How do we break cycles that send promising young educators out of the profession too early? Veteran teacher Henry Seton reflects on the school year that challenged his commitment to the classroom and the support and solutions that renewed his reasons to stay.

Administrators who can create cultures that combine high levels of challenge and support are more likely to foster higher levels of educator success. Authors?Wendy Anderson and Kathy Schuh share effective leadership methods to support new teacher efficacy, including balancing autonomy with feedback, professionalism with self-care, and risk with…

When there's a revolving door of staff members in a school or district, leaders have three choices: leave, survive, or thrive. District administrator Elizabeth Dampf says it's possible to thrive despite--or even because of--high rates of turnover. If you want more out of this period in education, take a few cues from Dampf's "playbook of…

Considering how common unconscious racial bias is, many teachers have likely at times sent subtle messages to students that white students are more capable or trustworthy than students of color--and new teachers need to be aware of the possibility of racial bias. School leaders can guide new teachers--and others--to be sensitive to biased actions…

Familiar and deceptively efficient instructional strategies can be tempting to new teachers who must keep students productively engaged in structured, yet flexible, learning environments. Under the pressure of new responsibilities, novice teachers who are trying to cover the curriculum and manage a classroom of students often end up duplicating…

Millennials will most likely make up a large portion of your new teacher pool. This generation is known for being high-achieving, tenacious, confident, and collaborative--so your orientation, onboarding, and retention programs need to support and bolster these traits. Abrams walks school leaders through some important steps in adjusting and…

Growing up with the Internet and social media, Millennials are notoriously fluent in tech-based communication (emails, texts, apps). Yet, as research and anecdotal evidence suggests, their interpersonal skills have taken a hit. Education professor Jacqueline Darvin shares how principals are working with novice teachers to improve their…

Being a new teacher is especially stressful and overwhelming: classroom management challenges, lack of administrator support, work-related stress, and feelings of isolation are pushing some to leave the profession all too soon. There are five actions, however, that principals can take to make new teachers a priority now, explain the authors of…

Simmons shares tips and lessons learned, from his first year of teaching, for creating a classroom environment that minimizes off-task or "problem" behaviors and for addressing disruptive behavior in ways that keep it from escalating. Among his suggestions: alternate between being a "lion" and a "lamb," carefully…

Most new teachers avoid exposing their vulnerabilities or having peers (or principals) witness their mistakes in teaching. But, France points out, "it's hard to be a great teacher if you can't make yourself vulnerable." Being willing to take risks, make mistakes, expose your own emotions, and hear constructive criticism is necessary if a…

This article describes a program created by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, alongside school-based colleagues in nearby Durham County. They created the Partnership for Authentic Communities of Educators (PACE) program to help bridge the gap between pre-service teacher learning and beginning teacher experiences. In…

New teacher attrition is a serious problem, with some studies estimating that 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first few years. This high attrition rate means that many schools have large number of inexperienced teachers and that districts must spend scarce funds for recruitment and replacement costs. Springfield Public…

In looking at four broad factors related to teacher assignments in the Los Angeles School District--instructional load, homophily, colleague qualifications, and professional culture--researchers of urban education policy at the University of Southern California discovered three main lessons for practice: First, that teacher working conditions are…

Jackson--a former teacher, now a speaker and author--shares techniques he used as a new high school teacher to handle disruptive behaviors and threatening conduct from students, while remaining respectful and compassionate about the realities kids faced. His suggestions: establish rules early on and stick to them unwaveringly; understand your…

For teachers, emotional intelligence and emotional resilience are foundational qualities to thriving and staying in the profession. The author asserts that to retain more teachers, we must attend to each teacher's emotional resilience in preparation programs, in the hiring process, and in the ways we support teachers, especially novices.