Talk:Foundations and Assessment of Education/Edition 1/Foundations Table of Contents/Chapter 1/Content Articles/1.2.1

Reader response == == While I agree with the five reasons for teacher attrition, there are two additional reasons that I would like to share. In my area of Virginia, school divisions are often in competition with the border counties of North Carolina for teaching positions. The most popular reason for "border hopping" is an increase in salary often with an additional hiring bonus. Travel expenses are being offset by the lure of more money. If teachers meet retirement requirements in Virginia, many will go to work in North Carolina raising the controversial idea of "double dipping". Retirees can draw their pension in addition to receiving regular pay at their new teaching position. Lastly, individuals who have difficulty achieving Virginia's test score requirement on the Praxis often head south due to less stringent requirements.

Another reason that people leave the teaching profession is due to postiion elimination. They do not necessarily want to leave the profession, but due to budgetary constraints the school division elimates teaching positions in the hopes of saving money. Unfortunately many of Virginia's divisions have had to cut positions even after receiving federal stimulus funds.

New teachers should prepare themselves for the challenges that they will face in the future. The desire to teacher is often eclipsed by one of the many reasons listed in the article. If you feel overwhelmed or unsupported, take the time to step back and revaluate why you chose to teach. Look for solutions before making the life changing decision to leave the profession. After all, no one said teaching was an easy job. Acrow005 (talk) 00:51, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

This article was eye opening. I can see how any of the five reasons that teachers leave could be true. I hear current teachers talking about the stress of the SOLs and the pressure of passing test scores. We all know that the salary teachers get paid and what is expected of them is off to say the least. The new challenges teachers will face is hard to learn during your classwork. That can only be learned in the classroom when you get your first job. The real situations that we will face as teachers is not something that can be taught to us. Experience and practice is the only way to learn how to handle these situations. When you are a new teacher dealing with all 5 issues I can totally see how it will be overwhelming. We need to be familiar with these issues and try to mentally prepare ourselves for the challenging first few years. This article was very informative and beneficial to future teachers. Aferg006 (talk) 00:09, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

When I was a junior in high school that is when I began to realize why teachers would want to retire or why many people would not want to do it in general. Looking at education from an economic perspective, you only gain something substantial starting at a principal level. With the exception of special education teachers, workers below the principal do not receive as much as they should for their hard work. By “hard work” I refer to the additional duties of a teacher besides instruction and assessment. This includes behavioral and classroom management, extra-curricular activities, demanding scores from state and national standards, lack of parent support, and lack of necessary funds. This stressful list alone is enough to make many people considering education cringe and pursue something else.

Another important aspect in this article that I liked was how new and inexperienced teachers are literally thrown into classroom and then quit after a few years. Last semester for ECI 433, I read Star Teachers by Dr. Martin Haberman, which discussed pre-service, new, and current teachers in an urban classroom. It was one of the most interesting books I have ever read, because addressed how so many new teachers are hired by school districts that need teachers, and they become so overwhelmed that they leave with a negative impression. More importantly, Haberman addressed that usually it is new teachers that are hired in urban schools, which are typically low on funds and community support. Experienced teachers, who have taught for at least ten years are usually hired in private schools. While students of urban schools need experienced teachers, they are often provided with inexperienced teachers who are still learning themselves. Naturally it is an academic disaster that is waiting to happen, even with the most dedicated new teachers. Personally, I believe that best approach that new teachers can take is to be optimistic, yet realistic. It is possible for one teacher to change the lives of 30 students in a classroom; however, it is also possible that they barely change one. Adart001 (talk) 18:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

It is interesting to see firsthand the list of things teachers have to face. I'll be honest in saying that I was one of those people several years ago that thought teachers had it easy; nights off, weekends off, the summer and holiday's off. However, once I came to my senses and began schooling to become a teacher I realized their time off is well deserved. Yet, teachers don't always get weekends and night's off, many times particularly new teachers bring home work every evening and do lesson planning on the weekends. This article put many things into perspective, and mentally prepared me for the reality of this profession. It was very eye opening to consider the various factors that drive teachers to leave. I can't imagine being part of a school where the administration is lousy and provides no support for me as a teacher, or a lousy facility at that. These things are bound to occur and come with the territory. It takes someone of strong character who is up for the challenge to weather such factors and unpredictability. Needless to say, I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who have "stuck it out" for so many years. Rpaige (talk) 16:01, 12 July 2009 (UTC)