Rural areas need more teachers, and quits are a problem; Wyoming tries to retain teachers instead of hiring novices

Near Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (Photo by Karsten Koehn, Unsplash)

There aren't enough teachers in rural America, partly because rural places lack amenities and housing. Rural schools not only have a problem attracting teachers, but in keeping them. 

"Keeping teachers in classrooms is a complicated issue that involves a balance of competitive pay, meaningful work and helping teachers become masters at their craft so they feel like they can make a difference," reports Nichole Dobo of The Hechinger Report, which covers education. Her object example is a rural place that has the upside of recreational amenities but the downside of high housing costs: the Teton County School District in Wyoming. "Located near Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, the area is well known as a vacation spot,""Despite the alluring landscape, for full-time residents, the extremely high housing costs are daunting. That makes it difficult to retain staff. The average tenure of a teacher is just four years."

Teton County (Wikipedia)

School Supt. Gillian Chapman told Dobo, "Primarily, people come out here, and they are going to be a ski bum for a while." so the district joined the University of Wyoming's Master Educator Competency Program "to help give teachers meaningful support and professional development," Dobo reports. Chapman told her, "It's not always about paying people more. It's about respecting the profession."

"The university partnered with 2Revolutions, an education consulting company that has worked with other states to redesign teacher education," Dobo reports. "They went on a road trip to do interviews and hear directly from educators about what they need. . . .They determined that teachers needed courses that helped them solve real-life problems they encountered in the classroom. And the professional development should be practically minded so that people could immediately put it to use and get feedback on how it’s going in real time."

 

It's too soon to know if the Cowboy State's new initiative will pay off. If it does, the dividends will be rich. Dobo notes, If Wyoming could halve the number of teachers who quit, it wouldn't struggle to find enough educators, said Scott Thomas, the university's education dean, pointed out. "And increasing the number of experienced teachers, rather than simply trying to increase the ranks of novices, is good for students, too," Dobo concludes.