Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for August 14, 2007 HERE TODAY...

...but for how long?

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch...

For many teachers, the job's too much

Story by Georgina Gustin and data analysis by Jaimi Dowdell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Tim Bridgeforth lasted just a year as a math teacher — and it was a rough one.

"It was one of the most challenging years of my life," said Bridgeforth, now a happily employed underwriter. "I could never get past containing those students who didn't want to be there so I could teach the students who did."

Bridgeforth, 28, said he reached a low point at age 22, two or three months into the job at Parkway North High School, when he realized: "Wow, this isn't for me. I'm not getting paid a whole lot. I'm working 60 hours a week, I have a college degree. I could probably be enjoying something else a lot more."

Bridgeforth has a lot of company. As many as half of new teachers in public schools leave before they hit the five-year mark.

The high rate of loss means districts are perpetually training new teachers, waiting for them to hit their strides.

About 24 percent of teachers nationwide have five or fewer years of experience, according to the most recent data available from the 2003-2004 school year. In the St. Louis area, the percentage is slightly higher — nearly 29 percent on the Missouri side and nearly 27 percent in Illinois, according to information reported to both states. In a few districts the percentage of inexperienced teachers approaches 70 percent. About a third of the teaching staff at a third of the area's 100 area school districts have five or fewer years' experience in public schools.

"This is a huge issue today across the nation," said Ruth Mach, of the St. Louis Public Schools, where 42 percent of teachers last year had five or fewer years of experience in the district. "It's very difficult for young teachers. Any new job is hard, especially teaching."

The inexperience is part of a pattern that worries educators here and around the nation. Baby boom-era teachers, hired to fill a slew of jobs in the late 1960s and 70s, are retiring. But the young teachers being hired to replace them often find the job more difficult than they expect, particularly in struggling urban districts. When they don't get adequate support or compensation, they leave, producing a revolving door that young teachers cycle through, never reaching their peak teaching years.

"It's getting them up to speed that's the biggest challenge," said Jana Bechtholdt, superintendent of the Cahokia School District, where nearly 43 percent of the teachers have five or fewer years' experience. "The first three years, it's very much a learning experience for them. Then they come into their own."

And with the nation's current emphasis on test scores and school accountability, every year counts.

PAY, SUPPORT

Growing districts, such as Wentzville, have a high percentage of inexperienced teachers because they must hire quickly to keep up with enrollment.

Some districts lose teachers simply because other districts pay more. "We'll never catch up with the larger districts," said Ed Settles, superintendent of the Smithton district, where more than half the teachers have five or fewer years of experience. "We don't have the tax base. People use us as a steppingstone."

Other districts, particularly those that are financially strapped or low-performing, see teachers come in with high expectations only to leave when they realize how difficult the job is. Sometimes they go to other districts, but often they leave the profession altogether.

"Some of the surrounding districts might pay more, and the students there are easier to teach," said third-year teacher Patrick C. Johnson. "Why not go?"

Johnson is going back to Walnut Grove Elementary, the school that prepared him to move on and eventually become high school valedictorian. This time, though, he's not Patrick. He's Mr. Johnson, fifth-grade teacher.

Johnson, 27, spent his first two years teaching in the troubled Riverview Gardens School District, leaving at the end of this past school year. Johnson loves teaching —and believes he's in it for the long haul.

"I wanted a district to call home," he said. "I want to stay for a while."

Experts say training and mentoring can help make that happen.

"Teachers have to feel supported," said Helene Sherman, associate dean of the College of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "Districts have to do a lot of professional development, but that's costly and time-consuming."

In other words, only the districts with adequate resources can provide the support that teachers need. Struggling districts may be able to provide some training and support, but when they do, teachers often leave for higher-paying jobs in other districts anyway.

"We invest so much in our teachers," Mach said. "Then when they leave you, it's another investment."

FIVE-YEAR HUMP

Many educators are quick to stress that experience isn't everything, and youthful enthusiasm, coupled with strong training, counts for a lot.

"We look for a blend," says Settles, of Smithton, echoing other area administrators. "I've seen teachers who've been teaching for 30 years who are just as enthusiastic as a first-year teacher. But the downside of experience is you get some teachers who are complacent and bitter."

Strong college programs can prepare teachers who are as effective as experienced teachers, said Jennifer Presley of the Illinois Education Research Council.

Yet Presley's research suggest some experience does have an impact at the elementary levels. "It's generally believed teachers get better as they practice their craft over the first two or three years," she said.

Presley said she was aware of only one study that explored a link between teacher experience and test scores. It showed that experience results in better student performance.

Parents say they worry about inexperienced teachers, but that concern may be unfounded.

"Last year we had a very young first-grade teacher, and I thought, 'Oh, no, she's not going to be able to control these kids!'" said Brooke Ogle, mother of a 6-year-old daughter in the Edwardsville School District. "But we had the best year. She was unbelievable."

Teachers say a balanced staff with a spectrum of experience levels is the ideal.

"After they've been in the classroom for five years, that's when they really start becoming effective teachers," said Jesse McGlaughlin, 34, a physics teacher at Ladue Horton Watkins High School. "They become resources for new teachers. They've dealt with a lot of different situations, be it student behavior, difficult parents, lack of support from the administration. If the school's going to be more effective you need to have some experienced teachers."

The trick is getting the teachers to get over the five-year hump.

"The first two years — no doubt — will always be the most difficult," said Mach. "There's a magical time in teaching when a teacher says 'Aha, I get it!' If they can just hang in there."

Johnson says that he plans to do that — and that he's gaining valuable experience all the time.

"I still feel like I'm learning something every day," he said. "But I'm a lot more confident now. I know what to expect."

David Hunn of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.