District leaders know that their most valuable asset is their human capital. However, recruiting and retaining high quality staff remains both a top priority and a significant challenge. According to insights from the Frontline Research and Learning Institute’s K-12 Lens, hiring and retention remain high needs, with more than 60% of respondents indicating that they retained less than 90% of their staff last year (see figure 1). Compounding the K-12 human capital dilemma, a large majority of respondents also indicated that hiring has grown more challenging within the same timeframe (see figure 2).
Figure 1. Proportion of Respondents by Estimated Retention Rate Range
While district leaders may not be able to directly influence the size of the teacher candidate pool, they can impact factors crucial to teacher retention, like school climate, teacher workload, and student behavior.
A Case for Using Student Data to Identify Teachers in Need of Support
But what indicators should administrators track to identify teachers who may be at increased risk of turnover? Which factors are the most predictive of teacher burnout and attrition? Researchers point to a number, including several that districts already monitor, like student behaviors and other characteristics. By analyzing student data with teacher retention in mind, data savvy administrators can identify teachers who may be at increased risk of churn. Here’s how:
At the District-Level, Use Student Data to Assess the Behavioral Climate
“The most important organizational determinant of attrition is the behavioral climate of the school; teachers are much more likely to leave a school with disruptive, inattentive, or hostile students” (Kelly & Northrop, 2015, p. 630).
Administrators can start their analysis at the district level to identify the schools that may benefit from improvements to their behavioral climates. See Figure 3, which displays the counts of disciplinary referrals at each of eight schools in a district. Note that Werthers Middle School and J.B. Nelson Elementary School exceed all other schools in the district for fights and classroom disruptions. Teachers at these two schools may experience more stressful work environments than those assigned to other schools within the district.
Figure 3. Major Disciplinary Events by School
At the School Level, Use Student Data to Confirm High Stress Environments
Focusing on schools with greater disciplinary referrals, and analyzing the data based on where these incidents occurred can help administrators determine if teachers are disproportionately affected by disruptive behaviors. For example, incidents within classrooms are likely to have a greater impact on teachers compared to those that occur on school buses. Refer to Figure 4 for a breakdown of disciplinary events by location at J.B. Nelson Elementary School and Werthers Middle School. Note that almost 50% of disciplinary incidents occurred in the classroom setting at Werthers Middle School.
Figure 4. Total Disciplinary Events by Location
At the Classroom Level, Use Student Data to Pinpoint Teachers in Need of Support
But where are these disciplinary events occurring?
Are they widespread or concentrated in just a few teachers’ classrooms?
Drilling down to the classroom level can help district leaders identify the teachers most impacted by major disruptions and then provide targeted support.
Referred By
Discipline Count
Emily Johnson
74
Michael Brown
58
Sarah Williams
51
David Davis
46
Jennifer Martinez
45
Christopher Wilson
42
Jessica Thompson
33
Matthew Garcia
31
Amanda Robinson
29
Joshua Clark
16
Samantha Lewis
11
Daniel Rodriguez
7
Rebecca Hall
4
Analyzing Student Data Can Help Boost Teacher Retention
Like any profession, job dissatisfaction and stressful working conditions are highly predictive of teacher attrition. Factors including workload and difficulties with classroom management have been found to contribute to teacher stress, burnout, and ultimately turnover. District leaders can get ahead of this cycle by monitoring student data with their staff in mind. Identifying schools within their districts with elevated disciplinary events, confirming that these events occurred within the classroom setting, and then narrowing their focus to the teachers who most frequently experience disruptive behaviors can help.
District leaders can use the data to drive their decisions. For instance:
Ellen Agnello
Ellen is a graduate assistant at the University of Connecticut. She is a former high school English language arts teacher and holds a Master’s Degree in literacy education. She is working on a dissertation toward a Ph.D. in Educational Curriculum and Instruction.
But to truly solve and prevent future teacher shortages, school districts, and policymakers need to adopt effective and sustainable practices — like placing certified teachers in vacant positions, using technology for live teaching opportunities, and reversing the high turnover rates.
One of the key benefits of student data is its ability to empower educators to make informed choices about teaching strategies. By analyzing academic performance data, educators can identify specific areas where students may need additional support or challenge.
Data analytics allows you to track a student's journey over time, showing how their understanding of a topic improves or how their problem-solving skills develop. This helps you celebrate their achievements and adjust your teaching strategies to support their continued growth.
Data gives feedback to know where a student is in their learning process. Teachers analyze data from a variety of formative and summative assessments to accurately understand what a specific student, group of students, or even an entire classroom needs to achieve mastery of a specific topic or subject.
The teacher shortage in the U.S. is a complex challenge that requires multifaceted solutions. States need to address underlying issues such as low pay, long hours, and political interference in education.
Through data analysis, teachers can determine which teaching strategies and approaches are most effective in promoting student learning and achievement. They can identify patterns and trends in the data that highlight successful instructional techniques or areas that may need improvement.
One of the key benefits of data analytics in education is its ability to identify trends and patterns in student performance. By analyzing various data points, such as student assessments, attendance records, and demographic information, educators can gain valuable insights into student learning.
key steps in using data for decision-making and strategic action: setting the stage, examining the data, understanding the fndings, developing an action plan, and monitoring progress and measuring success.
Most of the barriers come down to two things: training and time. Teachers are busy with lesson planning and teaching, classroom management, grading, parent communication, and school meetings. Data collection often stays on the back burner, and teachers only reach out for student information in extreme cases.
Research shows that offering more competitive compensation can be effective in retaining current teachers and hiring new ones. Retention bonuses can be used as an immediate strategy to encourage retention while districts are working to improve compensation overall.
Some common problem-solving strategies are: compute; simplify; use an equation; make a model, diagram, table, or chart; or work backwards. Choose the best strategy. Help students to choose the best strategy by reminding them again what they are required to find or calculate.
The nationwide shortage has put so much pressure on certain school districts, they have resorted to non-traditional concepts to attract and retain teachers, like four-day school weeks, debt-pay-off programs, or cost-free and fast-track certifications for employment.
A shortage of teachers harms students, teachers and the public education system as a whole. Lack of sufficient, qualified teachers and staff instability threaten students' ability to learn and reduce teachers' effectiveness, and high teacher turnover consumes economic resources that could be better deployed elsewhere…
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