Too many Michigan teachers want to leave their classrooms. Here's how that could change.
Michigan has a teacher turnover problem that is limiting the educational opportunities of Black students and those from low-income families.
But it doesn't have to be this way: Teachers are more likely to stay when they have better training, principals who are well trained, reasonable pay, and when their schools have enough money to hire enough paraprofessionals, psychologists, and social workers.
While major advancements on those fronts would require big changes to Michigan's taxpayer investment in education, experts point out that some schools manage to buck the teacher turnover trend by making small school-level changes.
Significant new investments are suddenly within the realm of possibility, at least in the short term. Despite ongoing gridlock in the state Legislature over school spending, school districts are set to receive billions in federal coronavirus aid, much of which must be spent within several years.
Some advocates say that the money could be used, in part, to pay for training and mentorship that make teachers more effective — and more likely to stay.
"We absolutely have the ability now to reduce turnover and create greater retention," said Adam Zemke, executive director of Launch Michigan, a business consortium that advocates on education issues.
Launch surveyed 17,000 Michigan teachers in 2019 and found a widespread sense that they aren't treated like members of other American professions — doctors, lawyers, veterinarians.
"They don't feel empowered, they don't feel like they're being treated as professionals, they're not supported," Zemke said.
Ongoing training, mentorship, and coaching are an essential part of being a professional, Zemke said. Yet surveys show that most teachers find state-mandated training unhelpful, and research points to a lack of support and mentorship as a key reason that many teachers quit early in their careers.
"It's about being treated like a professional in any other industry, where that industry does everything it can to help you grow," said Zemke, a former state representative from Ann Arbor.
Zemke added that there are many good potential uses of the federal aid dollars, and that Launch hasn't yet made any specific recommendations about how the money will be spent.
On-the-job mentorship is key to helping teachers succeed, especially early in their careers, but few receive it.
Several efforts across the state aim to change that. In Detroit, an innovative school models its mentorship program off the "residency" training system used by medical doctors, in which trainees receive support from mentors and from more experienced peers over three years. In Battle Creek, a philanthropic initiative pairs veteran teachers with novices for regular classroom visits and consultations about teaching technique.
Those programs cost money, but districts could jump start their own versions with part of the federal stimulus, Zemke said.
Principals need training and support too, and research shows that an effective principal plays a crucial role in retaining teachers.
The Detroit Children's Fund, a nonprofit that is investing tens of millions of dollars in Detroit to improve schools, has already paid for principal training programs across Detroit.
But most principals in Michigan don't get that kind of support, said Nicole Simon, a researcher affiliated with the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, an initiative at Harvard University.
"We know that for teachers one of the most important factors in keeping them in their schools is strong leadership. And we have not invested in that kind of leadership. We don't teach people how to do it, we don't support them while they're doing it."
Experts have been sounding alarms for years about cracks in Michigan's teacher pipeline, pointing out that fewer people are entering teacher training programs and becoming certified as educators. Headlines periodically warn of a "teacher shortage."
"Teacher turnover is only part of the teacher supply chain equation," said Jack Elsey, executive director of the Detroit Children's Fund, a nonprofit. "The percentage of teachers who are enrolling in teacher prep, the number of people going into teaching — all of those metrics scare the pants off me."
Ask many observers how to reduce teacher turnover, and they will tell you that turnover is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.
Simply put, the state isn't investing enough in schools, said Barbara Schneider, a sociologist at the University of Michigan who has studied turnover.
"It's a resource issue," she said.
Efforts to reduce turnover in Michigan have often centered on simply giving teachers more money for their work. When a nonprofit in Detroit pumped millions of dollars into a handful of higher performing charter schools, some of the money went toward retention bonuses. Just last year, the state set aside $5 million for a similar program: new teachers will receive as much as $1,000 for staying on after their first year, with the possibility of receiving more if they stay on for three years.
But these programs are small in the context of Michigan's $15 billion annual education budget.
David Hecker, president of the American Federation of Teachers Michigan, credited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer with pushing the program through, saying it communicates to teachers that they are valued. But he said the amount of money in the program "isn't going to change anyone's life."
By contrast, the amount of money Michigan spends on schools has dropped sharply — it declined 30 percent, adjusting for inflation, between 2002 and 2015 as state revenue for schools was reduced by tax cuts.
There has been only one comprehensive effort to estimate the cost of adequately educating Michigan's roughly 1.5 million students. Experts say the state falls more about $3.6 billion short of that mark.
Schneider says increased funding wouldn't just allow for increased teacher pay, but also for increased funding for schools so that they could pay for improvements that would improve working conditions at schools. More money could pay for decreased class sizes, better teacher training, better learning materials, or for more school staff — paraprofessionals, counselors, and social workers — who give teachers the freedom to focus on teaching.
"Apart from really systematic investment in schools, it's going to be hard to improve working conditions meaningfully," said Lucy Sorensen, a professor at the State University of New York Albany who has studied teacher turnover. "To the extent that urban schools are less funded, higher stress work environments serving students with greater needs, that's more likely to cause teachers to depart."
Sorensen emphasizes the need for systemic investment to truly improve teacher working conditions — and thus reduce turnover.
That doesn't mean there's nothing schools can do now, she said, pointing out that turnover varies widely even among schools that receive similar funding and serve similar students.
Detroit, for instance, is home to dozens of schools with high turnover rates of 30 percent or more. But the city is also home to to 36 schools that had turnover rates below 15 percent — and below the national average — during the 2018-19 school year.
What sets those schools apart? Often it's communication, Sorensen said.
"People in the education field have not done enough of the simple task of asking teachers what they need and what the difficulties are in their everyday jobs," she added.
This can be as simple as simply asking teachers to stay, said Punita Thurman, vice president of program and strategy for the Skillman Foundation, which funded several charter high schools in Detroit.
A principal at one of those schools experimented with periodically telling teachers that their presence at the school was valuable, and that she hoped they would stay.
"It was a small gesture, but she was blown away at how much of a difference it made," Thurman recalled.
Simply asking teachers for input is the not-so-secret recipe behind Upbeat, a New York-based company that consults with school districts about reducing teacher turnover. The company is premised on the idea that teachers and school leaders often aren't on the same page. Upbeat surveys teachers anonymously to identify their frustrations, then shares the results with administrators.
"If teachers are involved in shaping the rules and procedures that govern their work days, they're more likely to buy in," Upbeat CEO Henry Wellington said. "If their performance evaluations are considered fair, they feel more successful. And we know that when teachers feel more successful they're more likely to stay."
Koby Levin is a reporter at Chalkbeat Detroit.
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