Brightest burning out; Chicago attracting top teachers, but many likely to leave
BYLINE: Rosalind Rossi and Kate N. Grossman, The Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago public schools are attracting more top-shelf teaching recruits, but that's exactly the kind of rookie most likely to leave the neediest schools, a new study on Illinois teacher turnover indicates.
The latest report from the Illinois Education Research Council at first blush sounds good for the city. In the last 10 years, CPS has:
- Doubled the percent of new teachers with strong college admission test scores to 30.1 percent. That's even more than the 29.5 percent statewide average.
- Nearly doubled the percent of new teachers with advanced degrees, from 14 percent to 26.4 percent, again, outpacing the state.
- Sizably increased the percent of new teachers from highly selective colleges, to 15.6 percent, more than statewide.
But here's the rub. New teachers with just such qualifications are among the most likely to leave their schools after five years, the study by researchers Karen DeAngelis and Jennifer Presley indicates.
"You can call it a brain drain,'' said University of Pennsylvania professor Richard Ingersoll, a teacher turnover researcher.
"The best and the brightest just don't stick around as long,'' he said. "There's somewhat of a revolving door, and that door revolves the fastest for the best and brightest.''
MOST LIKELY TO LEAVE
Statewide, new teachers from selective colleges, or with masters degrees or ACT scores of 25 or higher, are among the most likely to leave their schools after five years, the study found.
Drill that down to such teachers who are in high-poverty, high-minority schools and the flee rate is even higher. Anywhere from 74 to 79 percent are gone after five years, according to "Leaving Schools or Leaving the Profession: Setting Illinois' Record Straight on New Teacher Attrition.''
"You can't just bring in more highly qualified teachers and leave everything else the same,'' study co-author Presley said. Even the best qualified rookies need mentoring and supportive principals to stay for the long haul, Presley said.
Why are the best and brightest more likely to leave? For starters, they could face culture shock working in schools that may look far different from the ones they attended.
Plus, they are attractive to other schools -- be they more advantaged ones or suburban schools with higher top pay scales.
Schools CEO Arne Duncan says he's cut the teacher turnover rate in half but hopes to make more progress by expanding a new mentoring program and offering a mix of merit pay and extra help at 10 needy schools this year.
SUPPORT IS CRITICAL
Kindergarten teacher Meredith Senn has a masters in early childhood education and is in her fourth year at Williams Elementary, a nearly all-black, 97.5 percent low-income Chicago public school.
Senn, 35, has only 15 students. She has a part-time assistant. Her co-workers are close-knit and collaborative. Her students are needy emotionally and academically -- "You have to be social worker and nurse and teacher and family.'' But "There are many people I can go to if I need a break,'' Senn said.
"I hear stories about 30 kindergarten students, no assistant, no supplies, not even enough chairs. If I was in a situation like that with my masters, I would switch jobs in a minute. But I stay where I am because I feel very supported.''
Susan Kurland, principal of Nettlehorst School in Lake View, offers another perspective, based on her work as assistant principal at Jordan, a needy Rogers Park school.
"Possibly people with higher ACTs have higher expectations for themselves, and they find the failure to be more overwhelming than someone else. It's brutal.''
Statewide, the Illinois study found 44 percent of new teachers leave their schools within two years and 67 percent leave within five years, but many eventually return. Only 27 percent of rookies leave Illinois public schools entirely.
Whether new teachers leave temporarily or just switch schools, the 67 percent five-year bailout rate is "alarming,'' said Tom Carroll, president of the National Council on Teaching and America's Future.