Retaining Beginning Teachers: What Is the Cost?

Every teacher remembers their first year of teaching. The best possible pre-service preparation and student teaching experience doesn't exempt anyone from facing challenges that can be overwhelming. Yet, those challenges can be overcome; doing so can mean the difference between someone who leaves the profession and someone else who makes teaching a career. In a profession where many states face a shortage of teachers, keeping teachers in the profession can be the key to keeping the agricultural education profession strong. Research indicates that 50 % of teachers leave the profession within five years of entering the profession (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). Beginning agricultural education teachers face a multitude of challenges; many are unique to managing a program in addition to traditional classroom problems. Few would argue that mentors and teacher induction programs can be valuable but is the cost worth the investment? Cost of Teacher Retention Organizers of teacher induction programs are many times asked how many beginning teachers did their program retain that would have left teaching. This question is difficult to answer as some beginning teachers will stay in the profession without any mentoring, while others will leave even with mentoring. Research has been conducted on this topic and studies have found that retention of beginning teachers can be improved by 12-22% as a result of conducting an effective induction program (Ingersoll & Kralik, 2004). The Minnesota Teacher Induction Program (TIP) was created in 1999 as an effort to help beginning agricultural education teachers have a successful start in the profession. There have been 137 beginning teachers who have participated in the Minnesota TIP from 1999 to 2007. Cash and in-kind costs to operate the Minnesota TIP during this time period have been estimated to be $342,500 or an approximate cost of $2,500 per beginning teacher who participated in TIP. Applying Ingersoll and Kralik's (2004) retention range of 12 to 22% and selecting the midpoint of 17% reveals that approximately 23 agricultural education teachers have been retained in Minnesota as a result of the TIP. Spreading the total cost of $342,500 over the 23 retained teachers results in a cost of approximately $14,891 per teacher (Westrom, Joerger, & Greiman, 2008). At first glance that may sound expensive, but consider the replacement cost of preparing another young teacher to replace the teacher who left the profession. It is likely that the preparation cost would have been more than $14,891 and the following discussion confirms this belief. Finding a new student to major in agricultural education is not cheap since it includes recruiting costs and preparation costs. The cost of education varies from university to university, but few would argue with a minimum cost of $15,000/year or $60,000 for a four-year degree. Quickly the $14,891 looks like a bargain. In addition, one could argue that finding a new teacher to replace the departing teacher may not be possible given the severe shortage of agricultural education teachers today. Multiple Mentors Support Beginning Teachers in Minnesota What type of mentoring is necessary for beginning teachers? The Minnesota TIP includes three mentors, one of which is a fellow teacher assigned by the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE). Numerous schools assign a fellow teacher from within the school system to teach a new teacher about the nuances and requirements within a school. The Minnesota TIP also encourages this mentor. It is the third mentor, called a senior mentor, that is a unique feature of the Minnesota TIP. A senior mentor is usually retired; previously they were a successful agricultural education teacher, community college instructor, or university professor. …