Most teachers in rural, remote Alaska are from out of state; few stay more than a year or two

Most of the 400 teachers hired each year from outside Alaska to teach at the state's rural schools—many of the towns are located in remote areas only accessible by boat or plane—end up leaving after one or two years, Michelle Theriault Boots reports for the Alaska Dispatch: "While teacher turnover is down slightly in recent years, rates reach nearly 50 percent in a few rural districts." (Dispatch photo by Loren Holmes: New teachers arrive participate in a program to prepare them for rural, remote areas)

About 75 percent of the state's teachers are hired from outside Alaska, Boots writes. One of the problems is that many of the new teachers are hired fresh out of college and lack teaching experience, especially in schools where they might be asked to teach multiple grades and subjects. Others are all ill prepared for living in rural, remote areas.

The revolving door affects students, from their grades to college-readiness to struggling to trust teachers they fear will be gone next year, Boots writes. "In the five highest-turnover districts, which have an average yearly turnover rate of 37.9 percent, less than half—an average of only 46.9 percent—of students score 'proficient' in reading on state test. By comparison, in the five districts with the lowest turnover, 85.8 percent of students score 'proficient.'”

In response to the turnover, Alaska created a program called Creating Cultural Competence of Rural Early Career Teachers, Boots writes. Known as C3, the third-year program—funded by a three-year, $1.92 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education that ended in August—uses “culture camps,” to expose teachers to Iñupiat culture.

"The idea is that teachers can build 'cultural competency' and arrive at their job sites better equipped to relate to their students and communities," Boots writes. "So far, the results have been promising: According to program manager Carmen Davis, 87.2 percent of teachers who participated in the first two years of the C3 program in the Northwest Arctic and Lower Kuskokwim school districts returned to their districts for a second year on the job."

Experts say the best way to keep teachers in Alaska is to hire from in-state, Boots. But that has been a problem. "While about 80 percent of rural students are Alaska Native, fewer than 5 percent of licensed teachers working in the state are. Ten programs intended to bring more Alaska Natives and rural residents into classrooms graduated a total of 172 teachers between 1970 and 2014, an average of four teachers per year." (Read more)