2024-04-06 17:51:01
BISMARCK — North Dakota teachers are leaving the profession earlier but not necessarily for higher-paying jobs, data presented Wednesday, April 3 to a task force shows.
Since 2016, the median age of a departing North Dakota teacher due to retirement or leaving the profession has dropped 12 years, to 42 years old, according to information from the North Dakota Statewide Longitudinal Data System.
In a meeting of the Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force on Wednesday, data scientists and subject matter experts presented research to task force members on teachers leaving the profession, their wages upon leaving and the benefits of mentorship on retention efforts.
Contributed / North Dakota Statewide Longitudinal Data System
Sam Unruh, data scientist for the North Dakota IT Department, said he was able to determine that teachers have been leaving the profession much earlier over the last seven years, and many have earned the same amount or slightly less income in their new jobs. His research used data from the Department of Public Instruction, the state’s Education Standards and Practices Board and Job Service North Dakota.
“Looking at the age group from regarding 30 to 45, there wasn’t a whole lot of change … until regarding 2019 to 2020,” Unruh said. “I can’t attribute that all to COVID, but it certainly appears that at that time something changed.”
Unruh added he doesn’t believe that just because departing teachers weren’t acquiring higher-paying jobs upon leaving, wage adjustments shouldn’t be used as a retention tool.
The median years of experience of teachers retiring or leaving the profession has also decreased from a median of 23 years of service in 2007 to nine years of experience in 2023.
Contributed / North Dakota Statewide Longitudinal Data System
The research notes there have been geographic differences in teacher retention between 2006 and 2023. Teachers in the northwest corner of the state had fewer years of experience before departing, possibly connected to oil activity, the report said.
Erin Jacobson, coordinator for the North Dakota Teacher Support System, said providing mentorship to first- and second-year teachers improves retention compared to teachers without a mentor. She also pointed out their mentors do not evaluate the new teachers, and do not report their conversations to administrators, but are there to provide professional guidance.
Sam Unruh, data scientist for the North Dakota Information Technology Department, speaks during a meeting of the Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force on April 3, 2024.
Michael Achterling / North Dakota Monitor
“What we have found … is that is an empowering tool when it’s used in that way,” Jacobson said.
She added that new teachers usually need the entire first semester to feel comfortable enough in the classroom to begin making adjustments from the constructive criticism of a mentor.
Teachers who are part of the mentoring program are also 6-11% more likely to stay teaching past their 10-year mark in greater numbers than teachers who don’t participate in the program, according to the report. The largest difference between mentored and non-mentored teachers is in their sixth year when mentored teachers hold a 15% higher retention rate.
“That shows it’s worth the investment,” Jacobson said. “It’s not required to be in the mentoring program, but, if teachers are getting that type of support, the person that’s coming in and … getting feedback … we’re seeing that they are stay longer.”
Ellie Shockley, an institutional researcher for the North Dakota University System, said she estimated that more than 10,000 people are eligible and licensed to teach in North Dakota, but are not currently teaching. Of those, regarding 26% ended their teaching careers between 2017 to 2022. By comparison, 12% of those teachers left the profession between 2006 to 2017, with the vast majority of departures occurring with teachers 55 and older, according to her data.
Shockley added the statistics only account for teachers with teaching licenses and not substitute teachers with an interim substitute teaching license.
Median wage change for teachers leaving the profession during school years 2014-15 to 2021-22.
Contributed / North Dakota Statewide Longitudinal Data System
“In terms of substitutes, they were not consistently recorded, so DPI is moving in the direction of more recording of people in that role,” she said.
The Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force has two more meetings scheduled before their report of findings and possible solutions will be presented to Gov. Doug Burgum at the end of September. The next meeting will be held on June 3.
This story was originally published on NorthDakotaMonitor.com
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