I have been reading about the shortage of teachers along with different ideas on how to fix the problem. Many believe that offering higher starting salaries will do the trick, and perhaps that will encourage some to enter the field or stay in their positions, but more change is needed.
Here are my solutions.
Human-Centered Teaching and Learning Schedules
I’ve taught in three different school districts, and the schedule was almost identical: six periods of teaching, one planning period, one team period and a lunch period. Sometimes I teach as many as five classes in a row without a break. My lunch has been as early as 9:27am and as late as 2:15pm.
The students don’t fare much better. Students might eat lunch as early as 10:00am or as late as 1:30pm. They also might have six classes in a row without a break.
I don’t know the history of the bell schedule, but it isn’t connected to research or commonsense. Throw out the existing schedule and use the Stanford Design Thinking model to build a new one. Start with empathy for students and teachers and then incorporate current research. Make sure you involve all stakeholders in the process.
Feedback & Appreciation
One significant difference between my corporate experience and teaching experience is the lack of frequent and spontaneous feedback and appreciation. There is an appreciation calendar for teachers. At the beginning of the school year there are usually whole-district or whole-school emails telling us what a difference we make and how happy everyone is to have us back. Another batch of emails arrives around Thanksgiving break and again at winter break. Then we have the annual teacher appreciation week in May and we can count on receiving more emails then and at the end of the school year.
In a way, there is also a feedback calendar. Newer teachers are evaluated a few times a year while veteran teachers might go two or three years without a formal evaluation. Administrators try and pop-in to classes to see what is going on and they might even send an email or write a note of thanks.
My corporate bosses and I spoke regularly about my contributions and my career plans. I was evaluated annually but there was plenty of feedback during the year.
The teacher evaluation process is quite formal with requirements from the state and agreements between the union and administration, and we can’t wait for that quagmire to get overhauled. But administrators can offer to have regular 1:1 meetings with teachers to provide advice and guidance on all aspects of teaching as well as career development and growth.
Pension Plans & Teacher Mobility
The negative financial consequences of changing jobs can be severe. Severe enough that leaving your school district comes with a huge financial hit.
Most pension plans are administered by the states, with some exceptions for large urban school districts. Moving to another state means changing pension plans, potentially to a plan that requires more teaching years for a lower pension amount.
Illinois currently has Tier 1 and Tier 2 pensions. Tier 1 pensions are the most generous and is the benefit program for teachers who entered the pension plan before January 1, 2011.
Tier 2 pensions are less lucrative and take longer to earn. A Tier 1 pensioner can retire at age 55 with 35 years of service or age 60 with 10 years of service with no penalty. Tier 2 pensioners need to work until age 67 to receive their full pension.
Additionally, in the state of Illinois, teachers can receive a 6% salary bump for the last three or four years before retirement. This increases the average annual salary which increases the annual pension. Most districts restrict the 6% bump to teachers who have been with the district for at least 10 consecutive years. Teachers with 20+ years of teaching will find it difficult to change districts without losing the salary bump.
Provide teachers the ability to relocate and change jobs without financial penalty by creating a “universal” teaching license issued by the US Department of Education as well as the ability to have pension benefits that you can rollover into another pension system. Or better yet, allow teachers to contribute to a federal pension plan.
School districts can be ready with new more humane teaching and learning schedules as well as 1:1 meeting time with a trusted administrator by the next school year. National teaching licenses and access to a federal pension plan are bigger ticket items that will take time but will allow teachers to seek and accept new opportunities while remaining in education.
What are your ideas?
