WHY TEACHER RETENTION IS CRITICAL FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

Posted by AnneWelshTreglia on November 6th, 2017

Teacher retention is an aspect of education research that examines factors such as school characteristics and teacher population, and how they affect the retention or movement of teachers from one school to another. Researchers and policymakers in the educational sector have identified some common factors across schools that affect teachers’ retention. These factors include;
PULL Factor: which encourages teachers to remain in their place of work; these factors could be high or stable income, mission alignment (the mission of the school conforms to that of the teacher).

PUSH Factor: this element does not encourage the retention of teachers. Factors such as low and unstable income, student behavior issues.

Teacher turnover harms student learning and can, however, be negative especially when the replacement is inexperienced or uses a method not compatible with the students.

Teacher retention fosters a relationship between students and their teacher which inspires students to want to become better versions of themselves thereby increasing their chances at success. It is however obvious that one of the greatest influencers of student’s success is the teacher. This effect of teachers on students increases over time and as such increases the success rate of students over the years. It is however beneficial to the students and to schools to retain these experienced influencers inside the classroom. Teachers who utilize effective teaching strategies and are qualified increases students success year after year. Students are likely to learn better and faster when taught by teachers they are accustomed to. The teacher-student relationship is needed to help a child succeed academically. Teacher turnover might interfere with the learning pattern of student, and this does not give room for success.

In Conclusion

Mentorship is one important aspect of teaching as a profession. Taking the mentor away from the students may fail on the part of students. Schools would benefit more if teachers are retained and turnover is reduced. Creating the environment that will encourage retention should, however, be paramount to school administrators as this will make teacher retention easier and students would not have suffered academically.