DPS Has Had Trouble Keeping New Teachers

By Laura Collins, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

Jul. 1–DURHAM — In the months leading to the first day of school, Durham Public Schools is looking to fill more than 200 faculty openings, or 9 percent of the 2,300 teaching positions.

The number could end up even higher — the deadline for teachers notifying the district is still a few weeks off.

Though that nearly 1 in 10 number sounds daunting, the district has faced similar numbers in the past few school years. Fred Williams, executive director of recruitment and retention, said most of the hires for the district take place through June and July and the same subject continues to be the hardest to fill.

“Math remains a challenge because of heavy demand and little supply,” he said.

Exceptional children’s education teachers and Spanish teachers are also among the toughest positions to fill.

In addition to growing schools and the formation of new school buildings, a high rate of teacher turnover contributes to the openings. Though the average has dropped over the past few years, Durham Public Schools’ teacher turnover rate is still higher than the state’s average.

The number of teachers not returning after the 2007-08 school year is not yet available, but at the end of the 2006-07 school year, 373 teachers, or 16.7 percent, left the district.

The largest group of departing teachers, 83, cited the reason for leaving was to teach in another North Carolina public school system. Also high on the list of reasons was family relocation and family responsibility.

The number is down from the 2005-2006 school year, when 442 teachers left the district. Of those, 110 teachers resigned to teach in another North Carolina public school system and 61 teachers resigned because of family relocation.

Williams said the area contributes to the high turnover.

“A lot of that is for very positive reasons,” he said. “It’s a very transient region not only created by the universities but a lot of jobs created in Research Triangle Park.”

Though the transient area may account for teachers leaving due to family relocation, Williams acknowledges some leave the district for other reasons.

“For many teachers, the diversity is exactly what draws them here. For some teachers, the background of them and of their students is a tough gulf, and it divides them,” he said.

Since most teachers who resign do so in their first three years of teaching, the district developed a mentor program to combat the turnover rate, and it seems to be working. Since 2005 the turnover rates for beginner teachers has dropped from 28 percent to 15 percent in the 2006-07 school year.

As part of the program, about 35 veteran teachers serve as full-time mentors for teachers new to the district. Each mentor is matched with a new teacher whom they assist, guide and evaluate throughout the teacher’s first three years.

Some of the program’s critics maintain that the best teachers are being taken out of the classroom in order to mentor the new teachers. But Williams said the teachers are able to impact more students through the program and even return to the classroom after they are done mentoring.

“Yes, they are phenomenal teachers and are influencing the classrooms of 16-17 teachers,” he said. “They are exiting their classroom as a great teacher, and he or she returns more skilled.”

Wanda Jones, an elementary mentor at Merrick-Moore and Glenn elementary schools, taught in the district for more than 20 years and decided to be a mentor almost four years ago. She mentors about 20 new teachers and agrees it enables her to have more of an impact.

“It’s kind of a give-and-take thing,” she said. “I’m coming out of the classroom, but I’m impacting a lot more children with the work I’m doing with their teachers. It’s not a permanent thing. Once we come out, we rotate and go back in [the classroom].”

In addition to the mentor program, Williams said DPS is an attractive district because it utilizes strong technology with SMART Boards and Riverdeep Instructional Organizer, an online comprehensive instructional organizer. The district also has a high local supplement for teachers. For teachers in the district for zero to nine years, the district pays a 12.5 percent supplement to the state scheduled pay rate. For years 10-19, the district’s supplement is 13.5 percent higher and for 20 plus years, the supplement is 14.5 percent.

Most of all, Williams said teachers coming to the district will appreciate its diversity.

“One key concept is that Durham to me is such a real community,” he said. “The student population has over 50 national languages. Just to hear all the different languages and different perspectives is a learning experience.”

Williams said the district’s goal is to have all positions filled by the first day of school, but said it’s an “ambitious goal.” At the beginning of the 2007-08 school year, the district still had 30-40 vacancies, most of which were filled by the end of September. Substitutes will work to fill any open positions.

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.

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