Why more than 50% of teachers quit in their first 5 years of teaching?

Question

Do you have any solution for this problem?

Answer 1

They leave.. not because of the pay, and usually not even for the working conditions...

They leave because they are working harder than they ever thought they would.. and they get little, if any, respect for doing it.

We have a problem in our educational system.. where the best and most talented teachers are lumped in together with mediocre and incompetent teachers. Not only are they paid the same (it is based on years of service, not ability or results), but sometimes excellent teachers are even 'punished' for working the kids too hard or holding students to a higher standard.

I am not sure how you can pay teachers for excellent work and make it truly equitable (I teach mostly honors classes, so of course I get better results than someone teaching lower level classes), but we should at least find a way of showcasing great teaching.. and praising excellent work.

I've heard ideas about 'value added' assessments ... that track how students perform from year to year, and when a student exceeds what is expected (based on trend), then the teachers for that student are credited with 'value-added'. If we do something like this, every teacher (with low or high level courses), should be able to show they are effective (or not). I am in favor of such an idea.

I also believe we need a better pre-service program in the universities. Teachers really have no idea just how demanding the job will be until they have begun teaching. Perhaps we should extend the student-teaching experience (up to a year of interning maybe?) so that teachers can have additional support while they are still learning how to do the job.

I love my job as a teacher, and am willing to persist through the trials and tribulations that go along with requiring excellence in my students... too bad I am in the minority.

Answer 2

The reason why more than 50% of teachers quit in their first 5 years of teaching is usually because they are under stress from dealing with the students that they have to teach every day. You have to remember that many students do not enjoy school, so they decide to make it hard for the teacher to teach the rest of the class.

Answer 3

It is not the students. And it is not the money! It is the parents and administrators. Many parents expect the teachers to teach their children things that mommy and daddy should have taught them at home. Plus many parents do not hold their children accountable for their actions. If the child gets in trouble or fails, then it is the teacher's fault. Plus many administrators back the parents instead of the teacher. Plus administrators put so many responsibilities and high expectations on teachers. Duty free lunch is non exisistant. At least in other jobs, you get a 30 minute lunch break. As a teacher, you get 23 minutes to get 26 students through a lunch line, plus eat your own lunch while making sure students do not steal or throw food. Then you have to make all 26 students take up their tray and line up while picking two reliable students to wash the tables. All of this must be done in 23 minutes. You will never have time to eat your entire lunch! I lasted two years in teaching before I resigned.

Send me a message if you want to hear more true teacher stories.

Answer 4

Imagine working in a job where, no matter how talented you are, no matter how much you care, no matter how much you actually teach the students and prepare them for society, some "so called" teacher who never tries, doesn't care and never will, and has taught virtually nothing in over 6yrs still makes more money than you and can never be fired. Where is the motivation to excel? Knowing full well you could be voted the teacher of the year and still get fired before the other one because you don't have tenure. I would probably go work for the private sector too. Oh, wait, I do.

Answer 5

They get bored of teaching to the test. They also get tired of having to try to deal with bored students. The textbooks all seem to ask questions that discourage thinking. As a result of being bored, students act out and get accused by school administrators of having disabilities. Finding students with such "disabilities" is what administrators are judged on. The schools get far more tax dollars for students in special education than for students in regular education. Likewise, teachers are judged by test schools.

If the people running the education system actually wanted to fix the problem, they'd turn the Public Schools into Private Schools (non-profits of course) and repeal the Compulsory Education statute. Government tends to waste money and Private Schools tend to perform better than Public Schools at a lower cost. Homeschooling leads to even better performance than that. Of course, by not forcing people who absolutely hate learning to go to school, you'd kick out the bullies and all the other problems.

I think its likely that by eliminating the incentives to fail and the safeguards against the school collapsing, you'd see the problems disappear overnight. Teachers and students alike would greatly prefer a school system that was far less bureaucratic and far less wasteful.

I don't think it has anything to do with the money. If somebody wants to earn lots of money, they'll probably go into medicine or business instead. Teachers decide to teach because they love doing so.

Answer 6

Being a teacher is difficult. For some, it's too difficult or too stressful, so they leave. For me, the teaching itself isn't the tough part, it's all the other crap that comes along with the job.
I am a first year teacher working in a school district with many students who come from low SES homes, and many who also speak English as a second language. Although I am blessed with a few very involved parents, for the most part, I am both parent and teacher to many of my students.

Additionally, with the current trend in education, teachers are being pressured to 'cover' more and more material every year, and have no time to slow down when students are confused. With the fast pace demanded by school district's and givernment entities, students aren't learning, and teachers may feel powerless...a feeling that is compounded when I have to waste valuable teaching time every day dealing with behavior issues that their parents do not address at home.

Even with having "more" to teach, prep time is being taken away, and budget cuts mean that Teacher have to fill in the gaps once filled by school assistants, which means more responsibility for already over-worked students.

on top of all this, many new teachers (like myself) are required to participate in programs designed to support them their first few years, but in reality just create more meeting to attend and more work for them to do!

geez...writing this just makes me feel stressed....good thing i'm on spring break.

Answer 7

Their salary expectations aren't realized and stress related issues in the classroom take their toll after the first 5 years into their career's isn't surprising is it? Perhaps it is? The baby boomer generation which I belong to used to be criticized just as much as the generation going thru the high school and college system now. Only difference is our teachers didn't burn out after 5 years and they weren't paid anything like they are now a days. The facts are the baby boomer's from the past were silly candy *** kids compared to the kids of today. The parents we had back then taught us values and took the time to raise us as best they could. Most succeeded I might add. The parents of today are more interested in making more money, driving that big SUV and saving for their future RRSP accounts. Kids are allowed to run wild and do whatever they want. Most kids are spoiled rotten and have no values or respect for anyone incl'd. their own family. I've have seen parents spend 500.00 and more to buy gifts for their kids (each) for Christmas & Birthdays, we were lucky to get a pair of jeans back then. Kids have no concept for anything that is good and honest, no values or appreciation. Space here limits my thoughts, but I wonder what will be their future. To their credit, my thoughts don't apply as much to the kids I've seen going to Post Secondary Schools. I blame society, young offender laws, hard drugs and the media, which inclds. movies, video games and last but not least, the parents! One thing is certian, their life expectations wont reach anywhere near past generations.

Answer 8

Good teachers are very personally involved in their work, and usually driven by a passion for bettering kids. It's very discouraging, then, when the reality of the teaching profession sets in - no administrative support, no parental support, and brick walls at every turn when there should be people looking to assist you in your very noble goal of exposing kids to education.

Very few GOOD teachers survive this initial period of difficulty. The people you see teaching for years and years are either exceptionally emotionally durable, or have often chosen to reduce their passion levels at work (thus making them less effective as teachers).

Teaching is hard, but surviving the lack of support is much much harder.

Answer 9

More appreciation and more pay for one of the toughest, riskiest, and most dedicated and important jobs in our society.

In ancient times, teachers were revered. Now, people who choose to teach, as opposed to work in their industry, each a fraction of what they could get as a professional or academic.

Teachers are abused and blamed if anything goes wrong at school, but how many parents take the time out to thank their childrens' teachers if all is going well?

Answer 10

Possible solutions:

Keep classroom sizes down

2 teachers per class (to share the unbelievable workload and demands that are often expected of one teacher)

Bring back corporal punishment in schools (have the principals/deans be allowed to spank/paddle kids when parents aren't doing the disciplining).