Keeping Effective Teachers

By Gary D. Yee

Oakland needs to develop ways to hire and keep teachers who care about teaching, especially in the lowest performing schools

There are proven development strategies, including mentors, professional development, and team building, at school sites that can help new teachers feel a sense of belonging and pride in their school, which will lead to a longer tenure at that site. I chaired a great teacher program at Holy Names University, and I serveed on Oakland's Beginning Teacher Support Steering Committee, to make sure that new teachers get adequate support and assistance. Four years ago, I helped start the conceptual framework for Teach Tomorrow in Oakland, an innovative program that recruits from local residents who may have the necessary cultural and social capital to not only be successful in Oakland schools, but to be long time residents of the East Bay.

This year, OUSD will begin work on teacher effectiveness, call the Effective Teaching Task Force. Effective teaching is different than "merit pay" or any of the other buzz words being tossed around today. It basically asks the question: what do we mean and expect when we describe "good" teaching and/or "effective teaching?" This is not necessarily exemplary teaching, or master teaching, but a standard of expectation that begins to describe what we can agree on, in terms of practices that can be observed or understood. Last year, OUSD began such an effort and called in "Teaching For Success." This year, it wil focus on responses and input from teachers in the field. Composed mainly of teachers from Oakland, the task force will examine best practices, and models from urban districts and centers across the country. I completely support this effort. One idea I'm hoping that emerges from this, is the design of a "career ladder" for teachers, especially those who exercise instructional leadership at sites which have been difficult to fill, or where student performance lags.

The third element is retention. I personally don't believe that all effective teachers need to stay in Oakland for an entire career, although both my wife and I did (we put in a collective 55 years in Oakland Unified School District). What would be helpful is if we were to extend the initial period for a teacher's stay from say, three years, to say six or seven years. The reason is that this provides some stability at the school; it helps the district to recapture its investment in induction and training for new teachers, and it helps the district to have a pool of expertise from which to draw. My own case study of teachers in 1998 identified five key factors that would encourage effective teachers to stay: a sense of efficacy, that their efforts were making a difference for their students; a sense of professional community at their school; a strong and supportive principal and district adminstrative support; connectedness to Oakland, either by longevity in the community and/or social network; and ability to raise a family or see a career within OUSD.

I believe that adequate compensation is one important element for teacher retention, but without the other four, it is not enough. For compensation, I have come out strongly in favor of Measure L, a parcel tax that would provide and additonal $20milion for us to spend on site-based salaries. This would go a long way toward bringing our compensation standards up to the county average.