ReportWire

Tag: teacher retention

  • The economic squeeze: Understanding how inflation affects teacher well-being and career decisions

    [ad_1]

    Key points:

    In recent years, the teaching profession has faced unprecedented challenges, with inflation emerging as a significant factor affecting educators’ professional lives and career choices. This in-depth examination delves into the complex interplay between escalating inflation rates and the self-efficacy of educators–their conviction in their capacity to proficiently execute their pedagogical responsibilities and attain the desired instructional outcomes within the classroom environment.

    The impact of inflation on teachers’ financial stability has become increasingly evident, with many educators experiencing a substantial decline in their “real wages.” While nominal salaries remain relatively stagnant, the purchasing power of teachers’ incomes continues to erode as the cost of living rises. This economic pressure has created a concerning dynamic where educators, despite their professional dedication, find themselves struggling to maintain their standard of living and meet basic financial obligations.

    A particularly troubling trend has emerged in which teachers are increasingly forced to seek secondary employment to supplement their primary income. Recent surveys indicate that approximately 20 percent of teachers now hold second jobs during the academic year, with this percentage rising to nearly 30 percent during summer months. This necessity to work multiple jobs can lead to physical and mental exhaustion, potentially compromising teachers’ ability to maintain the high levels of energy and engagement required for effective classroom instruction.

    The phenomenon of “moonlighting” among educators has far-reaching implications for teacher self-efficacy. When teachers must divide their attention and energy between multiple jobs, their capacity to prepare engaging lessons, grade assignments thoroughly, and provide individualized student support may be diminished. This situation often creates a cycle where reduced performance leads to decreased self-confidence, potentially affecting both teaching quality and student outcomes.

    Financial stress has also been linked to increased levels of anxiety and burnout among teachers, directly impacting their perceived self-efficacy. Studies have shown that educators experiencing financial strain are more likely to report lower levels of job satisfaction and decreased confidence in their ability to meet professional expectations. This psychological burden can manifest in reduced classroom effectiveness and diminished student engagement.

    Perhaps most concerning is the growing trend of highly qualified educators leaving the profession entirely for better-paying opportunities in other sectors. This “brain drain” from education represents a significant loss of experienced professionals who have developed valuable teaching expertise. The exodus of talented educators not only affects current students but also reduces the pool of mentor teachers available to guide and support newer colleagues, potentially impacting the professional development of future educators.

    The correlation between inflation and teacher attrition rates has become increasingly apparent, with economic factors cited as a primary reason for leaving the profession. Research indicates that districts in areas with higher costs of living and significant inflation rates experience greater difficulty in both recruiting and retaining qualified teachers. This challenge is particularly acute in urban areas where housing costs and other living expenses have outpaced teacher salary increases.

    Corporate sectors, technology companies, and consulting firms have become attractive alternatives for educators seeking better compensation and work-life balance. These career transitions often offer significantly higher salaries, better benefits packages, and more sustainable working hours. The skills that make effective teachers, such as communication, organization, and problem-solving, are highly valued in these alternative career paths, making the transition both feasible and increasingly common.

    The cumulative effect of these factors presents a serious challenge to the education system’s sustainability. As experienced teachers leave the profession and prospective educators choose alternative career paths, schools face increasing difficulty in maintaining educational quality and consistency. This situation calls for systematic changes in how we value and compensate educators, recognizing that teacher self-efficacy is intrinsically linked to their financial security and professional well-being.

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    [ad_2]

    Dr. Jason Richardson, Garden City Elementary School & the International University of the Caribbean

    Source link

  • American College of Education Combats the K-12 Teacher Shortage with ROI-Driven Online Graduate Degrees that Boost Teacher Retention and Career Prospects

    [ad_1]

    As an increasing number of educators leave the profession and fewer candidates enter the pipeline, the future of education depends on bold, practical solutions. ACE creates a sustainable path to address the teacher shortage by forming partnerships with schools and flexible, high-quality and affordable online certificate, master’s and doctoral degree programs.


    INDIANAPOLIS, May 1, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The national teacher shortage continues to challenge U.S. public schools: Nearly three-quarters of K-12 schools reported difficulties filling positions with certified teachers this fall, as teachers leave the profession in increasing numbers. American College of Education (ACE) helps solve teacher shortages by partnering with school districts to create affordable degree programs that provide teachers with a pathway to career advancement, keeping them in the classroom and administration. These attainable career pathways also help to attract more teachers into the field.

    ACE, founded in 2005, is a national innovator in providing quality, affordable and accredited online graduate degrees. ACE is the third-highest conferrer of education master’s degrees in the United States1. ACE maintains low tuition which enables nearly nine out of 10 students to graduate debt-free2.

    “Every student deserves access to high-quality teachers, and every educator should have access to affordable, career-driven programming that provides a meaningful return on their investment,” said ACE President and CEO Geordie Hyland. “At ACE, we are committed to working with our partners to break down financial barriers and create practical, flexible pathways for educators to advance and thrive in their profession.”

    Studies show that U.S. public schools desperately need more teachers. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that 74% of the country’s K-12 public schools said they had difficulty filling one or more vacant teaching positions with a fully certified teacher before the start of the school year. Teachers say that shortages create larger class sizes, which in turn contributes to teacher burnout that prompts many to leave – exacerbating the teacher shortage problem.

    A 2022 poll by the National Education Association found 67% of teachers said burnout was a serious problem, and that 55% planned to leave the profession due to stress from the pandemic and other causes. Citing federal data, the Wall Street Journal reported that 300,000 public school teachers and staff left the field between February 2020 and May 2022. And even after the pandemic receded, the teacher exodus continued: A RAND Corporation study in 2023 found that 23% of teachers planned to leave the field at the end of the school year.

    ACE counters those trends by offering affordable degree programs designed to help teachers advance to more satisfying and highly compensated positions, providing an incentive for them to remain in the profession. This, in turn, helps school districts strengthen their teacher pipeline and reduce burnout.

    ACE offers 25 master’s degrees in education, including master’s degrees in traditional fields like early child education, elementary education, literacy, and science education, and specialized areas such as educational leadership, educational business administration, instructional coaching and teacher leadership, and instructional design and educational technology. ACE also offers six doctoral degrees in education and a multitude of certificates, such as Transition-to-Teaching Licensure and Principal Preparation, as well as bachelor’s completion degree programs for aspiring educators.

    ACE ensures that cost is never a barrier for educators, by eliminating unnecessary expenses and focusing on high-quality, career-driven coursework. ACE’s faculty have real-world experience and the school’s curriculum is designed specifically for online education. ACE’s courses are continuously reviewed and revised for relevance and effectiveness.

    At its founding in 2005, ACE made the decision to forego federal funding to help keep costs and tuition low. In 2024, ACE marked its eighth consecutive year with no increase in tuition charges. The low costs translate into positive student outcomes: 86% of students graduate with no debt2, and ACE graduates receive $19.20 in future career earnings for every $1 spent on tuition.3

    ACE further reduces costs to students by partnering with districts by creating additional tuition discounts, credit for prior learning and direct billing arrangements which create shorter, more cost-effective paths to degree completion. More than 2,500 institutions nationwide collaborate with ACE to upskill their employees into positions of greater responsibility and value to their organizations.

    As the United States continues to face challenges in education, ACE remains dedicated to being part of the solution with programs that bring teachers into the field and provide powerful incentives to stay in the profession, strengthening the future of K-12 education for generations to come.

    For more information, please visit ace.edu.

    About American College of Education
    American College of Education (ACE) is an accredited, fully online college specializing in high-quality, affordable programs in education, business, leadership, healthcare and nursing. Headquartered in Indianapolis, ACE offers more than 60 innovative and engaging programs for adult students to pursue a doctorate, specialist, master’s or bachelor’s degree, along with graduate-level certificate programs. In addition to being a leader in online education, ACE is a Certified B Corporation and part of a global movement to use the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

    1 Source: http://nces.ed.gov/IPEDS/datacenter

    2Source: Internal research completed in March 2025.

    3Source: Lightcast Study

    Contact Information

    Maria Penaloza
    Media & Content Strategy Manager
    maria.penaloza@issuerdirect.com

    Source: American College of Education

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Redesigning the educational model after COVID

    Redesigning the educational model after COVID

    [ad_1]

    Key points:

    The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every tier of the education ecosystem. With stress, anxiety, teacher retention rates, and curtailing the loss of learning gains, the ecosystem finds itself addressing compounding factors that are multi-dimensional. As we continue to contend with the realities of the DC-Stage of Education (During COVID-19), we have an opportunity to reauthor the operating model in this new paradigm–the AC-Stage of Education (After COVID-19).

    When taking into consideration the implications of education in the AC-Stage, much of the discussion has focused on innovation, excellence, and equity. Unfortunately, “equity” in the educational ecosystem has often carried an insidious misnomer–it only addresses the needs of select groups. This underscores the tone of addressing black or brown students and those whose first language is not English. Instead, equity should be defined as ensuring ALL students are moving forward with a pathology that dismantles systems disparities while providing opportunity and access to achieve their full potential. 

    As we unwrap our instructional systems with a lens focused on transformation, there needs to be a triangulation of equity, access, and inclusion to achieve excellence. We must think strategically and intentionally about interrogating legacy barriers that inhibit excellence. The collective ecosystem must ask ourselves this essential question with vigor: “How are we deconstructing the status quo to reconstruct a model that underscores pedagogical practices of inclusion to achieve the vision of ALL?”

    When we unpack that question in totality, it will require all stakeholders and classroom practitioners to examine the elements embedded within our instructional systems. Our instructional and assessment methods must eradicate the real and perceived barriers of disparities that prevent us from reaching every student. Taking this vision into action will create learning environments where every student, regardless of race, language, and economic status, will move the education landscape toward the goal of accelerating ALL.

    Assessing achievement is not enough 

    As we seek to improve equity and excellence in our learning environments, one noted problem of practice is our overreliance on achievement testing to guide instruction. When interrogated with depth and breadth, achievement assessments are inequitable by structure and design. Why? Achievement percentiles only examine students at a mastery level instead of the true ability of students. Yet, students have been denied opportunities because of assessment scores and the success of teachers and districts is often judged by these outcomes (e.g., The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001).

    The AC-Stage of Education calls for stakeholders to measure our students’ abilities–problem-solving, logical reasoning, and other innate qualities that are needed to be successful in the global economy. This means the education sector must adamantly oppose oppressive practices of clustering students homogeneously by achievement percentiles. To make education equitable where excellence and inclusivity are promoted, we must prioritize students’ abilities within the transformation process. 

    Another way forward

    Traditional assessment perpetuates exclusive practices of norming students by established percentile ranges. Those percentiles represent whether students mastered specific standards within a defined content area. Students who do not meet proficiency within those standards are often tiered, which historically has left them behind or they will miss opportunities for rigor, progress, and relevance.

    However, there is another methodology in the AC-Stage to achieve the inclusive assessment practice for ALL. For example, a school can offer an achievement assessment coupled with an ability assessment. This approach will provide a holistic view of students, inform pedagogical decisions, and use students’ potential and strengths to increase academic outcomes. 

    Viewing students from a holistic perspective will elicit instructional discussions more than the mastery of standards. It will provide detailed descriptions of students’ core abilities to elevate their strengths. Teachers and administrators can adjust their focus on authentic student growth as opposed to meeting arbitrary achievement indicators that create inequities and discriminatory instructional decisions–this means beyond race or language proficiency. This approach enables us to start to consider students more than just percentiles, but as individuals who have innate abilities to reach their full potential.

    Culture change is needed

    This approach in the AC-Stage of Education represents a significant cultural shift at all levels in the ecosystem–including governance. At the onset, we must redefine our collective mindsets to foster a culture that values excellence and equity. 

    When we think of our testing cultures, it is apparent that a level of strategic radicalization to close access gaps must be underpinned in the education model. All students deserve the opportunity to perform at high levels, yet many are being hindered by achievement discussions. If we look at students with the notion of ability, the education sector would ensure greater opportunities and access for ALL. Considering education in AC-Stage, the testing culture and assessment model must be reimagined to analyze data that enable educators to address students holistically. This is the only way we can ensure that our practices are driving greater equity, inclusion, and excellence in the educational system for Generation Z and Generation Alpha. 

    Latest posts by eSchool Media Contributors (see all)

    [ad_2]

    Michael T. Conner, Ed.D., Riverside Insights

    Source link