Leader 2 Leader Blog

By Nishria Mitchel

Teacher retention is an ongoing challenge, and in many districts, leaders are struggling to fill vacant positions. In Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the nation’s seventh largest school system, we are facing a severe shortage of teachers and support staff.

Federal data from a recent National Center of Education Statistics’ School Pulse Panel survey show that 82 percent of public schools nationwide needed to fill two or more vacant teaching positions before the start of the 2024-25 school year. Schools that serve a high percentage of students in poverty or students of color are even more likely to have higher teacher vacancies.

This was the case at Adams Middle School, where I was principal from 2019 to 2024 until the school was closed due to a boundary redesign. At both Adams and my current middle school in HCPS, more than 80 percent of students are from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and more than 90 percent are students of color.

In high-needs schools like mine, where stress and burnout can be high, teacher turnover is a real problem.

There are many factors that contribute to work environments that make teachers want to quit. In a 2022 McKinsey & Co. survey, classroom teachers cited inadequate compensation, unsustainable work expectations, and uninspiring leadership as their top reasons for wanting to leave.

While we as school leaders usually don’t have a great deal of control over teacher pay, we can create an environment that not only retains teachers but also empowers them to excel. In fact, research shows that effective school leadership is a key factor associated with a lower probability of teachers’ intent to leave, transfer out, or retire.

Prior to my tenure as principal at Adams Middle School, it was common to have over 50 percent of teachers leave in a typical school year. Last school year, however, not one of my teachers quit. They also had long streaks of perfect attendance, as did our paraprofessionals and clerical, student nutrition, and custodial staff.

1. Protect Teacher Planning Time

As leaders, we frequently say we respect and appreciate teachers, but our actions don’t always show that. Consider teachers’ time. A recent National Council on Teacher Quality survey shows that teachers’ not only want more planning time, but that it also supports higher quality instruction and creates greater job satisfaction. Yet, teachers are often asked to sacrifice their planning period to cover classes for an absent colleague or a teaching position that hasn’t been filled.

At Adams Middle School, giving up planning periods happened so often that teachers became used to it. It was up to me to convince them that it wasn’t their job to fill those gaps; it was mine. The best way to do that was through action. So, I set a schoolwide policy that every teacher would have a planning period every day. During the 2023-2024 school year, not one teacher lost one planning period all year.

2. Embed Coaching into the School Day

In addition to planning time, teachers benefit from opportunities to hone their craft and collaborate with their colleagues. Again, respecting teachers’ time is critical. We know that the best time to support students is during the school day, so why shouldn’t we do that for teachers, too?

To make this happen, I also built daily coaching sessions into our master schedule. This time, which was separate from teachers’ daily planning period, was sacred. Teachers could not opt out; attendance was mandatory. Sometimes teachers were coached individually; other times they were coached as a group. Each coaching session had a theme so teachers could come prepared to discuss their needs and collaborate.

Every session also supported our school goals. I regularly worked with our school’s literacy coach to establish instructional priorities and ensure that teachers were planning and implementing English language arts lessons fully aligned to the rigor and depth of our state standards. The literacy coach frequently told me that I made her job easier simply because she  and the teachers always knew that the coaching time was there for them and that it was intentional.

These daily sessions gave us the time and space to bring in outside coaches as well. We partnered with Carnegie Learning to provide onsite coaching and support for our math teachers. The coaching, which was based on our school improvement goals, focused on the implementation of best practices in the classroom. Our teachers received support and recommendations related to content and pedagogy. They honed their skills in creating student-centered learning and collaborative math classrooms. They learned to monitor and use a steady stream of data specific to their classrooms and individual students so they could adjust their instruction as needed.

Teachers expressed to me how grateful they were for these daily coaching sessions. I received so much positive feedback that I knew they truly valued them.

3. Make Time for Schoolwide Collaboration

In a high-needs school, consistency is crucial. One of my guiding principles is “you can’t expect what you don’t inspect.” So in addition to making sure my team understood the goals we were working toward, I made it a point to attend coaching sessions every day. This demonstrated to teachers that I was as invested in their growth as I was in our students’ growth.

I also held schoolwide collaborative coaching sessions every Tuesday in place of the individual and group coaching. It was helpful to use these sessions to present a broad topic to everyone and then break it down into smaller parts during the group and individual coaching sessions. This made topics, such as MTSS, positive behavior systems, grade-level standards alignment, new teacher requirements, and progress monitoring, feel less intimidating and helped me better address teachers’ needs in a timely way.

In addition, I dedicated one schoolwide session a month to data analysis cycles. Data analysis can sometimes feel scary or complicated, rather than useful, to teachers. However, because every coaching session had a theme, the process felt less daunting. Teachers would simply gather their data based on that theme, such as targeted student and teacher growth, and then share their needs or celebrate their successes with their colleagues. It was magical to see teachers talking with each other. They would often leave feeling confident and empowered by the shared insights and support they received from their colleagues.

4. Build Community Through Family Engagement

Another way to support teachers and build a more positive school culture is by boosting family engagement. To do so, we hosted family engagement sessions during parent-teacher conference nights. We tied these sessions to data so we could focus on the areas where families most needed support.

For example, when our survey data showed that many families lacked access to fresh food, we created a fresh food pantry. To partake in the pantry, families were required to participate in the family engagement session. Since parents were already at school for that, many also stopped by classrooms to conference with their child’s teachers. It was a win-win. Families received the resources they needed, and teachers connected with parents in a meaningful way. This not only helped teachers feel more supported, but it created a more positive and productive environment for everyone.

5. Show Teachers that We Respect Them

As school leaders, we grapple with intense pressures and challenges every day. And I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that I know firsthand what it’s like for people to disrespect us on a regular basis. This is why it’s so important to build a support system for teachers—so they know without a doubt that we respect them.

When I talk with teachers in other districts, many say they don’t feel supported to meet the demands of their job. Yes, we can choose to not take care of teachers, but at the end of the day, they will simply find another job at another school with a leader who will make them feel valued and supported.

The pandemic showed the world that teachers really are superheroes. They can accomplish amazing feats and be a beacon of light for their students, but they can also burn out. So when my teachers have a problem, I try to identify the root cause rather than allow negativity to fester. It’s like peeling an onion. I ask things like, “Can you tell me more so we don’t stay in this space?” We talk about what we can and cannot control so we can then discuss how to move forward. We consider questions like, “What action steps can you take? What action steps can I take?” This give-and-take helps us both grow, and it cultivates a sense of hope and buy-in.

When teachers feel respected and empowered, they become leaders in their own right. For instance, teachers would often ask me if they could use their daily coaching period to go into a colleague’s classroom to support them.

In other words, the more I supported teachers, the more they supported each other. It created a ripple effect.

Reducing Turnover and Increasing Morale

As I mentioned, I did not have a single teacher quit last school year. That has never happened in my history as a teacher, an assistant principal, or a principal.

In a high-needs school, the challenges are plentiful, but so are the opportunities. By respecting teachers’ time, prioritizing daily coaching support, fostering collaboration, and engaging families, we can create a school environment where teachers are excited to come to work, parents feel connected, and students thrive. It requires planning as well as a commitment from both leaders and teachers, but the rewards are well worth the effort.

Nishira Mitchell is the former principal of Adams Middle School and the current principal of Memorial Middle School in Tampa, Florida.

https://www.naesp.org/resource/5-ways-school-leaders-can-help-teachers-feel-supported/