BOONE—North Carolina’s teacher shortage could be solved, in part, by addressing the turnover rate occurring among new as well as experienced teachers, says Charles Duke, dean of the Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University.

Duke and the RCOE have received a two-year, $130,000 grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to address teacher turnover and retention. The grant will be used to establish and operate the Appalachian State University Beginning Teacher Support Network (ASU-BTSN).

“Beginning teachers typically talk about isolation, lack of support, lack of time and a general sense of being overwhelmed,” Duke said. “Up until a few years ago, the traditional approach across the country was to produce teachers and gently shove them out the door, pat them on the back and wish them well. But now, we want our teacher education graduates to still feel connected to us and have access to us as resources.”

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction has a mentoring program through which each new teacher in the state is assigned a mentor from within their school; however, the support varies from district to district, Duke said

The ASU-BTSN hopes to fill in the gaps by working with schools in Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, Watauga and Wilkes counties – all districts that belong to the Appalachian Public School Partnership.

The network will pair new teachers from Appalachian with Appalachian graduates who are teaching in the district, connect them with other alumni living in the area and provide a toll-free “help” line to address questions and concerns about teaching.

“We think there really is a role for alumni if we can encourage them to make the connection and let the young teacher know, ‘Hey, we are here, we know it’s though getting started,’” Duke said. “The alumni can play a key role in helping new teachers feel they are part of a community.”

The ASU-BTSN also will offer seminars and workshops to address such issues as classroom management and other topics of common concern typically faced by graduates of teacher education programs during their first three years of teaching.

In addition, new graduates and the school districts that hire them will receive a beginning teacher support warranty stating that the Reich College of Education will augment the remediation provided by local school districts to assist any beginning teacher who is not meeting performance expectations during those critical first three years.

Duke says that the sense of connection and the feeling of personal investment from the university oftentimes can make a significant difference to teachers who are considering leaving the profession.

Currently, the state loses between 15-18 percent of its teachers each year through attrition. Duke observers that by using a formula form the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices, replacing these teachers costs an average of $11,250 per position. The estimated replacement cost for 11,000 teachers would be more than $1 million.

“There is a misconception that North Carolina needs 11,000 teachers a year, and most people think that refers to new teachers in the sense that these are new positions,” Duke said.

“Many are not new positions. While there are between 4,000 and 5,000 new positions created each year based on student enrollment, the remaining vacancies are created through attrition,” he explained. “If we don’t make some changes in salaries, working conditions, violence in the classrooms, and lack of community support, it won’t make any difference how many we pump through the system, because they are still going out the back door.”

Duke expects to name a director of the program in May, and hopes to have the ASUBTSN up and running by fall. Depending on the results of the pilot project, Duke will seek additional funds to expand the program.

“People have begun to realize that simply graduating more teachers may not be the most effective approach, in the long run, to solving the teacher shortage problem,” Duke said. “We, who are in colleges of education across the state, ought to accept some responsibility for staying in touch with graduates and providing some kind of support. In doing so, we can help schools retain a highly qualified teaching force which, in turn, means a more stable and effective learning environment for the children of North Carolina.”

CONTACT: Dr. Charles Duke, dean of the Reich College of Education, (828) 262-2234.

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