Michael Wells

David Serrano

Relationships Matter: Qualitative Interviews

with Head Start Preschool Teachers on Turnover

Rates

Is this a big issue? 33% of teachers leave their schools

within the first 3 years; 46% within the first five Brill & McCartney, 2008

50% of new teachers leave within five years

Corbell, Obsorne, & Reiman, 2010

High turnover costs (ranging from $2.2 billion to $4.9 billion) Alliance for

Excellent Education, 2005; Kersaint, 2005

In a mid-sized CA school district, they found that for every dollar spent on teacher support, they had a return of $1.66 after 5 years Villar & Strong, 2007

So why do teachers quit?

Intrinsic Motivations– Personal teaching efficacy – Working with students– Job Satisfaction

Perrachione, Rosser, & Petersen, 2008

Extrinsic Motivations– Low salary – Work Overload Perrachione,

Rosser, & Petersen, 2008

– Student behavior – Poor leadership and administration Brill &

McCartney, 2008

Perrachione, Rosser, & Petersen, 2008

Retaining teachers is important because… Can’t leave the position unfilled

– Less qualified teachers – Substitutes– “Out of field” teachers

Brill & McCartney, 2008

Teachers make dramatic improvements over their first two years of teaching Wyann, Carboni, & Patall, 2007

Economic costs Institutional costs

– Sense of community– Strong communication

Ingersoll, 2003

Retaining teachers is important because…

Instructional costs– Teacher Experience Teacher Quality – Teacher Quality Student Achievement

Goldhaber, 2002

Impact on low income and minority schools

– Teacher attrition is greater Prince, 2002

Need for Head Start Research on Teacher Retention

Most research is completed on Elementary Schools

Few research projects on Early Childhood Education

Even less research on Head Start teachers

AIM

The aim of this study is to learn why Head Start

teachers would leave and what changes they want to happen in order to continue

working for Head Start

Method

One major Midwest city 10 Head Start schools included 10 FCEs/ 10 CAs = 20 Interviews Qualitative Interviews Random Teacher Selection Average Interview: 45 minutes All participants were women

Questionnaire Prior to working for Head Start, what is your experience

working with children? 

Why did you start teaching young children? Why did you start teaching at Head Start?

In your opinion, how do you define a job verses a profession? Do you view your position as a job or a profession? Why?

Describe your work load.

Describe what kinds of administration support (mental health, special needs, center director, education specialist, etc) do you receive in order to perform your job?

 

Questionnaire

Describe the kind of reflection time you have to think about your position and how you are teaching the children?

Do you have obstacles that hinder your teaching? Why or why not?

What is your relationship to your other co-workers like (i.e. other classroom staff, other center staff, and your center director)?

What are your thoughts on your vacation/sick time (i.e. holiday breaks, summer breaks, scheduling vacation/sick time)?

What would convince you to stay (or leave) working for Head Start?

Demographics

Gender = All women

Race– 9 White– 11 African American

Age– 7 were 30 or under– 13 were 31 or older

Marital Status– 13 Single– 7 Married

Education– FCE = 1, Masters; 8

Bachelors; 1 Associates– CA = 1, Associates; 9 CDA

Work at FDS– 11 worked for FDS longer

than 5 years– 9 work for FDS under 5

years

Want to work in ECE– 1 for 3-4 years– 9 for more than 5 years– 10 for whole career

Results: Jobs vs. Profession

Job – A place you go to earn money

Profession– A place where you go to earn money, but you

enjoy what you are doing, have a passion for the work, and a general feeling of helping others

All teachers stated that either they viewed their position as a profession or as a profession with some days as a job   

Results: 4 Themes

Relationships Matter

Stress (about Paperwork)

Child Behavior

Needed Support

Relationships Matter

Discussion

Relationships Matter– The closer to the individual teacher, the more

influence they have on retaining or pushing away a teacher

– Co-teacher –works with, trusts– Center Director –looks up to, seeks advice

Two issues:– Changing Classrooms– Center Director doesn’t provide enough

coaching/mentoring

Resolutions from Head Start Teachers

Relationships Matter– Limit dividing up Lead and Assistant

teachers – Allow for teachers to change classrooms or

schools if there are openings– Center Directors need to form closer

relationships with their staff– More support needed in the areas of Mental

Health and Special Needs Easier access to reaching these departments More consistent on-going visits

Stress

Head Start Teachers are stressed!!!

But what are they stressed about?

Paperwork– Anecdotals– Lesson Plans– Portfolios (which

includes several items)– USDA Forms– Leveling of Children– Taking Pictures/Video– Documenting Artwork– Home Visit Forms– TS Gold

Documentation– Family Conference

Form

– eDECA– Brigance– Documenting Reggio

Boards

Stress

Not stressed about co-workers

Not stressed about Center Director

Not stressed about parents

Not stressed about preschool children

Not stressed about paperwork

Stress

Stressed about the TIME needed to complete paperwork

Expected to complete during work hours Early Morning/Late Afternoon Children Sleeping

Teachers felt like some paperwork was meaningless

Discussion Stress

– At least one child is normally there at the start and end of the day

– At least one child is normally awake during most or all of nap time

– Anecdotals are shredded at the end of the year

Complete paperwork in one of two ways:– Neglect children and complete paperwork

during the school day– Take paperwork home to complete

Resolutions from Head Start Teachers

Stress on Paperwork :– Having specific time off from teaching to

reflect and complete paperwork

Start the school day an hour later Allowing for 5 hours

End the school day an hour early of planning per week

Every Friday is a training day—Half Day Friday’s Make all classrooms like half day—Friday’s off for

children

Child Behavior

Head Start teachers expected to have children with behavior problems

At least one behavior problem in nearly all classrooms

Multiple behavior problems in some classrooms

Discussion

Child Behavior– Parents may not know how or be consistent

with discipline– Teachers filled out Incident Forms, but did

not receive support Blamed Center Directors Blamed Mental Health

Resolutions from Head Start Teachers

Child Behavior– Allow teachers to contact Mental Health

more easily– Have accountability to Mental Health for

visiting classrooms consistently, on-going– Have accountability to Mental Health for

ensuring that teachers are following their suggestions

Not just asking if teachers are using strategies Observe teachers and critique in real time

– Provide parents with child behavior education courses

Needed Support

Education Specialist visit rooms the most often– Observe Teacher-Child Interactions– Classroom Environment– Portfolios

Resource Specialists (Special Needs) visit the second most

– Check to see if IEP is on Lesson Plan– Ask teacher if they need any help implementing IEP

Center Directors– Saying Good Morning– Observing– Checklists

Discussion Needed Support

– Teachers do not receive support on their actual teaching

– Classroom Assistants received less support from Center Directors than the Lead Teacher

– Teachers did not receive on-going support regarding their new philosophy (Reggio)

– Teachers do not know how to handle certain IEP issues

– Teachers do not know how to handle child behavior issues

Resolutions from Head Start Teachers

Needed Support– Center Directors/Education Specialists need to

provide more on-going Reggio support– Center Directors need to schedule more time to be in

classrooms as mentors/coaches/advisors– Managers should make an effort to speak with both

the Lead and Assistant teachers– Education Specialists should spend more time

critiquing teaching and teacher-child interactions– Special Needs should observe and critique at the

point of service– Mental Health should come to the classrooms more

frequently and critique at the point of service

Conclusions

Teachers work for Head Start because that’s what they want to do for their career

Teachers leave the company for all sorts of reasons

Many of the reasons are preventable

Develop a realistic plan based off of teachers’ suggestions

Credits1. http://cae2k.com/photos-of-bars-0/pictures-interviews.html

2. http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/about-city-college/jobs-at-ccsf.html

3. http://www.positive-thinking-for-you.com/causes-of-stress.html

4. http://www.burtchiropractic.com/2010/12/31/7-tips-for-stress-management/

5. http://acccbuzz.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/too-much-paperwork/

6. http://www.theawall.com/node/104