Retaining Educators in Washington DC

Retaining Educators in Washington DC

Washington DC is among the most popular and highly populated cities in the world. Being an urban center, schools around it tend to be more populated than other school settings which have become a challenge to educators. Generally, many schools are affected by teacher turnover to some degree, but urban schools are particularly affected (Id-Deen, 2016). As a result, almost all schools not excluding schools in Washington DC continue to struggle with teacher turnover. Situations of teacher turnover can occur when teachers don’t attend the classroom for a minimum of 1 year, or transferring to another school, or leave the classroom and fail to return. As such, district leaders have a significant role to play in Washington DC urban schools in order to retain educators. 

According to Tierney (2012), findings showed there is a serious issue with the high turnover rate of new teachers. In their first two years, almost one-third of teachers switch schools or give up teaching altogether. As a result, school districts wind up paying a price since they are forced to find, hire, and train new teachers. Additionally, taking so much time to acclimate to newcomers hinders schools' capacity to implement new innovations. This is particularly troublesome in low-income urban schools that already struggle to recruit and retain teachers. In order to curb this challenge, district leaders need to consider the following; support, empower, and invest in teachers; Affirm teachers’ humanity and racial identity; and create culturally affirming school environments. 

Firstly, district leaders need to empower, support, and invest in teachers in order to the issue of teacher turnover in Washington DC. Giving teachers the authority to decide on school goals and policies based on their professional judgment is known as teacher empowerment. By having more control over their work, teachers are better able to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and grow professionally. This makes the question of teacher empowerment vital which helps in retaining educators. States might engage in targeted mentoring programs that have been demonstrated to enhance teacher retention when keeping teachers is the main cause of shortages. Investments can be made to enhance mentoring programs that cater to the needs of teachers employed in low-income schools, support teacher wellbeing, educate teachers on social and emotional learning techniques, and develop creative systems to foster professional development and recognition that foster strong professional communities. 

Secondly, district leaders should affirm teachers’ humanity and racial identity to enhance educators’ retention. An educator is better equipped to empower students and improve learning if they are self-aware. Regarding one's cultural prejudices and biases, which unquestionably affect teaching efficiency, is one area where self-awareness is very crucial. Dixon & Griffin (2021) argue that it's crucial that school leaders should ensure that their vision aligns with the educators’ personal values and beliefs. Moreover, school leaders must foster a climate in which all staff, regardless of race, is included in discussions of how racism, systemic oppression, and implicit bias can impact school, district, and classroom practices. A report by Desiree Carver-Thomas showed that while there are more teachers of color overall, the ratio of Black and Native American teachers is dropping, and the disparity between Latinx instructors and students is the largest of any other racial or ethnic group. It is crucial to increase teacher diversity in order to eliminate achievement gaps and maximize learning opportunities for children of color. A greater number of highly diverse teachers may offset feelings of isolation, frustration, and exhaustion that may lead individual teachers of color to leave the profession. 

Lastly, district leaders should create culturally affirming school environments. Learning environments that are culturally responsive are places where everyone belongs. Traditional educational approaches frequently fall short of promoting the success of all educators and students equally, but culturally responsive teaching does just that. Language hurdles, institutionalized discrimination, and a lack of diversity are all problems that arise in classrooms when students' cultural backgrounds aren't carefully taken into account. Other than students facing discrimination in Washington DC, unintentionally biased teaching environments have negatively impacted teachers of color. By making sure that curricula, as well as learning and working environments, are inclusive and supportive of all racial and ethnic groups, you may teachers of color will be empowered (Dixon & Griffin, 2021). This increases the chances of retention. 

In conclusion, it is evident that there is a crisis of statewide teacher shortage in DC as a result of poor educator retention. Teachers have been leaving and not returning leading to a shortage of educators. To improve student learning and classroom environments, it is important to provide support to students who experience teacher turnover, regardless of the reason for leaving. However, to solve the problem, district leaders need to design culturally affirming school environments that support both white teachers and teachers of color. In addition, they should affirm teachers’ humanity and racial identity to enhance educators’ retention in DC. Empowering, supporting and investing in teachers also impacts teachers retention. 

References

Diversifying the teaching profession: How to recruit and retain teachers of color. Learning Policy Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/diversifying-teaching-profession-report  

Dixon, D., & Griffin, A. (2021, July 26). If you listen, we will stay. The Education Trust. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://edtrust.org/resource/if-you-listen-we-will-stay/ 

Tierney, J. (2012, November 16). Why do so many teachers quit their jobs? because they hate their bosses. The Atlantic. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/11/why-do-so-many-teachers-quit-their-jobs-because-they-hate-their-bosses/265310/ 

Id-Deen, L. (2016). Hidden Casualties of Urban Teacher Turnover: Black Students Share Their Experiences. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 12, 142-149.