Much attention has been paid to why teachers quit. Statistics and studies get thrown around, and there are countless theories to explain the attrition rate. While recent reports indicate that the trend might not be as bad as we’ve thought, teacher attrition isn’t just about whole-population numbers—it’s about retaining the most effective teachers within those numbers. Indeed, a 2012 study from TNTP (formerly known as the New Teacher Project) notes that our failure to improve teacher retention is largely a matter of failing to retain the right teachers. A separate study suggests that retaining the best teachers is all about reducing barriers that make teachers feel powerless and isolated. The 2014 National Teacher of the Year recently pointed out that, among myriad other causes, lacking influence in their own schools and districts (let alone in state policy) is often at the root of teacher attrition.
Keeping high-performers in the classroom has long been a trouble spot for schools. “If you don’t offer leadership opportunities for teachers to excel in their profession, to grow, and still allow them to stay in the classroom,” says Ruthanne Buck, senior advisor to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “you are asking for your best and brightest teachers to leave.” For teachers who want to make a bigger impact, take on new challenges, or be paid more for sharing their expertise, options are largely limited to administration. In fact, schools often push high performers into managerial roles simply because there’s nowhere else for them to go. Districts that do offer teacher leadership roles often frustrate good teachers rather than maximizing their potential. Ross Brenneman described this problem well: “In their haste to promote the concept of teacher leadership, [districts and schools] fail to offer any kind of meaningful leadership roles, equate added tasks to leadership, or merely try to put teachers on an administrative track.” In other words, even if schools aren’t encouraging their best teachers out of the classrooms where they’re sorely needed, they’re probably burning them out by piling on more responsibilities without added support.
In an attempt to solve this problem, Duncan created Teach to Lead, a program that promotes teacher leadership ideas and their implementation. The program seems to be having some success nationally. Public Impact is also facilitating successful innovations through their Opportunity Culture initiative. But what about locally driven approaches? Is there something Ohio schools can do to ensure that their best teachers are more likely to stay in the classroom? The answer is yes, and one way to accomplish this is for schools to embrace the power of “hybrid” teachers.
A hybrid role is one in which the best and brightest teachers instruct students and hold additional leadership responsibilities. Paul Barnwell, a public school teacher in Kentucky, recently wrote a piece about the benefits of leveraging teachers into hybrid roles. For Barnwell, it takes the form of becoming what he dubs a “teacherpreneur.” He teaches morning classes at a Louisville high school, then spends the afternoons “designing and implementing opportunities for professional learning in virtual spaces.” Barnwell therefore impacts kids in the classroom and also furthers his influence by designing professional development for teachers. Professional development efforts are notoriously bad, and the prospect of having a highly effective, still-in-the-classroom teacher help reshape them should make both teachers and administrators drool in anticipation.
But the promise of having productive professional development is only one of the potential benefits of hybrid teachers, who can be deployed in all sorts of ways. Districts could train them to conduct evaluations and lessen the administrative burden on principals; as mentors, they could devote consistent, meaningful time to observing and coaching a cohort of first-year teachers; state boards of education and legislators could consult them on potential policy changes and improvements; groups of teachers from different districts but similar content areas could meet, exchange best practices, and report back to their home districts. NPR recently examined hybrid teachers who are multi-classroom instructors, hired by a school or district to teach classes and oversee a group of colleagues. While the possibilities for hybrid teachers are endless and unique, they all orbit around one central idea: High-performing teachers should be in leadership roles without leaving the classroom and should be provided with additional resources (such as time) to fulfill those roles. If schools give great teachers an opportunity to expand their influence and grow professionally, great teachers will stay—and students and colleagues will benefit.
Making room for more hybrid teaching roles is a promising solution that could be piloted, refined, and scaled up. Hybrid roles offer an equal exchange—teachers are given more responsibilities to create a bigger impact, but the added burden is alleviated by giving them time outside of class to lead. It might mean hiring more teachers, but if the trade-off is retaining highly effective teachers and maximizing their impact, then student achievement should trump the incremental cost.
