A course to keep new teachers in the classroom

A think tank calls on state to boost mentoring programs to help turn around a looming teacher shortage.

By James Walsh, Star Tribune

Last update: October 15, 2007 - 8:26 PM

Ian Keith remembers that first year of teaching, some 20 years ago, when he discovered the loneliness of dealing with such urban classroom problems as poverty, student pregnancy and parent disinterest. He wished then for a mentor -- a wise veteran to offer advice or just listen.

Now a second-grade teacher at St. Paul Randolph Heights Elementary, Keith once helped start a teacher mentoring program in St. Paul.

On Monday, he endorsed a call by Minnesota 2020, a St. Paul-based public policy think tank, for the state and local school districts to ramp up efforts to give new teachers the help they need to remain teaching.

It is the major recommendation of the think tank's new study, called "Growing Gap: Minnesota's Teacher Recruitment and Retention Crises."

More than half of the state's schools are facing shortages of key teachers and the problem is likely to get worse in the coming years, according to the study.

Keith agrees that new teachers' sense of isolation contributes to half leaving the profession in their first five years -- and nearly one in five leaving after their first year.

"Literally, scores of issues and questions come up," Keith said of those first few years teaching. "It can be a difficult time."

When half of Minnesota's superintendents report a shortage of teachers in physics and chemistry -- and nearly half cite a shortage of special education teachers -- Minnesota must find a way to hang onto all the teachers it can, said Matt Entenza, chairman of the board of Minnesota 2020 and a former DFL legislator from St. Paul.

"We can act now to make sure our best teachers stay and our kids get the education they deserve," he said.

State Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said Monday that she welcomes Minnesota 2020 joining the discussion on teacher recruitment and retention. But, she added, it has been a priority of hers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty's for the past several years.

Q-Comp, the state's alternative pay program that allows school districts to pay teachers based on merit rather than only education and experience, is one example of trying to build retention efforts, she said.

Also, a new teacher induction program, funded by grant money for the past three years, showed real progress. But a request for $4.5 million to continue the program was not approved by the Legislature, Seagren said. She said her department and the governor will try again.

In addition, she said, the state has developed a program to help mid-career professionals earn a teaching license. And, she said, Minnesota officials are looking at a promising Texas program that provided free education courses to college students studying math and science in an effort to whet their appetites for teaching.

Something must be done, said Ted Suss, superintendent of the Wabasso school district, in southwest Minnesota. Rural districts find it harder and harder to attract -- and keep -- qualified applicants, especially in areas where they may be the only teacher in science or foreign languages.

"A mentoring program might not help us find a Spanish teacher," said Suss, who leads a 400-student district. "But with enough support, we can make someone who doesn't have a license yet, an incredible teacher in that area."

A study by the University of California-Santa Cruz found that a comprehensive mentoring program produced a five-year retention rate of 88 percent, said John Fitzgerald, who authored the Minnesota 2020 report. That compares with the national average retention rate of 56 percent.

To build a good mentoring and induction program, Fitzgerald said, Minnesota need look no further than Mankato.

Minnesota State University, Mankato works with seven area school districts to pull experienced teachers out of classrooms for a time to work with students and new teachers. The university places interns into the mentors' classrooms, while the mentors provide guidance.

"The interns gain valuable experience teaching, the mentors become school leaders and the teachers really get the support they need," said Michael Miller, dean of MSU-Mankato's College of Education. "And mentoring is just one component of improved schools."

James Walsh • 651-298-1541

James Walsh • jwalsh@startribune.com

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