and the freedom to pivot when challenges blocked our path.
Aligning leadership and instructional practices
Together, Leadership Academy Network leaders and educators developed a clear vision of classroom success. One way we identified achievement markers was by taking quantitative data from teachers who improved student outcomes and working one-on-one with them to understand their best practices—from their planning process and instructional methods to student engagement and classroom environment.
These insights allowed us to create models of success unique to our culture and students, which are now shared across campuses. Teachers now have a starting point from which to design instruction and school leaders have a solid framework on which to build professional development opportunities.
Robust coaching programs
Every Leadership Academy Network teacher has access to a personalized, intentional coaching plan from their first day on campus. When a new teacher onboards, they are paired with a veteran teacher who guides them through the systems and practices of the school.
In addition, if an educator is struggling with, for instance, helping their students master specific content, the teacher has the support of peers and administrators who help them identify the issues, adjust their instruction and prepare for the reteach. By having a continuous feedback loop connected to student outcomes, we provide teachers with the support that’s been missing from the classroom.
Flexible staffing supports
Our ability to pivot to the needs of teachers has been essential in proactively addressing educator burnout and team dynamics. As we experimented with different models over the years, we discovered the need to add both a math dean and a literacy dean.
Unlike assistant principals who manage multiple departmental tasks each day, from disciplining students to managing bus schedules, Leadership Academy Network deans focus solely on school instruction. Teachers have dedicated leaders who aren’t distracted by administrative duties but instead are dedicated to helping them excel in the classroom.
Since launching our teacher retention efforts, the Leadership Academy Network has seen a dramatic improvement in staff satisfaction. Six years ago, we were hiring 15 to 20 new teachers per campus—today, that’s dropped to just one to two.
And the reason we’re even hiring for those roles is because we are promoting teachers and coaches within our network. Most importantly, these incredible teachers have fostered academic growth among our students. Leadership Academy Network schools have effectively closed achievement gaps between all five campuses and state testing scores.
Just as innovation schools have reinvented K12 for underserved students, they are shaking up how underappreciated teachers are hired, trained and supported. Without bureaucratic hurdles blocking innovation, these schools can experiment with new models that best meet educators’ needs.
While traditional K12 schools may not have the autonomy to experiment, they can use best practices crafted in innovation schools to create intentional solutions that keep the revolving door from spinning.
