Teacher Shortage Project: Recruiting and Retaining New Teacher

The EIU College of Education has received federal funding to address the teacher shortage in our area. We have formed a regional group to look at the teacher shortage and develop a plan of action for our region to improve recruitment and retention across the teacher pathway. Our first meeting was January 24 to discuss the overview of the issues of recruitment and retention. The group worked in small groups to discuss the issues and generate some initial ideas. The second meeting was February 21 and focused on recruiting young people into teaching. Jennifer Kirmes from ISBE provided an overview of teacher pathways projects in Illinois. The group broke into small groups to discuss how we can attract more people into teaching.

Some Ideas for Teacher Recruitment

· Doing outreach in Jr/Sr High Schools

· Students becoming aides in elementary classrooms to learn from current teachers

· Student clubs on education in high school, involving high school students in the early education process

· Positive internal and external messaging – teachers and the teaching profession needs to be celebrated

· Promotional materials for teachers

· Remain competitive in salaries and benefits

· Tracking high school students who have expressed interest in teaching.

· Mass email marketing, word of mouth, recruitment visits to districts, etc.

· Helping offset the costs of becoming a teacher through rural teacher scholarships, stipends, and return-scholarships

Some ideas for Teacher Retention 

· Teacher mentoring program – meeting consistently – time built into the school year/ school day for them to meet

· Help new teachers “find their why”and remember why they got into teaching

· Letting people’s voices be heard

· Better onboarding and intense curriculum support

· Creating a rural teacher resiliency guide and a list of how-to’s and FAQs to give educators guidance and support with the tricky issues

· Book study – The First Days of School – Harry Wong. Once complete, they get a stipend.

· Collaborative decision making

· Focus on mental health/ wellness/ relationship building with staff/ continuous support of staff

· Mental health support/ counselling available and paid by district!

· Grant for teacher retention, supporting clinical/practice-based experiences, affinity groups

· Caring gestures towards staff, share gratitude, work on school climate

· Statewide instructional coaching program

· Clinical and practical based preparation programs to better prepare them for teaching

The final Zoom group meeting will be help March 21 at 4:15 pm via Zoom to discuss retention issues. After these three meetings are completed, we will host work meetings on campus with volunteers to take the ideas and generate a plan to share at our Summer Forum on Recruitment and Retention (June 8). Our intent is to support several pilot projects this fall. If you are interested in this work, and want to be involved, or just updated, please fill out the Google Form below. We will continue to send out updates via our monthly newsletter.

IWERC Shortage Reports: The Illinois Educator Shortage and Employment Project

A research-practice partnership (RPP) to assess the state’s teacher recruitment and retention. See below.

Teacher Retention and Education Leadership

Discovery Partners Institute did a study in the spring of 2022 on teacher retention and why teachers leave schools. In this study 3,478 current and former Illinois public school educators were surveyed about their job satisfaction. What they found was interesting.

The main cause for teacher turnover, according to this study, was the working conditions of the school that was cultivated by administrators. This underscores the importance of effective educational leadership in teacher retention. 

Future Teacher Forum (April 21st)

One of the recommendations for the planning group was to provide more opportunities for young people to learn about teaching. EIU will host a Future Teacher Forum on April 21 for high school students who are interested in learning more about teaching. We will have opportunities to hear from undergraduates and EIU faculty on attending college, as well as teachers. To get updates on this forum, please complete the Google Form below.

Microcontrollers, Coding and Control

Join us on March 23rd for Microcontrollers, Coding and Control on March 23rd presented by Jana Sebestik, the MSTE Director at UIUC! This is a great opportunity to learn more about microcontrollers and how to utilize them in the school and classroom setting. The event will be held in Buzzard Hall Room 1140 from 4:30-5:30pm. 

To register please use the QR code on the flyer or click on the following link: