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Influence of teacher recruitment, retention, training, and improvement on district support of 21st-century teaching and learning

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Influence of teacher recruitment, retention, training, and improvement on district support of 21st-century teaching and learning

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Content Running head: INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 1
INFLUENCE OF TEACHER RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, TRAINING, AND
IMPROVEMENT ON DISTRICT SUPPORT OF 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING
AND LEARNING
by
Christopher Downing
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

May 2019
Copyright 2019 Christopher Downing
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 2
Dedication
This dissertation is dedicated to my loving wife Sandra and my two wonderful daughters,
Sabrina and Christina. Throughout this journey they have encouraged me and provided amazing
motivation and support. The completion of this program would not have been possible without
them.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 3
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my wonderful parents, James and Florence, for instilling the confi-
dence and belief that no mountain is too high to climb and that hard work is an expectation for
success. Thanks also go to my brothers, James and Phillip, and special thanks to my nephew
Will for their support and for the great discussions on education.
I am eternally grateful to Dr. Michelle King, who encouraged Vivian Ekchian, Cheryl
Hildreth, and me to pursue this life-changing opportunity. Her constant motivation and support
made this accomplishment possible.
A special thank you to Dr. Michael Escalante for his leadership and mentoring as the
dissertation chair and to all the great professors who shared their perspectives and guidance.
Congratulations to the members of the USC Superintendents’ Cohort (Class of 2019) for
a great 3 years! Fight on!!
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 4
Table of Contents
Dedication 2
Acknowledgments 3
List of Tables 7
Abstract 9
Chapter One: Introduction 10
Background of the Problem 10
Statement of the Problem 11
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions 11
Significance of the Study 13
Limitations of the Study 15
Delimitations of the Study 16
Definitions of Terms 16
Organization of the Dissertation 19
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature 21
Recruitment 21
Subject Area Teaching Shortages 21
Teacher Preferences 23
Incentives 24
Teach for America 25
Teacher Retention 26
Mindset Versus Skillset 27
Myths About Skillsets 27
Causes for High-Performing Irreplaceable Teacher Attrition 28
Consequences of Nonretention of High-Performing Irreplaceables 29
Factors Relating to Attrition 29
High Mobility 30
Teacher Characteristics 30
Student Characteristics 31
Working Conditions 31
Administrator Impacts 32
Ineffective Teachers 33
Teacher Training 33
Teacher Credentialing 34
Building Teacher Efficacy 37
Professional Development 38
Online Professional Development 40
Microcredentialing 41
Improvement Strategies 44
Defining Effectiveness 44
PLCs 45
Peer–Mentor Support 46
National Board Certification (NBC) 48
Induction Programs 48
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 5
Theoretical Frameworks 50
Recruitment 50
Figure 1. Diagram of the relationships among the theoretical frameworks 51
Retention 51
Training and Improvement 52
Chapter Summary 53
Chapter Three: Research Methodology 55
Research Design 55
Quantitative Study 56
Qualitative Study 56
Setting 56
Research Team 57
Sample and Population 57
Instrumentation 58
Access/Entry 64
Survey Protocol 64
Data Collection 65
Data Analysis 66
Credibility and Trustworthiness 67
Ethics 67
Limitations 68
Reliability 68
Ethical Considerations 69
Chapter Summary 69
Chapter Four: Results 70
Research Design 72
Participants 73
New Teachers 73
National Board Certified Teachers 73
Principals 74
Data and Analysis 75
Findings for Research Question 1 75
Theme 1: Higher Learning Institutes (HLIs) Are Essential in Effective Hiring for
LUDs 75
Theme 2: Financial Incentives Help LUDs With Effective Hiring 78
Theme 3: Social Media and Online Advertising Are Less Impactful in Recruiting
Effective Teachers 82
Summary Discussion for Research Question 1 83
Findings for Research Question 2 84
Theme 1: The Culture at Schools Greatly Impacts Teacher Attrition 85
Theme 2: Financial Incentives for Teacher Training Improve Retention 87
Theme 3: Instructional Support for Teacher Development Improves Retention 90
Summary Discussion for Research Question 2 95
Findings for Research Question 3 95
Theme 1: Teacher Training Programs Are Key To Teacher Effectiveness 96
Theme 2: Professional Development Is Key to Improving Teacher Practice 98
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 6
Theme 3: Administrators Improve Practice for Teachers 102
Summary Discussion for Research Question 3 106
Findings for Research Question 106
Theme 1: PLCs Improve Teacher Collaboration, Effectiveness and the School
Culture 107
Theme 2: Mentoring Support Builds Teacher Self-Efficacy and Effectiveness 114
Theme 3: Districts Must Provide Differentiated Training and Workloads for New
and Surplus Teachers to Build Their Effectiveness 118
Summary Discussion for Research Question 4 124
Chapter Summary 125
Chapter Five: Discussion, Recommendations, and Conclusions 129
Summary of Findings 135
Research Question 1 135
Research Question 2 136
Research Question 3 138
Research Question 4 140
Implications for Practice 142
Recommendations for Future Research 144
Conclusion 145
References 146
Appendices
Appendix A: Recruitment Letter to Principals 154
Appendix B: Study Information Sheet 155
Appendix C: Qualitative Survey Protocol for School Administrators 157
Appendix D: Qualitative Survey Protocol for Teachers 162
Appendix E: Quantitative Data Collection Source: 2017–18 School Experience
(Teachers) 167
Appendix F: Qualitative Administrator Interview Protocol 170
Appendix G: Qualitative Teacher Interview Protocol 173
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 7
List of Tables
Table 1: Alignment of Qualitative Survey Protocols With Research Questions (RQs)
and Theoretical Frameworks 59
Table 2: Alignment of Interview Protocols to Research Questions (RQs) and Theoretical
Frameworks 61
Table 3: Alignment of Quantitative Survey Protocols With Research Questions (RQs)
and Theoretical Frameworks 63
Table 4: Summary of Participants, Their Organization/Position, and Data Type(s) 74
Table 5: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Impact of Higher Learning Institutes
(HLIs) in Recruitment Strategies in Hiring Effective Teachers, by Per-
centages 77
Table 6: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Impact of District-Implemented Recruit-
ment Strategies in Hiring Effective Teachers, by Percentages 80
Table 7: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of the Impact of Recruitment
Strategies (Advertising) in Hiring Effective Teachers, by Percentages 83
Table 8: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differential Support
Strategies to Improve Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates in a
Large Urban District, by Percentages 86
Table 9: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Financial Incentive Strate-
gies for a Large Urban District to Retain Experienced Teachers in the
System to Improve Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates, by Per-
centages 88
Table 10: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Teacher Instructional
Support Strategies for a Large Urban District to Retain New and Experi-
enced Teachers in the System to Improve Students’ Achievement and
Graduation Rates, by Percentages 91
Table 11: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Support
Strategies for a Large Urban District to Retain New and Experienced
Teachers in the System, by Percentages 92
Table 12: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies That Could/
Should Be Used to Improve the Postinduction Training of Teachers, by
Percentages 100
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 8
Table 13: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies for a Large
Urban District to Improve District Postinduction Training, by Percentages 101
Table 14: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Instructional Support
Strategies Were Implemented, by Percentages 103
Table 15: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies That Could/
Should Be Used to Support the Effectiveness of Novice and Surplus
Teachers, by Percentages 108
Table 16: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Collaborative Strategies
Were Used in Professional Development (Training, Grade- and
Department-Level Meetings, Etc.), by Percentages 110
Table 17: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Professional Learning
Community (PLC) Strategies Were Implemented, by Percentages 111
Table 18: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Mentoring Support
Strategies That Could/ Should Be Used to Improve the Effectiveness of
Novice and Surplus Teachers, by Percentages 116
Table 19: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Assign-
ments and Training Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to Improve the
Effectiveness of Surplus Teachers, by Percentages 119
Table 20: Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Assign-
ments and Training Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to Improve the
Effectiveness of Novice, by Percentages 121
Table 21: Participants’ Responses Indicating Their Perceptions on Differentiation of
Professional Development to Improve the Effectiveness of Teachers, by
Percentages 122
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 9
Abstract
The success of school districts to effectively educate students is driven by the quality of
the daily classroom instruction that takes place. Teacher shortages, especially in the fields of
special education and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related fields, nega-
tively impacts instruction by forcing districts to hire underqualified teachers. The quality of
teaching is further impacted by high attrition rates in high-poverty schools that often have a high
turnover of teachers and teaching staffs, including many new teachers. These impacts are espe-
cially important in large urban districts that often have agreements with bargaining units that
prohibit the removal of teachers that are ineffective in comparison to smaller districts, which can
displace ineffective teachers and replace them with more qualified teachers taken from rich pools
of applicants.
This study cited research that described the barriers impacting the effective recruitment
and retention of high-quality teachers. The study identifies the type of training and support
necessary to build self-efficacy among new teachers and veteran teachers who have a history of
ineffectiveness. The research study also identifies research-based findings on how districts can
better support teachers to create a collaborative environment and to reduce the attrition of highly
qualified teachers. The study investigated how the training and improvement strategies of a
district can directly improve the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, thereby leading
to a system of coherence that positively impacts student achievement.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 10
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Problem
With the high rates of attrition of teachers who leave the teaching profession, there is a
constant need for large urban school districts to address the teacher shortage (Ingersoll, 1999).
The research of Engel, Jacob, and Curran (2014) describes how the teacher shortage is exacer-
bated in LUDs because new teachers are much less likely to apply to schools with high popula-
tions of low-income students. This situation creates staffing issues at the most challenging
schools for students with the highest needs. Engel et al. explained that new teachers also place
high priority on factors that include mentor support, the leadership of the school, and specific
efforts to support new teacher improvement.
According to Marzano (2004), new teachers must receive an infusion of background
knowledge on teaching in order to improve their ability to effectively engage students and
improve academic achievement. This research study also used the work of Marzano (2004) as a
theoretical framework to analyze how the retention of effective teachers and the implementation
of a cohesive training and support program led to the improvement of teacher effectiveness and
yielded positive academic growth by students. This research speaks to how districts must prior-
itize support for new teachers to obtain background knowledge from experienced peers and
training opportunities and also to provide ongoing and frequent quality training opportunities to
improve the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom.
The work of DuFour, Eaker, and DuFour (2005) identified that teacher effectiveness for
both new and experienced teachers is promoted through the implementation of professional
learning communities (PLCs) that build teacher efficacy and foster the sharing of professional
knowledge through a powerful teacher community. These PLCs also create an environment of
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 11
collaboration. Marzano explained the importance of providing quality training to improve the
effectiveness of teachers in the classroom. TNTP (2012) found that poor school culture is one of
the primary reasons that teachers leave the profession and that when a collaborative and support-
ive school culture exists, high-quality teachers remain in the profession to continue to make a
positive difference in academic improvement and support for student learning.
Statement of the Problem
Nationally, districts are encountering teacher staffing barriers that include teacher short-
ages in credentialing programs and teacher reticence to accept assignments at hard-to-staff
schools in high-poverty areas. These staffing barriers are compounded by poor training practices
for new teachers; teacher turnover; and the nonretention of quality teachers due to work condi-
tions, evaluation systems, and other factors that lead to teacher attrition.
As a result, districts retain ineffective teachers that adversely impact instruction and lose
effective teachers who employ successful strategies to drive student achievement. These ineffec-
tive teachers are regularly displaced from schools and, due to their lack of skills and are largely
used as substitutes, commonly referred to as surplus teachers. These surplus teachers create
huge financial burdens to districts, which are unable to terminate them without assigning them to
classrooms and completing evaluations that identify their below-standard performance for at least
2 academic years. Districts do not assign these teachers to classrooms because of the poor
instructional practices and potential harm to students.
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to examine how school districts can increase efficiency and
effectiveness to recruit and retain quality teachers in the system beyond 5 years. As indicated by
the research of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ; Goe & Stickler, 2008), district
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 12
professional development is structured around building teacher efficacy from teachers’ introduc-
tion to the district into their 5th year of service. Following the 5th year, professional growth is
inconsistent and teacher improvement is largely dependent on the self-motivation of the teacher
in seeking professional growth opportunities.
To meet the purpose of this study, four research questions were addressed:
1. What are the recruitment strategies used by large urban districts (LUDs) that result in
the most effective hiring?
2. What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+ years or completion
of induction process) in the system?
3. How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to retain the highest number of
qualified teachers?
4. What strategies could and should be used to improve the effectiveness of novice and
surplus teachers?
This study employed a theoretical framework driven by the research of Fullan and Quinn
(2016) and corresponding research on the importance of districts creating systems that prioritize
key issues and support their effective implementation through clear direction, engagement with
stakeholders, and training on the focus and accountability for the system. The research of Fullan
and Quinn is critical for identifying how LUDs must prioritize the recruitment and retention of
qualified teachers to address high rates of attrition of qualified teachers and the factors that drive
them out of the system.
The theoretical framework in this study also built on the work of Marzano (2004) and
DuFour et al. (2016), who identified strategies that led to the successful training and improve-
ment of teachers and the support systems necessary to build their self-efficacy and effectiveness.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 13
These bodies of research also corresponded to the work of Fullan and Quinn (2016) by helping to
create practices within a school district that prioritizes the recruitment, retention, training, and
effectiveness of teachers as a key component of the system and a realization that effective
teachers positively impact student learning.
The surveys and interviews of new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and
administrators who work at hard-to-staff schools within a LUD provided data to support the
identification of the support mechanisms to create this cycle of effectiveness within a LUD. The
LUD used in this study had over 600,000 students, a free and reduced-price lunch program, a
Poverty Index of 85.5 %, and an English learner population of over 23%. At the time of this
study, the district had over 300 teachers who met the criteria for surplus and were not assigned to
a classroom.
In studying teacher training and effectiveness, this research focused on how traditional
professional development, online professional development, mentors, and PLCs can impact the
culture of collaboration at schools, which is identified as a primary factor in teacher attrition.
While there is research that studies components of this four-part cycle, there is no recent research
that addresses the retention, recruitment, training, and teacher effectiveness in a LUD based on
qualitative surveys and interviews and quantitative surveys with a sample size of over 300.
Significance of the Study
Teacher shortages and the inability of districts to retain quality teachers have impacted the
education system nationally. This study analyzed the practices of recruitment and retention that
affect the staffing of LUDs and the impacts on student achievement. The problem of teacher
retention is magnified in LUDs because the constant attrition of highly qualified teachers and an
inability to fill their vacancies through normal hiring practices (TNTP, 2012) negatively impacts
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 14
student achievement. This effect causes further pressure on the school district because research
has shown that poor student achievement, especially in high-poverty schools, is a primary factor
that increases teacher attrition for districts (Ingersoll, 1999).
To overcome the cycle of attrition, the research of Fullan and Quinn (2016) provide a
theoretical framework about how districts should use a coherent strategy to recruit and retain
quality teachers in the district. Fullan and Quinn provided a four-part strategy that districts must
use to prioritize effective staffing to improve the quality of teaching and the impact on student
achievement.
This study took a comprehensive look at the necessary training required to build teacher
self-efficacy and teacher effectiveness for districts to more efficiently recruit teachers. The study
examined the effects of traditional and online professional development, the newly created
microcredentials, and how these modes of training impact both novice and experienced teachers’
ability to provide instruction that improves student academic achievement. The study also
provided a blueprint for the steps that LUDs can take to effectively recruit and retain high-quality
teachers, to implement training and support strategies that build collaboration, to improve student
achievement, and to reduce the flight of effective teachers by raising self-efficacy and satisfaction
with the district.
The study examined how districts should implement support systems for teacher im-
provement, including the use and impact of PLCs for teachers, induction programs, the estab-
lishment of peer/mentor support (Feiman-Nemser, 2003), and the effective use of National Board
Certified teachers. The study used the work of DuFour et al. (2005) as a theoretical framework to
identify the large research base that shows how the implementation of PLCs builds teacher
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 15
efficacy and fosters a collaborative school environment that positively impacts the retention of
quality teachers (TNTP, 2012).
This study is significant because it surveyed and interviewed new teachers, National
Board Certified teachers, and administrators from hard-to-staff schools in a LUD regarding their
perceptions about the four-part cycle of recruitment, retention, training, and effectiveness. The
study participants had experienced the impacts of the staffing of undertrained new and surplus
teachers at their school and how this situation led to negative consequences for the LUD. The
research has urgency because recent data on the enrollment in teacher preparation programs at the
time of this study showed a decline in California and nationally; the decline has the potential to
negatively impact LUDs if effective systems are not identified to successfully recruit, retain,
train, and build teacher efficacy (Lambert, 2018). Freedberg (2018) noted that “despite an
improving economy and new efforts to recruit teachers, California’s teacher shortage is showing
no signs of easing up. Districts up and down the state are competing for a limited pool of gradu-
ates” (p. 1).
Limitations of the Study
Limitations of the study included the fact that the data were collected from three geo-
graphic areas within one LUD and did not include a comparison of data from similar districts.
The research team conducted the interviews and surveys within a 10-day window that limited the
ability to survey or interview respondents from other geographic areas within the LUD or similar
districts.
Although there were several limitations, validity and reliability were achieved by the
collection of data from both a convenience sampling and a compilation of quantitative data from
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 16
over 10,000 respondents. The data were triangulated with responses to surveys, the interview
responses, and peer review and member checking of the data interpretations.
Delimitations of the Study
Delimitations are limitations resulting from specific decisions by the researcher in the
design of the study (Simon & Goes, 2011). The scope of this study and instrumentation were
delimitations because the research team included surveys designed specifically for qualitative
data collection and used the data from school experience surveys to provide quantitative data
from over 10,000 respondents. This study also collected qualitative data from interviews with
administrators, National Board Certified teachers, and novice teachers to address the research
questions on recruitment, retention, training, and teacher effectiveness. The study focused solely
on these four components with no consideration for school levels, ethnicity of teachers, socioeco-
nomic status, or other teacher demographics.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are operationally defined for use within this dissertation:
Fixed mindset: Defined as the belief that intelligence is a static trait (e.g., some students
are good in math and others are not). Belief is that the ability to develop intelligence is limited
and that intelligence is inherent (Dweck, 2010).
Growth mindset: Defined as the belief that intelligence can be developed by various
means (e.g., through effort and instruction). Growth mindset implies that everyone’s intellect
and abilities can grow with effort (Dweck, 2010).
Irreplaceables: Defined as teachers who are so successful they are nearly impossible to
replace. These teachers help students learn 2–3 additional months of mathematics and reading
compared to the average teacher and up to 6 months of additional mathematics and reading than a
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 17
low- performing teacher. These teachers often leave schools as the result of neglect and inatten-
tion (TNTP, 2012).
Large urban district: Urban defined by the National Center for Education Statistics
([NCES], 2006) as inner-city, crowded, and poorly funded. Large district is defined as having
250,000 students or more (NCES, 2006). For the purposes of this study, LUD refers to inner-
city, crowded, and poorly funded districts with 250,000 or more students.
Mentoring: Short-term support provided by an experienced teacher and designed to ease
the entry of novices into teaching (Feiman-Nemser, 1998).
Microcredentialing: Digital badges that document the formal and informal learning of
teachers (Berry, Airhart, & Byrd, 2016). The microcredentials use videos, work samples, and
other artifacts to demonstrate what a teacher has mastered. Berry et al. (2016) discussed that
microcredentials are competency based and focused on the actual skills and abilities mastered
instead of in-seat time spent in trainings; are personalized and based on teachers’ own needs and
the skills that will support their competency; are on demand and available based on a teacher’s
own schedule; and are shareable across social media platforms, blogs, résumés, and email.
Professional development: Training that supports a means for supporting development of
effective teachers and improving student achievement. There are five research-based key compo-
nents of professional development that lead to improvement in student achievement: content
focus, active learning, collective participation, duration, and coherence (Desimone, 2009).
PLCs: An ongoing process where educators work collaboratively to address collective
inquiry and action research. The PLCs take place in recurring cycles. The key assumption is that
there must be continuous, job-embedded learning for educators to drive improvement in student
learning (DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, & Mattos, 2016).
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 18
Surplus teachers: A phenomenon unique to districts who employ teachers who have not
received appropriate assistance and guidance to improve their support of student instruction. In
most cases, the teachers have either moved to other sites or are moved by the district, thus further
hampering the receipt of effective support and appropriate evaluations to support their improve-
ment and accountability. In LUDs, the surplus teachers are often assigned as substitutes or in a
nonteaching capacity. Districts typically continue to hire new teachers to provide instruction
despite the existence of the surplus teachers. Surplus teachers may have varying degrees of
experience ranging from postprobationary to novice (5 years or less) to experienced (over 5
years). The reviewed literature did not include surplus teachers because this phenomenon has not
been studied.
Targeted financial incentives: A strategy for attracting highly qualified professionals to
public service jobs. The incentives are most commonly conditional scholarships that reduce the
cost of professional training or a commitment to work in public service jobs for a specific period
of time following graduation (Steele, Murnane, & Willett, 2010).
Teacher attrition: The exodus of teachers from the teaching profession due to a combina-
tion of factors including but not limited to working conditions, student behavior, lack of student
engagement, parental concerns, professionalism concerns, workload issues, isolation from col-
leagues, and large class sizes (Bradley & Loadman, 2005). Total teacher turnover also includes
migration or those who move from one teaching job to another (Ingersoll, 1999). Research
identifies that almost a quarter of public school teachers leave the profession within their first 3
years (Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2008). Teacher attrition impacts student
learning because in high-turnover schools, students are more likely to receive an inexperienced
teacher who is typically less effective (Rockoff, 2004). A second impact of teacher attrition is
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 19
that high teacher turnover creates instability in schools and reduces the chances of having
consistent and coherent instruction. High teacher turnover also negatively impacts districts
because of the resources necessary to continuously recruit teachers (Boyd et al., 2008).
Teacher effectiveness: A multilevel, interactive education model that measures how
teachers work with individual students, the personality of the teacher with respect to engaging
with students, the content covered by the teacher, the instructional practices used, and the
grouping strategies used by the teachers (Ding & Sherman, 2006). Goe and Stickler (2008)
asserted that teacher effectiveness is measured my higher-than-predicted increases in student
achievement.
Teach for America (TFA): A program that recruits academically strong new college
graduates from selective universities into 2-year teaching commitments in hard-to-staff districts.
TFA requires that the participants attend a summer program and conduct student teaching and
basic coursework prior to their placement in urban and lower economic rural districts by holding
emergency teaching permits (Darling-Hammond, Holtzman, Gatlin, & Vasquez Heilig, 2005).
Teacher qualifications: The experiences, knowledge, and credentials that teachers bring
with them as they enter the classroom including subject matter expertise, degrees, certifications,
coursework related to the content area, and evidence of participation in continued learning and/or
trainings (Goe & Stickler, 2008).
Organization of the Dissertation
This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter introduced the study,
included an overview of the study, identified the statement of the problem and purpose of the
study, presented the four research questions and importance of the study, and defined the key
terms of the study. Chapter Two reviews the relevant literature on the topics of teacher
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 20
recruitment, retention, training, professional development, building teacher self-efficacy, and
teacher effectiveness. Chapter Three discusses the mixed-methods, predominantly qualitative
methodology that was used in the conduct of the study; the research team; the techniques used for
data collection, organization, and analysis; and the study sample, population, and instrumen-
tation.
Chapter Four presents the research findings based on the collected data, identifies themes
produced from the research questions, and provides an analysis of the data and theoretical
frameworks. Chapter Five summarizes the findings of the study and present recommendations
for further research.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 21
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The purpose of this literature review was to identify the factors that lead to staffing bar-
riers at schools and that often prevent students from receiving support from the most effective
teachers. In order to view this issue within a historical context and its specific impact on Califor-
nia’s largest urban district, this literature review is organized in four main sections. The first
section provides an overview of the problem of hiring and retaining effective teachers in school
systems. The second section focuses on the history of teacher credentialing programs and the
impacts on student achievement resulting from access to highly qualified teachers. The third
section outlines the barriers to teacher retention and keeping effective teachers in California’s
largest urban district and other LUDs. The fourth section identifies how districts often displace
teachers and impact student achievement through a cycle of teacher mobility, out-of-field teach-
ers, bargaining agreements that limit retention of more effective teachers, and budget impacts on
teacher staffing.
Recruitment
The research cited in this section identifies factors that impact the district recruitment of
qualified teachers, including teacher shortages in selected subject areas, the use of teacher
bonuses to attract highly qualified applicants, the teacher preferences that negatively impact
hiring for high-need schools, the use of incentives to improve recruitment, and the hiring of
specialized teachers from the TFA program to address the limited availability of qualified
teachers.
Subject Area Teaching Shortages
Ingersoll (1999) discussed the factors that lead to constant hiring needs for districts; these
include teachers leaving the teaching profession to “better their careers and/or teachers
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 22
dissatisfied with teaching as a career” (p. 33). This research identifies the ongoing attrition rate
and factors that have created a teacher shortage.
Cowan, Goldhaber, Hayes, and Theobald (2016) addressed the common misconception
that there is a “national teacher shortage” (p. 460) and instead asserted that there has been a
steady increase in the number of available potential teachers. The authors cited that the true
shortages are in specific subjects (i.e., science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
[STEM] and special education) and in specific types of schools including rural and schools with
high populations of disadvantaged students. The research identified that although California
showed a decline in potential new teachers from 2008 to 2012 (see Rich, 2015), overall teacher
production has continued to rise since the mid-1980s. The findings of Cowan et al. identified
that the student- to-teacher ratio has dropped nationally from 18:1 in the mid-1980s to the current
ratio of about 16:1.
The research of Cowan et al. (2016) raises further questions about the effectiveness of
teacher recruitment and indicates that between 1987 and 2011, the number of new teachers was
between 175,000 and 300,000. However only 60,000 to 140,000 of these teachers were hired
into teaching positions.
Cowan et al. (2016) cited the work of Clotfelter, Glennie, Ladd, and Vigdor (2008), who
discussed the effectiveness of targeted bonuses to attract certified math, science, and special
education teachers working in socioeconomically disadvantaged schools in North Carolina. This
research indicated a reduced attrition of targeted teachers by 17% in the North Carolina schools
(Clotfelter et al., 2008). Cowan et al. concluded that there is no need to change the recruitment
of teachers overall; instead, there should be policies to address specific targeted shortage areas of
STEM and special education in rural and high-need schools.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 23
Based on the research cited, LUDs must implement specific strategies to effectively
recruit teachers in high-poverty schools in STEM and special education. The use of incentives is
one proven strategy to improve recruitment. The qualitative surveys and interviews conducted in
this study with new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and administrators in high-need
schools identified other strategies that districts may use to effectively recruit quality teachers.
The perception surveys and interviews of this study have great relevance to LUDs because they
occurred with new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and administrators who worked at
hard-to-staff schools and were impacted by the four-part cycle of ineffective recruitment, reten-
tion, training, and teacher effectiveness. Teachers and administrators have been impacted by
staffing with undertrained new and surplus teachers, who often leave schools after a brief time
and often negatively impact the culture of the school and efforts to improve student achievement.
This study identified strategies that a LUD can implement to address the four-part cycle and
improve practices for teacher staffing and support.
Teacher Preferences
Guarino, Santibañez, and Daley (2006) studied the characteristics of individuals who
enter the teaching professions. Their study found that females constituted the majority of new
teachers and that while Whites were the majority of new hires for teaching, there was evidence
that the percentage of minority teachers rose in the early 1990s. The study also found that college
graduates with higher academic abilities were less likely than other college graduates to enter
teaching.
Engel et al. (2014) found that teachers prefer to work in schools that are local to their
homes. The researchers also cited findings that when teachers move to other schools, they tend
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 24
to move to schools that have larger populations of students who share their race/ethnicity (Hanu-
shek, Kain, & Rivkin, 2004).
Engel et al. (2014) found that new teacher applicants were much less likely to apply to
high-poverty schools. This research identified that new teachers also used very limited informa-
tion about school characteristics to make decisions about the schools to which they applied. New
teachers tended to value characteristics such as school leadership, mentor availability, and new
teacher support; however, they often did not have clear information about these characteristics
when deciding which schools to apply to. Engel et al. concluded that new teacher preferences for
proximity to their homes and noninterest in taking assignments at high-poverty schools are
factors that lead some districts to encounter chronic staffing difficulties.
Incentives
Steele et al. (2010) studied the impact of financial incentives to increase the recruitment
of new teachers to hard-to-staff, low-performance schools. The study researched the impact of
two incentive programs from different regions of the United States. The first study involved the
effects of the Governors Teaching Fellowship (GTF) program, which was conducted in Califor-
nia between 2000 and 2002. This program was aimed at attracting new, academically talented
teachers to low-performing schools and retaining them in these schools. The program measured
success in terms of teachers remaining at a school for at least 4 years. The researchers found that
teacher recruitment went up by 28% when teachers received the $20,000 GTF. The study also
found that 75% of the GTF teachers remained in their schools for at least 4 years; however, the
75% retention rate at low-performing schools was the same retention rate at low-performing
schools for similar teachers who did not receive the GTF. The study found that while an incen-
tive improved retention, there was no statistical impact on retention.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 25
Steele et al. (2010) also examined the findings of Clotfelter et al. (2008), who studied the
impact of a teacher retention bonus in North Carolina. Clotfelter et al. (2008) found that a small
incentive of $1,800 reduced teachers turnover rate by 17%. The North Carolina program did not
include any recruitment incentive and was targeted solely to address retention. Steele et al.
asserted that teacher incentives are an effective way to increase retention for low-performing
schools; however, providing incentives have a weak impact on impacting retention, especially for
academically talented teachers who have more opportunities than the average teacher.
Teach for America
Darling-Hammond et al. (2005) studied the effectiveness of TFA by studying student
achievement results for TFA teachers as compared to non-TFA teachers. The results showed that
TFA teachers, lacking professional certification in teaching, did not fare as well as standard
certified teachers with comparable years of experience in similar settings. The researchers found
that uncertified TFA teachers demonstrated a negative effect on student achievement in compari-
son with standard certified teachers.
Heilig and Jez (2014) studied the impact of TFA teachers and asserted that peer-reviewed
research suggests that students of new TFA teachers yielded lower results in mathematics and
reading assessments than those of fully credentialed beginning teachers. This study also identi-
fied that TFA teachers had a high turnover. The researchers cited that the cost of hiring 100 TFA
teachers was $6,044,000 more than hiring 100 non-TFA teachers. The study identified that TFA
teachers become more effective over time, with major improvement found after the 2nd year of
teaching. Heilig and Jez (2014) asserted, however, that only 28% of TFA teachers remained in
education after 5 years, versus 50% for non-TFA teachers. The study recommended that TFA
teachers are a viable option when the hiring pool is comprised of uncertified and emergency
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 26
teachers and that districts should require that TFA teachers participate in additional teacher
training based on best practices for teacher development to offset their limited preservice training
(Heilig & Jez, 2014).
Based on this expansive body of research on recruitment, there is evidence that LUDs
must prioritize the implementation of systems that focus the district on establishing coherent
practices that place the best qualified teachers in high-need schools. Successful practices include
offering incentives for teachers to work at hard-to-staff schools, building collaborative cultures to
combat teacher attrition, and using nontraditional programs such as TFA to fill vacancies. The
research of Heilig and Jez (2014) does indicate that TFA teachers must undergo additional
professional development to combat their limited preservice training.
The present study addressed the identification of strategies that a LUD can use to better
attract qualified teachers. The survey data collected included the participation of new teachers
who recently went through the hiring recruitment process with the LUD and were working in
hard-to-staff schools. Their perceptions provided insight into specific actions that a LUD can
take to improve recruitment.
Teacher Retention
The research cited in this section identifies factors that impact the district retention of
qualified teachers, including mindset versus skillset, myths about skillsets and teacher retention,
and the causes for high-performing teacher attrition. The literature reviewed also includes
research on the factors that cause retention, including high mobility, teacher and student charac-
teristics, working conditions, administrator impacts, and ineffective teacher attrition.
TNTP (2012) contended that the real retention problem in American schools stems from
the fact that low-performing teachers are retained at the same rate as effective teachers. This
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 27
research categorized effective teachers with the term irreplaceables, defined as teachers who
help students learn 2–3 additional months of mathematics and reading compared to the average
teacher and up to 6 months of additional mathematics and reading compared to a low-performing
teacher. The research was conducted by studying 90,000 teachers across four large urban school
districts and using value-added data to study student achievement for 20,000 of the teachers in
the study.
TNTP (2012) identified irreplaceables as the top 20% of teachers. This research showed
that when an irreplaceable leaves a low-performing school, most districts can take up to 11 hires
to find a comparably skilled replacement. TNTP asserted that approximately 10,000 irreplace-
ables leave the largest 50 districts in the nation in an average year. The research also identified
that irreplaceables leave schools at the same rates as low-performing teachers because districts
and school principals do not discriminate between the retention of low and high performers.
Mindset Versus Skillset
TNTP (2012) studied whether irreplaceables differed from low-performing teachers in
their mindset and/or skillset. The findings were that “compared to low-performing teachers, for
instance, Irreplaceables are slightly more likely to believe that effective teachers can help
students overcome out-of-school challenges and are more likely to understand their own effective-
ness” (p. 3). The findings also indicated that effective teachers are more a product of skillset
over mindset.
Myths About Skillsets
TNTP (2012) has asserted that there are two myths that impact retention of teachers. The
first is that low-performing teachers will improve to an acceptable level of performance in the
future. TNTP cited that 70% of surveyed principals identified “teacher development” as a
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 28
priority and retention as a low priority; however, after a 3-year period, the identified low-
performing teachers were still more ineffective than 1st-year teachers. The second myth is the
assumption that a low-performing, experienced teacher will almost always be more effective than
new teachers. TNTP found that 75% of the time, a new teacher performed better in their 1st year
of teaching than the low-performing teachers whom they replaced.
Causes for High-Performing Irreplaceable Teacher Attrition
TNTP (2012) identified three causes that lead to the loss of irreplaceable teachers. The
first cause was that principals make limited efforts to retain irreplaceable teachers and/or to
remove low-performing teachers from their schools. The research cited the common misconcep-
tion that teachers leave schools is due to major life events (e.g., starting a family). However,
TNTP found that less than 30% of irreplaceables left schools for personal reasons and that princi-
pals had the ability to impact the other 70% through their actions. The research cited eight
actions that can be taken by principals to help boost the retention of irreplaceables, including
providing regular, positive feedback; helping teachers to identify areas of development; giving
critical feedback about performance; recognizing accomplishments publicly; informing teachers
that they are high performing; identifying opportunities for teacher leader roles; giving teachers
responsibilities over important site initiatives; and providing access to additional resources for
their classrooms. TNTP found that irreplaceables who experienced two or more of the strategies
planned to stay at their schools 6 years longer than those who did not. The research also found
that a third to half of the teachers surveyed had experienced fewer than two of the strategies.
The second cause cited for high attrition of irreplaceables was poor school cultures and
working conditions that drive away teachers (TNTP, 2012). The research found that schools that
retained a high percentage of irreplaceables had principals who clearly communicated high
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 29
expectations to teachers and ensured that the teachers felt supported. The study also found that in
schools with weak instructional cultures, there was a 50% higher attrition rate for irreplaceables.
The third cause for high attrition cited by TNTP (2012) was policies that did not incen-
tivize district leaders and principals to improve their retention strategies for irreplaceables. The
research of four LUDs with 90,000 teachers found that not one of the districts recruited, trained,
or evaluated principals on their ability to effectively retain quality teachers and improve the
attrition of low-performing teachers.
Consequences of Nonretention of High-Performing Irreplaceables
TNTP (2012) identified two consequences for districts failing to retain irreplaceable
high-performing teachers. The first consequence is that school turnaround is nearly impossible.
The research referenced 10 low-performing schools where 19% of the teachers were low per-
forming compared to only 12% who were irreplaceables. The average proficiency level was
reversed in that 18% were irreplaceables and 14%, low performers. With these same schools
losing irreplaceables at the same rate as low-performing teachers, the quality of instruction would
remain below average unless the district reversed the trend. Overall, low-performing schools
will never have as many irreplaceables as other schools unless their retention becomes a priority.
The second consequence of districts failing to retain irreplaceables is that the teaching
profession is compromised. Policies that do not prioritize keeping effective teachers sends the
message to stakeholders that teachers are expendable and that achievement is not valued (TNTP,
2012).
Factors Related to Attrition
Allensworth, Ponisciak, and Mazzeo (2009) described the plight of a LUD (Chicago
Public Schools [CPS]) that experienced an annual teacher exodus to different schools or exit
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 30
from the district. The research examined the high mobility rates, teacher characteristics, student
factors and workplace conditions that lead to the high teacher transiency.
High Mobility
The research of Allensberg et al. (2009) demonstrated that while 80% of teachers
remained in their schools from year to year, the typical Chicago school lost over half of its
teachers within 5 years. CPS has over 100 schools with chronically high rates defined as over
25% teacher transiency every year. The research also showed that the majority of the CPS
schools with chronically high annual turnover also had high populations of students of color and
low achievement rates.
Allensberg et al. (2009) found that teacher mobility rates were strongly correlated with
the populations of students at schools. Stability rates were much lower at schools with less than
half of students meeting state standards. The rates were also much higher at schools that were
located in affluent areas with low crime rates. Allensberg et al. found that the stability rate was
much lower for schools with high populations of African American students. The data were
compounded when the schools had a high percentage of students from low-income homes.
Teacher Characteristics
Wayne and Youngs (2003) conducted research on the effects of teacher characteristics on
student learning. The research found that teacher achievement on licensure examinations had a
positive correlation with student achievement. The researchers also identified a strong correla-
tion between student achievement and the certification of teachers, most notably in mathematics.
The findings from Allensberg et al. (2009) on teacher characteristics indicated that despite
teacher backgrounds, the schools with high populations of African American students had the
lowest teacher stability rates of any schools within CPS. Allensberg et al. identified the cause of
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 31
this transition as teachers’ working conditions and the fact that teachers encountered barriers with
parents and attributed fixed mindsets regarding their perceptions about students’ behavior (see
Dweck, 2010).
Guarino et al., (2006) found that there was a “u-shaped pattern” (p. 200) of attrition, with
the highest turnover rates for teachers occurring in their first years of teaching and after many
years when teachers were nearing retirement. This study found that minorities had a lower
attrition rate than White teachers. Guarino et al. also found that teachers in the fields of mathe-
matics and science were more likely than other teachers to leave their districts. Teachers with
measured higher academic abilities were more likely to leave the field of teaching. There was a
higher attrition rate for females over male teachers.
Student Characteristics
Isenberg et al. (2013) discussed how disadvantaged students have less access to effective
teaching. This access gap averages a difference of about 2 percentile points in student achieve-
ment results. The study found that unequal access to effective teachers was attributed to school
assignments of teachers and that districts were responsible for disadvantaged students attending
schools with less effective teachers based on their assignment practices.
Working Conditions
The findings from Allensberg et al. (2009) also that the CPS that retain their teachers at
high rates demonstrated strong collaboration among teachers and between teachers and the
principal. Teachers remained at schools with a high level of peer collaboration, where there was
inclusive leadership from the principal, and where the parents worked as partners in support of
the teachers’ efforts.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 32
To further evidence the correlation between teacher retention and working conditions,
Boyd et al., 2008) studied retention in New York City schools and found that nearly 40% of
elementary teachers in low-performing schools left their initial school within 2 years. Boyd et al.
similarly found that close to 60% of new teachers at the middle school level left their initial
school within their first 2 years.
The impact of teachers leaving their initial school also impacted the new schools that
received those teachers. Boyd et al. (2008) found that new teachers who were relatively ineffec-
tive and who chose to leave their schools were also ineffective in their new schools. This study
suggests that a solution for districts would be to improve the screening of teachers both initially
when they enter a district and prior to their transfer to a different location.
The study by Guarino et al. (2006) found that teacher attrition was also stemmed by
higher salaries and that teachers were responsive to opportunities to earn additional income
through opportunities outside their district and their profession. Guarino et al. also found that in
the surveys of teachers, dissatisfaction with salary correlated very highly with teacher attrition
and decreased commitment to the district.
Administrator Impacts
Boyd et al. (2011) examined the reasons that teachers leave their schools and/or the
profession of teaching. In an extensive study of over 1,900 teachers, Boyd et al. found that over
30% of teacher leaving their job or considering leaving cited dissatisfaction with the job as the
primary reason. Further analysis of this dissatisfaction indicated that fewer than 10% of those
leaving considered their principal to be effective in communication with and respect for teachers.
Additionally, almost 20% of the teachers who left their job reported that their principals did not
work with the staff to support teachers in meeting curriculum standards, and 30% reported that
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 33
their principals did not support teacher collaboration (Boyd et al., 2011). This study is important
because it suggests that districts can create policies aimed at improving school administrator
practices as a solution to teacher turnover.
Ineffective Teachers
TNTP (2012) identified a phenomenon entitled negligent retention, where principals
rarely counsel low-performing teachers to leave the district, attempt formal dismissal, or even let
the low-performing teacher know that they are ineffective. The research showed that in one
district where explicit efforts were made to address low-performing teachers, the latter were 3
times more likely to leave the district (TNTP, 2012).
The literature reviewed in this section identified specific causes that lead to teacher
retention and the factors that lead teachers to transfer to other schools or leave the teaching
profession. This literature provides strong input into the research study by identifying the
importance of school culture on teacher retention. The importance of culture is important
because it aligns to the theoretical frameworks in teacher training and teacher effectiveness that
help to improve the school culture and to build collaboration among teachers. The quantitative
data of this research study included the perspective of 300 new and surplus teachers who identi-
fied their perspectives on the support they received at schools and the importance they placed on
factors such as peer interaction, administrative support, and PLCs that help them to be successful
as teachers.
Teacher Training
The research cited in this section identifies factors that impact the development of teach-
ers, including teacher preparation and credentialing programs; the importance of teacher training
in building teacher self-efficacy; and research that studied the role and effectiveness of
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 34
professional development, including the traditional model led by administrators at the school site,
online professional development that is available on demand, and teacher training that leads to
professional certifications or microcredentials to recognize the hours of participation and topics
studied.
Teacher Credentialing
Teacher credentialing programs, more than ever, are responsible for the quality of the
teachers entering the educational system and their ability to persevere, improve their craft, and
successfully prepare students using 21st-century strategies. There is an ongoing debate regarding
teacher effectiveness and the impact of teacher education programs in preparing teachers to be
successful (Darling-Hammond et al., 2005). Opponents of increasing the level of teacher educa-
tion and certification argue that teacher effectiveness emanates as much from a teacher’s general
academic ability or content knowledge as it results from any specialized trainings in how to
teach. Advocates of more certification and trainings for teachers have cited studies on student
achievement that confirmed more training results in higher student learning (Betts, Zau, & Rice,
2003). This issue is growing in importance as many urban and poor rural districts have increased
their hiring of individuals on emergency permits or waivers in some schools with higher numbers
of socioeconomically disadvantaged students (National Commission on Teaching and America’s
Future, 1996).
Darling-Hammond et al. (2005) identified that a combination of full certification, having
a professional or standard teaching certificate, and graduation from an approved teacher educa-
tion program resulted in greater achievement for students. The authors cited that the Houston
Independent School District’s fourth- and fifth-grade teachers have proven to be more effective
in achieving improved student achievement in both reading and mathematics.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 35
Kennedy (2005) described their research focused on the impact of educational back-
ground on teacher classroom effectiveness. The authors discussed four hypotheses on teacher
effectiveness and suggested strategies for maximizing teacher education to improve effective-
ness. The first hypothesis contends that teachers’ effectiveness improves when teachers show
competency in specialized knowledge areas including classroom management, teaching tech-
niques, and the like. This hypothesis has been called the Pedagogical Knowledge hypothesis and
is used for meeting state regulations.
Kennedy (2005) discussed a second hypothesis based on the belief that teachers must
have content knowledge more than pedagogical knowledge and questioned the need for teacher
education programs with more concentration on teachers’ content knowledge as leading to
student achievement.
A third hypothesis propounded by Kennedy (2005) was that teachers need a combination
of both pedagogical and content knowledge to be successful. Examples cited included teachers’
ability to guide student understanding, presentation strategies that maximize student accessibility,
and instructional differentiation.
The fourth hypothesis of Kennedy (2005) was that “bright, well-educated” (p. 42) people
make the best teachers because they improve their teaching during the process and that the way to
improve teacher quality is in the recruitment of these people to become teachers. The authors
studied TFA because the program recruits members at universities and colleges of prestige; the
strategies include recruiting college students who are bright and well educated.
Kennedy (2005) argued that teacher effectiveness is improved with courses in all three
domains of pedagogical, content, and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The authors also
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 36
supported the fourth hypothesis in that data have indicated that student learning improves when
received from teachers who graduate from prestigious universities.
Ingersoll (1999) discussed research on out-of-field teaching and the high percentage of
teachers nationally who are instructing students in areas where they lack credentials. Research
has indicated that in any given year, instruction by out-of-field teachers is taking place in over
half of all secondary schools in the United States. The study cited statistics that a third of all
secondary math teachers did not major or minor in mathematics or related subjects such as
engineering or physics. There were similar findings that a third of secondary math teachers did
not have teaching certificates in mathematics. The findings were similar in other academic areas,
including the fact that about 50% of secondary history teachers lacked an academic major or
minor in history. Ingersoll (1999) explained that this high percentage of out-of-field teaching is
often caused by school principals who assign credentialed teachers periods or sections in areas in
which they are not credentialed to often avoid filling vacancies or to save costs. Out-of-field
teaching impacts over 4 million secondary students every year, with data indicating that this
problem is more likely to occur in classrooms of high-poverty students (Ingersoll, 1999).
Boyd et al. (2008) conducted a study that compared practices across institutions to
identify effectiveness, examined the relationship between components of teacher preparation
programs and student achievement, included measures sensitive to program content, and was
longitudinal and took place over time. The study looked at 31 elementary teacher programs that
provided teachers to the New York City public schools. Their results indicated that there was a
variation in the effectiveness of programs to prepare teachers and to impact student achievement.
Boyd et al. (2008) found that programs that produced teachers who were more effective in math
also produced teachers more effective in teaching English Language Arts. This research also
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 37
suggested that teacher preparation programs that focus on providing opportunities for teachers to
study the work in the classroom and what will be accomplished in the 1st year of teaching are
more effective during their 1st year in the classroom. Programs that provided more student–
teacher experiences or capstone projects also provided more effective teachers to the NYC public
schools. The results further indicated that teachers who had the opportunity to prepare to engage
in the practices of teaching (i.e., guided reading opportunities, analyzing student work, etc.) also
yielded greater student gains in their 1st year of teaching (Boyd, et al. 2008).
The study by Boyd et al. (2008) found that learning for teachers with opportunities for the
practice of teaching or having a capstone project was not only associated with positive 1st-year
teaching results but also led to higher content learning and positive 2nd-year results. The study’s
findings of higher content learning were also supported by the findings that math content prepa-
ration improved the outcomes for students of 2nd-year teachers but not 1st-year teachers. Boyd
et al. (2008) found no evidence that teacher preparation programs with greater opportunities for
teachers to learn how students learn influenced student achievement for the students of 1st- or
2nd-year teachers.
Building Teacher Efficacy
Bandura (1997) defined self-efficacy as “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and
execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (p. 3). As a result of his
seminal research, self-efficacy beliefs were identified as an important gauge of behavior and
behavioral change (Henson, 2001). The concept of teacher self-efficacy was discussed in the
research of Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy (1998). This research defined teacher
self-efficacy as the judgment that a teacher has about his or her ability to bring about positive
outcomes in student engagement and learning. The research asserted that teacher self-efficacy
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 38
was especially focused on leading improvement for students who lack motivation (Henson,
2001).
Bandura (1997) pointed out that positive changes in self-efficacy come from disrupting
preexisting negative beliefs about one’s abilities. Henson (2001) discussed how teacher efficacy
is changeable for preservice and new teachers, while Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998) found that it
is very difficult to change the self-efficacy of experienced teachers because their beliefs have
been magnified by their personal experiences. Henson looked at the traditional models of in-seat
professional development, which is often a one-time event, and cited the need for long-term and
sustained professional development that requires teachers to think critically and to actively
participate.
Professional Development
Research on the effectiveness of teacher professional development has identified a cross-
road in the future of traditional professional development models (Hill, Beisiegel, & Jacob,
2013). The reason for this problem is that the previous research that identified the characteristics
of effective professional development included strong content, inquiry-oriented learning
approaches, and collaborative participation. Borko (2004) discussed research that provided
evidence that when professional development is intensive and has an explicit focus on subject
matter, teacher practices change and teachers experience growth in their knowledge. Garet,
Porter, Desimone, Birman, and Yoon (2001) also found that intensive professional development
that is sustained is more likely to have an impact than shorter professional development.
Borko (2004) found that to be effective, professional development should engage teachers
in activities such as solving problems and conducting experiments to build greater understanding.
Garet et al. (2001) also found that professional development that focuses on academic content
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 39
and gives teachers opportunities for hands-on work is more likely to improve knowledge and
skills of teachers. Desimone (2009) identified these characteristics as the consensus regarding
effectiveness among research findings.
Hill et al. (2013), however, cited results from more recent rigorous studies of programs,
including characteristics that yielded poor results and demonstrated a weak return on the district
funds spent to implement the traditional professional development model delivered locally at the
school site. This contradiction complicates the role of the site administrator, who is often
responsible for designing and implementing teacher professional development as a part of his or
her role as instructional leader of the school. Hill et al. discussed how most professional devel-
opment is locally developed and implemented in a very short cycle aligned to the approach or
focus of the district. The complication of the new data contradicting the effectiveness of tradi-
tional professional development models is compounded because teacher professional develop-
ment is often the primary method of districts to enact new policy initiatives (e.g., Common Core
State Standards, differentiated instruction, technology-embedded instruction, blended learning,
etc.; Hill et al., 2013). Hill et al. recommended that in order to address the contradiction of
recent research in assessing the effectiveness of professional development, practices should be
implemented that include small trials of professional development, assessment of the pilot, the
analysis of results before scaling up, and the hiring of part-time facilitators to ensure consistent
professional development delivery.
The research of Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit, and McCloskey (2009) identified
another method of ensuring the consistent delivery of professional development. The researchers
discussed the implementation of online professional development as a solution to providing
consistent training across multiple sites.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 40
Online Professional Development
The research of Hawley and Valli (1999) identified the professional development of
teachers as the keystone of educational improvement. These researchers cited professional
development costs as high as $200 per student and a demanding impact on the time and schedule
of teachers.
The research of Hill et al. (2013) calls into question how the costs on funding and time
are making a difference in teachers’ ability to positively impact student achievement. The issues
of site developed professional development, which is fragmented and often superficial (Borko,
2004), call for a different medium to provide quality professional development that would be
more effective than the traditional in-seat model evaluated on the amount of time that partici-
pants spend in attendance (Borko, 2004). The ineffectiveness of professional development is
often exacerbated by trainers, who experience nonreceptive teaching staffs and/or administrators
(Dede et al., 2009).
Dede et al. (2009) asserted that a solution to these issues can be found in the implementa-
tion of online professional development that can include resources not found locally and that
would be available on demand at times that fit the teachers’ schedules and could provide an
innovative, work-embedded support extending across multiple sites, districts, and states. In other
words, online professional development could be accessed by teachers at any time and could
provide access to experts and resources that supersede traditional limitations.
An additional benefit of online professional development is that it provides a forum for
teachers, who might be reticent to ask questions in front of more experienced and/or vocal peers,
to participate in forums that are asynchronous (Dede et al., 2009). The research base supporting
online professional development is growing due to the relative newness of many forums and
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 41
programs of support. There are different models of online professional development focused on
various outcomes such as (a) desired education improvement, which includes interventions
aimed at changing teacher practice; (b) enablers of improvement, which includes interventions to
improve pedagogical content knowledge and practices; (c) content and skills, which includes
programs to improve subject matter expertise; (d) how best to teach programs, which includes
face-to-face, blended learning or solely online professional development; and (e) program
evaluation design and theoretical frameworks that include research methods, methodology, and
the analysis of research frameworks (Dede et al., 2009).
Watson (2006) discussed research that teacher self-efficacy was greatly improved through
technology-based professional development. The results indicated that in contrast to the research
by Henson (2001) on the difficulty of increasing teacher self-efficacy in experienced teachers, the
teachers in Watson’s research participated in summer workshops, followed by online course-
work, and showed improvement in their self-efficacy even years after participating in the
program. Watson’s results also showed that the participants who took the follow-up online
courses had much higher growth in self-efficacy than those who only attended the in-seat profes-
sional development summer workshop. More recently, a new and transformative type of online
professional development has emerged that has the potential to build on the results from Watson
(2006) and eliminate all of the factors of ineffectiveness of traditional in-seat professional devel-
opment.
Microcredentialing
As discussed by Berry et al. (2016), there is a new system of professional development
that allows teachers to earn digital badges called microcredentials. These microcredentials allow
for the documenting of both formal and informal trainings in small pieces of digital information.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 42
Teachers use videos, work samples, and other artifacts to demonstrate their mastery of learning.
The evidence is assessed against rubrics so that teachers can be recognized for their accomplish-
ments. Berry et al. (2016) noted that an organization called Digital Promise has partnered with
Bloom Board to create an online professional development platform to assist teachers in selecting
microcredentials and to submit the evidence necessary to earn the designation. There were over
200 microcredentials available including Data Literacy, Wait Time, and Teaching Practices.
Yu, Dyjur, Miltenburg, and Saito (2015) identified two primary benefits for microcreden-
tials: the ability to document accomplishments and learner motivation. The documenting can
represent both formal and informal learning accomplishments and are a more flexible way of
sharing training compared to traditional transcripts or paper certificates. The benefit of learner
motivation is present because these digital badges motivate people to engage with professional
learning and to earn the reward of a microcredential. They reward participation and provide an
extrinsic form of accomplishment recognition.
Yu et al. (2015) discussed how microcredentials represent a paradigm shift for profes-
sional development. They noted how, traditionally, professional development was assessed on
the amount of time spent in training, (i.e., number of hours). The microcredentials shift
professional development from attendance-based recognition to criteria-based recognition.
Participants earn badges by meeting a learning outcome and demonstrating their proficiency or
new skill.
Berry et al. (2016) asserted that microcredentialing addresses the research that shows how
traditional professional development for teachers is not effective (Hill et al., 2013). They cited
the reasons that microcredentials are a solution to the shortcomings of traditional teacher profes-
sional development. The first reason is that the microcredential concept is based on research
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 43
about effective teacher collaboration. They pointed to the research of Hattie (2015) and the
findings that teachers are most likely to make instructional improvement when they learn from
colleagues in similar contexts and with whom they have a level of trust. The microcredentials
have the flexibility to allow the teacher learners to work with other similar learners, to tailor their
own learning, and to create a differentiated training (Berry et al., 2016).
Berry et al. (2016) discuss how microcredentials can merge with existing systems. They
outlined how many states are beginning to integrate in-seat time professional development and
competency-based learning.
The literature reviewed in this section found that participation in teacher preparation
programs provides the background knowledge necessary for teachers to effectively engage
students and improve their academic achievement. The literature cited found that districts use
traditional professional development models that require administrators to develop their own
trainings within short time frames that are intended to train teachers to administer district initia-
tives; however, this model is ineffective. The research explored the use of online professional
development and the advantage of teachers participating in professionally developed trainings, on
demand, which could be developed by content experts with experience in improving teachers’
ability to effectively deliver instruction. There was also evidence cited that the new
microcredentialing allows teachers to earn badges in specific content areas that build their
confidence and ability to support instruction. This present research study used the surveys and
interviews to identify the preferences of new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and
administrators in the hard-to-staff schools of a LUD that currently participates in the ineffective
traditional model.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 44
Improvement Strategies
The literature cited in this section includes research that identifies systems that support
teacher improvement and lead to teacher effectiveness and improved student achievement. This
section includes research on defining teacher effectiveness, PLCs, peer–mentor Support, National
Board Certification (NBC), and induction programs.
Defining Effectiveness
Goe and Stickler (2008) defined teacher effectiveness as the degree to which teachers
impact student learning and have higher-than-predicted increases in student achievement. Their
research concluded that this improvement was in part due to variables that included factors such
as teacher qualifications, teacher practices, teacher characteristics, and other unobserved factors.
Kunter et al. (2013) studied two hypotheses on teaching effectiveness by examining prior
research and conducting a study of 194 teachers in Germany to test their hypothesis. The first
theory was based on research by Kennedy, Ahn, and Choi (2008), who introduced the Bright
Person Hypothesis (BPH) and the theory that effective teachers are bright people who have the
ability to figure out teaching as they experience it. The research of Hunter (1983) provided
empirical evidence in vocational psychology that showed that academic abilities and cognitive
abilities predict professional success.
The second theory on teacher effectiveness cited was the Knowledgeable Teacher Hy-
pothesis (KTH), based on the research of Anderson et al. (1995), who asserted that effective
teaching consists of highly specific professional knowledge that is shared among the teaching
community and is refined through discussions and interaction with other experts. The evidence
of additional researchers (Brouwer & Korthagen, 2005; Darling-Hammond et al., 2005; Kennedy
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 45
et al. (2008) demonstrated that teacher education and certification are key factors in teacher
success.
When studying these two hypothesis, Kunter et al. (2013) argued against the BPH and
favored profession specific knowledge over general cognitive attributes. They also asserted that
knowledge alone does not determine effectiveness and that beliefs, motivation, and self- regula-
tion are also important factors.
Kunter et al. (2013) found that teachers who had high professional content knowledge
(PCK) demonstrated stronger instructional practices and better learning support for student
achievement and student motivation. Students also enjoyed learning more when the teacher had
higher PCK. Kunter et al. (2013) concluded that KTH was a better indicator of teacher effective-
ness than BPH but that multiple measures of teacher success, including enthusiasm and
self-regulation, are also key factors.
PLCs
Vescio et al. (2006) studied the benefits of PLCs on student achievement. This research
found that participation in PLCs impacts teacher practice and improves their ability to provide
student-centered instruction. The study also found that PLCs improved collaboration among
peers and created cultures of collaboration at schools. Vescio et al. (2006) also found that
teachers participating in PLCs led to improved student achievement. The researchers concluded
that because of the intense focus of PLCs on student learning and achievement, the students of
teachers in PLCs received improved instruction.
Vescio, Ross, and Adams (2006) noted that PLCs represent a paradigm shift in profes-
sional development that advances teacher training beyond the traditional support of new knowl-
edge acquisition. PLCs construct new classroom roles and expectations for student learning and
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 46
teacher practices by involving teachers in the dual role of both teaching and learning to create
new schema for their development. Vescio et al. identified how PLCs organize schools to max-
imize professional development time and collaboratively examine day-to-day practices. Partici-
pating teachers reported an increase in collaboration and a change in teacher culture away from
the traditional isolation that teachers experience.
Hord (2004) studied the aspects of PLCs that lead to continuous professional learning.
The research cited that PLCs require members to study multiple sources of student data to com-
prehensively determine where student needs exist. The PLCs focus on these deficit areas and
require collective staff responsibility for implementing new strategies to improve teacher effec-
tiveness and to address the identified student needs.
Peer–Mentor Support
Feiman-Nemser (2003) studied what new teachers have to learn after they begin teaching.
This study found that new teachers have a need to learn situational strategies that cannot be
learned during pretraining, student teaching, or induction programs. Feinman-Nemser (2003)
asserted that new teachers not only are adopting to a new career but also must be enculturated
into their new school community. The new teachers typically need 3 to 4 years to achieve
competence and several additional years to obtain proficiency. These new teachers are indoctri-
nated by their experienced peers who impact their attitudes through modeling and messages
(Eddy, 1969).
Feiman-Nemser (2003) identified that new teachers need support from their experienced
peers in discussing curriculum, implementation of curriculum, and gaining insight from col-
leagues with experience in teaching the subject areas. This study found that helping new teachers
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 47
in creating effective learning environments, implementing engaging instruction. and working
effectively with parents outweighs the value of receiving emotional support.
This researcher asserted that because good classroom teachers are effective in monitoring
student learning, engaging students, and direct instruction, mentoring can sometimes be an
unnatural activity (Feiman-Nemser, 2003). The author discussed how new teacher mentoring is a
professional practice that must be learned through opportunities to self-reflect, analyze different
methods of mentoring, and develop skills in observing and providing nonjudgmental feedback.
Feiman-Nemser (1998) contended that teachers in mentor roles do not see themselves as
responsible for teaching new teachers how to teach. Many teachers believe that teaching is a
natural skill and that teaching cannot be taught. They expect new teachers to be immersed in
teaching and in “sink-or-swim” types of experiences to develop the craft of teaching.
Feiman-Nemser (1998) further discussed research that identifies how the development of
effective mentors must include training. The author cited the study of mentor teachers by
Schwille & Wolf (1996), who found that mentoring requires complex practices including flexi-
bility, judgment, and a repertoire of strategies. Schwille and Wolf studied how effective mentors
use a combination of asking and listening, showing, and telling to help their mentees to improve
their teaching. Feiman-Nemser (1998) described how successful mentoring for new teachers
takes place before, during, and after they experience teaching. This study identified that the most
effective mentors did not learn to mentor by themselves but instead experienced collaborative
learning opportunities to help them to develop their practice as mentors and their vision of
teaching and learning.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 48
National Board Certification
Park et al. (2007) studied the interaction among teachers and how colleagues impacted
the professional growth of teachers seeking NBC. The study found that teacher interactions posi-
tively impacted professional development by helping colleagues raise their standards for teaching
performance, facilitated collaboration, enhanced reflection on teaching practice, and established
PLCs). Park, et al. found that teachers learn more from their peers rather than content experts or
education specialists. The study identified that fellow teachers supported their peers through
collaboration, sharing, and support groups. Park et al. found that the NBC process enhanced
teachers’ reflection on their practices. The study also found that the communication among
teachers served as a major conduit to professional development and that the entire school com-
munity improved when teachers at the site participated in the NBC process, because standards
were raised and more professional discussions occurred among teachers.
Induction Programs
Feiman-Nemser (2001) discussed the knowledge and experience that effective teachers
must have including subject matter expertise, student learning, pedagogy expertise, and curricu-
lum mastery. Some of this knowledge can be acquired in preteaching programs; however, most
must be learned in the context of teaching. Learning to teach includes turning knowledge into
commitments, skills, and understanding. There must be continued growth and development in
the core strategies of teaching. Feiman-Nemser (2001) argued that preservice training must
begin to transform common sense ideas into the foundation of subject matter development neces-
sary for teaching. New teachers must have the opportunity to experience professional develop-
ment that allows them to form their professional identity and to experience practice consistent
with real-life classrooms. New teachers must also have the opportunity to revisit subjects that
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 49
they have learned after they experience actual classroom teaching. They must become a part of
PLCs with teachers who want to improve instruction for all students (Feiman- Nemser, 2001).
This study identified that the majority of preservice preparation and induction programs are frag-
mented and do not foster consistency across the necessary learning phases of developing
teachers. The universities view teacher preparation as their responsibility, while school districts
view new teacher induction as their responsibility. Professional growth and development are not
truly owned by universities or districts (Feiman-Nemser, 2001). The author asserted that an
effective professional learning continuum for new teachers must consist of partnerships among
universities, school districts, and unions to cohesively address their preparation, development.
and induction needs.
Park and Oliver (2008) studied how the NBC process influenced the candidates’ PCK and
positively impacted reflection on teaching practices, the use of assessments to drive instruction,
understanding of students, inquiry-based instruction and implementation of new and innovative
strategies. This study is important because, as cited by Grossman (1990), PCK has been found to
have the greatest impact on teachers’ actions. Park and Oliver found that the NBC process had
significant impact on PCK development for participating teachers and made them more reflective
about their practices. Their study found that the NBC process was highly correlated with the
acquisition of PCK and the improvement of practice.
The literature reviewed in this section found that participation in PLCs greatly improves
the collaboration at the school site and focuses staff on the needs of students, thereby positively
impacting student achievement. The literature also supported the assignment of peer mentors,
especially for new teachers, as an additional support to facilitate background knowledge and
improve a teacher’s engagement of students. The research identified that districts should also
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 50
assign mentors beyond the traditional 5-year induction period to help teachers continue to grow
professionally and to reduce the factors that lead to attrition.
The present study included quantitative data taken from the school experience survey of a
LUD, with over 300 responses from new teachers and National Board Certified teachers on
PLCs, administrator support, to determine their perception of PLCs and administrator support in
positively impacting school culture. The data were taken from hard-to-staff schools and provided
recent information from practitioners who were impacted by the placement of surplus teachers.
The quantitative data were relevant because they provided the perceptions of teachers on the
strategies of support that help them to improve their teaching and ability to improve student
learning.
Theoretical Frameworks
Maxwell (2013) noted the concept that the frame or underlying structure of a study is its
theoretical framework. The work of both Maxwell and Merriam (2009) describes the theoretical
framework as a system of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, and theories that support the investiga-
tion of a study. The present research study was framed by the work of Fullan and Quinn (2016)
on recruitment and retention and by the work of DuFour, Eaker, and DuFour (2005) and Marzano
(2004) and on teacher training and improvement. Figure 1 demonstrates the relationship among
the three theoretical frameworks.
Recruitment
The work by Fullan and Quinn (2016) provided the framework for understanding the
strategies for effective recruitment of teachers. Fullan and Quinn contended that for a district to
achieve coherence, there must be an intersection of four drivers: focusing direction, cultivating
collaborative cultures, deepening learning, and securing accountability. The concept of focusing
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 51
Figure 1. Diagram of the relationships among the theoretical frameworks. Recruit-
ment + Retention + Training and Improvement = Teacher Effectiveness. Based on
research from On Common Ground: The Power of Professional Learning Communi-
ties, by R. DuFour, R. Eaker, and R. DuFour (Eds.), 2005, Bloomington, IN: Solution
Tree; Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, by
M. Fullan and J. Quinn, 2016, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin; and Building the Back-
ground Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools,
by R. J. Marzano, 2004, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development.
direction identifies that a district must be purpose driven with specific goals that impact the
system. The research of Cowan, Goldhaber, Hayes, and Theobald (2016) concerned the need to
implement policies to address specific targeted shortage areas of STEM and special education
teachers especially in rural and high-need schools. Fullan and Quinn established the framework
for a district to address teacher shortages through ambitious recruiting goals linked to full staff-
ing, with clear strategies to achieve the recruitment goals.
Retention
The work by Fullan and Quinn (2016) provided the framework to effectively retain
teachers once they are in a system. They discussed the creation of “cultivating collaborative
cultures” (p. 461) that establish cultures of growth. These cultures manifest themselves in
district policies and strategy and in addressing the barriers that lead to the attrition of teachers.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 52
This research intersects with the work of TNTP (2012), which cites eight specific steps that can
be taken by principals and districts to help boost the retention of highly effective irreplaceable
teachers. Fullan and Quinn identified that once a district creates a culture of growth, its leaders
must intentionally keep teachers and principals focused on collaboratively improving student
learning. This framework calls for a district to engage teachers and leaders in the work of
retaining effective peers and implementing strategies to avoid high mobility, administrator
impacts, and noncollaborative working conditions.
Training and Improvement
The research of Marzano (2004) provides a framework for training and improving teacher
effectiveness. This research cites the importance of the creation of background knowledge to
improve the ability of teachers to effectively provide instruction to students. This framework,
along with the concept of background knowledge, is supported by the findings of Kennedy
(2005), who described a body of research focused on the impact of educational background on
teacher classroom effectiveness.
The work of DuFour et al. (2005) provides the framework for training teachers to become
effective through the creation of PLCs to build teacher capacity and improve school cultures.
This framework is aligned with the research on the KTH, cited by Anderson et al. (1995), who
asserted that effective teaching consists of highly specific professional knowledge that is shared
among the teaching community and is refined through discussions and interaction with other
experts.
DuFour et al. (2005) argued that the concept that the collective capacity of the staff would
benefit all teachers by achieving the fundamental purpose of higher levels of learning for all
students. DuFour et al. (2005) established that this concept flies in the face of traditional
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 53
professional development for teachers and creates a collaborative culture of learning. This
culture and its positive impact on schools, teachers, and learning intersects with the findings by
Fullan and Quinn (2016).
DuFour et al. (2005) noted three “big ideas” that constitute effective PLCs, including
ensuring that all students learn as a shift from the traditional focus on teaching to a focus on
learning for students, creating a culture of collaboration to galvanize a staff to work together for
the common goal of learning for all, and a goal of judging the results of PLCs on student-based
results. DuFour et al. (2005) identified that the creation of PLCs establishes collaborative
working conditions, which are the number one factor identified in the research by Allensworth et
al. (2009) in proving that retention of teachers is greatly improved in schools that demonstrate
strong collaboration among teachers.
Chapter Summary
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of district policies that focus the
direction of the organization on recruitment of qualified teachers, the retention of these teachers
once they are in the system, and training that improves the effectiveness of teachers. The litera-
ture review identified the relationships of focused teacher recruitment to address the needs of
filling vacancies at hard-to-staff schools (Cowan et al., 2016), including the use of incentives for
applicants who are strong in content area skills. The research reviewed also identified the factors
that lead to the successful retention of effective teachers (i.e., irreplaceables), including the
creation of collaborative cultures at schools that implement PLCs with objectives for all students
to learn, the establishment of peer–mentor support for new teachers to receive feedback and
engage in content-based discussions to improve their teaching, and the effective use of National
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 54
Board Certified teachers to co-teach, lead professional development, and address teacher deficits
of less experienced peers as part of their required service hours.
The intended outcome of this study was to create a blueprint for LUDs to effectively
change their systems so as to combat the national shortage of qualified teachers and to success-
fully train, retain, and engage effective teachers in raising student achievement.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 55
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
This study utilized qualitative and quantitative research methods in a LUD to examine the
perceptions of administrators, novice teachers and National Board Certified Teachers in the
practices of recruitment, retention, training, and teacher effectiveness. As discussed by Maxwell
(2013), research questions “guide the inquiry in that they explain specifically what your study
will attempt to learn or understand” (p. 60). Maxwell further specified that the research ques-
tions of a study “state what you want to learn” (p. 77).
This study use a convergent parallel mixed method (Creswell, 2013) and was designed to
address the research questions by using qualitative and quantitative approaches that provoke
feedback from school principals, novice teachers, and National Board Certified teachers. Using
the researcher as the primary instrument in data collection and analysis, an inductive investiga-
tion was conducted to gather a rich description of the events and actors in the setting (Merriam,
2009).
The issue addressed in the research questions was to find solutions to how a LUD can
effectively recruit teachers; implement practices to retain them including professional develop-
ment, mentor teachers, and PLCs; and address the high attrition of teachers who are effective and
have demonstrated to improve the academic achievement of students (Maxwell, 2013). Four
research questions were developed to guide this study:
1. What are the recruitment strategies used by LUDs that result in the most effective
hiring?
2. What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+ years or completion
of induction process) in the system?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 56
3. How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to retain the highest number of
qualified teachers?
4. What strategies could and should be used to improve the effectiveness of novice and
surplus teachers?
Quantitative Study
The quantitative study included results from school experience surveys of school admin-
istrators, novice teachers and National Board Certified teachers to determine their perceptions on
strategies aligned to recruitment, retention, training, and improvement practices by districts. The
surveys were formatted with Likert scales (Robinson-Kurpius & Stafford, 2006) to specifically
measure administrators and teachers’ perceptions and rankings of strategies. The data analyzed
included results from 100 administrators, 100 novice teachers, and 100 National Board Certified
teachers who participated in the districtwide school experience survey process.
Qualitative Study
The qualitative study included interviews with randomly selected school administrators,
novice teachers, and National Board Certified teachers. The interviews were semistructured with
standardized open ended questions (Robinson-Kurpius & Stafford, 2006). The 0interviews were
conducted by participating cohort members who used an identical protocol prior to the inter-
views. To ensure that all selected administrators and teachers participated, both recruitment
letters and reminders were distributed prior to the interviews and an email was sent that provided
a link to the online survey.
Setting
The quantitative study included results from across the LUD; the qualitative study was
conducted within three geographical areas of the LUD. The qualitative study consisted of 15
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 57
surveys and five interviews of new teachers and National Board Certified teachers conducted in
each of the three geographical areas.
As discussed in Merriam and Tisdale (2016), the most appropriate way to complete
qualitative problems is the use of nonprobabilistic sampling. The present study used a purposive
sampling process to select the 45 surveys (five administrators, five National Board Certified
teachers, and five novice teachers from each of the three geographical areas) and 15 interviews
(five administrators, five National Board Certified teachers, and five novice teachers from each
of the three geographical areas).
Research Team
The research team for this study consisted of three USC Rossier School of Education
doctoral students. This study was conducted under the direction of Dr. Michael Escalante, who
meets with the research team on a monthly basis. The research team met biweekly to determine
research questions and data collection tools, to review relevant research literature, and to identify
the conceptual frameworks that contribute to teacher recruitment, retention, training and effec-
tiveness. From this shared thematic team approach, there are some similarities among the
dissertations; however, the study of each group member reflects his or her distinct study parame-
ters and is reflective of individual efforts.
Sample and Population
The participating administrators, National Board Certified teachers and novice teachers
were chosen by the purposive selection process of the qualitative study and were also convenient
(Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). The convenience sampling was necessary because the research team
had familiarity with the pool of potential participants and the identification of participants
reduced the time frame necessary for the collection of the survey tools and conducting the
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 58
interviews. Additionally, the fact that the research team was largely known to the potential
participants facilitated more immediately established productive relationships that led to strong
rapport and better data collection. The research team members worked with their contacts to
establish an interview and survey participant list that ensured equal participation from adminis-
trators, novice teachers, and National Board Certified teachers. Follow-up solicitations were
made through email.
Instrumentation
This predominantly qualitative research study included the researchers as the primary data
collection instruments. The instrumentation and protocols used by the research team consisted of
two survey protocols and two interview protocols (Creswell, 2013).
The main instrument for data collection was the survey and interview protocols, which
supported the researchers in gathering information from administrators, National Board Certified
teachers, and novice teachers. The research team aligned the qualitative survey questions of
administrators, novice teachers, and National Board Certified teachers with the four research
questions and conceptual frameworks (see Table 1). The qualitative interview questions of
administrators, novice teachers, and National Board Certified teachers were aligned with the four
research questions and conceptual frameworks (see Table 2). The research also used quantitative
data collected from a districtwide school satisfaction survey with questions that provided data on
training strategies, participation in PLCs, and the support of mentor teachers (see Table 3).
In the fall of 2017 and the spring of 2018, the researchers met biweekly to develop survey
protocols and interview questions. The tools developed had questions aligned to the research
questions to allow the team to understand the perceptions of teachers and administrators on the
processes used to recruit, retain, and train teachers.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 59
Table 1
Alignment of Qualitative Survey Protocols With Research Questions (RQs) and Theoretical
Frameworks
Fullan and Quinn Marzano DuFour et al.
Item RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4 (2016)
a
(2004)
b
(2005)
c
Section I
1 X #
2 X
3 X #
4 X #
5 X #
6 X #
7 X #
8 X #
9 X #
10 X #
11 X #
12 X #
Section II
1 X #
2 X #
3 X #
4 X #
5 X #
6 X #
7 X #
8 X #
9 X #
10 X #
11 X #
Section III
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
4 X # #
5 X # #
6 X # #
7 X # #
8 X # #
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 60
Table 1 (continued)
Fullan and Quinn Marzano DuFour et al.
Item RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4 (2016)
a
(2004)
b
(2005)
c
9 X # #
10 X # #
11 X # #
12 X # #
13 X # #
Section IV
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
4 X # #
5 X # #
6 X # #
7 X # #
8 X # #
9 X # #
10 X # #
11 X # #
a
Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, by M. Fullan and J.
Quinn, 2016, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
b
Building the Background Knowledge for Academic
Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools, by R. J. Marzano, 2004, Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
c
On Common Ground: The Power of
Professional Learning Communities, by R. DuFour, R. Eaker, and R. DuFour (Eds.), 2005,
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 61
Table 2
Alignment of Interview Protocols to Research Questions (RQs) and Theoretical Frameworks
Fullan and Quinn Marzano DuFour et al.
Item RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4 (2016)
a
(2004)
b
(2005)
c
Section I
1 X #
2 X
3 X #
4 X #
5 X #
Section II
1 X #
2 X #
3 X #
4 X #
5 X #
6 X #
7 X #
Section III
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
4 X # #
5 X # #
6 X # #
7 X # #
8 X # #
Section IV
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
4 X # #
5 X # #
6 X # #
7 X # #
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 62
Table 2 (continued)
Fullan and Quinn Marzano DuFour et al.
Item RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4 (2016)
a
(2004)
b
(2005)
c
8 X # #
9 X # #
a
Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, by M. Fullan and J.
Quinn, 2016, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
b
Building the Background Knowledge for Academic
Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools, by R. J. Marzano, 2004, Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
c
On Common Ground: The Power of
Professional Learning Communities, by R. DuFour, R. Eaker, and R. DuFour (Eds.), 2005,
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 63
Table 3
Alignment of Quantitative Survey Protocols With Research Questions (RQs) and Theoretical
Frameworks
Fullan and Quinn Marzano DuFour et al.
Item RQ1 RQ2 RQ3 RQ4 (2016)
a
(2004)
b
(2005)
c
Section I
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
4 X # #
5 X # #
Section II
1 X # #
2 X # #
3 X # #
Section IV
1 X # #
Section V
1 X # #
Section VI
1 X # #
2 X # #
Section VII
1 X # #
2 X # #
a
Coherence: The Right Drivers in Action for Schools, Districts, and Systems, by M. Fullan and J.
Quinn, 2016, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
b
Building the Background Knowledge for Academic
Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools, by R. J. Marzano, 2004, Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
c
On Common Ground: The Power of
Professional Learning Communities, by R. DuFour, R. Eaker, and R. DuFour (Eds.), 2005,
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 64
The data collected were triangulated to establish the internal validity of the study (Mer-
riam, 2009). All participants completing the surveys and interviews were contacted through a
recruitment–consent correspondence. The instruments were submitted to the USC Institutional
Review Board (IRB) for approval in the summer of 2018. The IRB permitted the team to per-
form the study and utilize the data collection tools.
Access/Entry
In preparation for this study, the research team followed access–entry procedures to gain
access to the participants (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998) by completing a request for IRB with the
large urban school district. Because the name of the district was not included in the study, the
timeline for approval was greatly reduced. Following approval by the district, entry was negoti-
ated by contacting the supervisors of the administrators and teachers to request the ability to
conduct the surveys and interviews (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998).
The final access–entry step (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998) in preparing for the study was to
request participation for the surveys and interviews with the selected teachers and administrators
(see Appendix A) and to provide a consent form (Appendix B) and schedule the date for the
administration of the survey or interview. These processes ensured that the study was approved
by the district, that participation was voluntary, and that appropriate documentation was collected
and maintained by the research team (Boglan & Biklen, 1998).
Survey Protocol
The surveys were self-administered online questionnaires used to collect information and
to provide usable and reliable data (Creswell, 2013). This study contains two sets of surveys that
were used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 65
The qualitative surveys included a 5-point Likert response scale: Strongly Disagree,
Disagree, Neither Disagree Nor Agree, Agree, and Strongly Agree (see Appendices C and D).
The research team was deliberate in developing clear and valid qualitative items by using stan-
dard grammar and syntax and common educational terms, avoiding the use of acronyms, and
keeping the survey items concrete and relevant to the respondents’ experience (Fink, 2013). The
qualitative survey items are consistent among the administrators, National Board Certified
teachers, and novice teachers.
The quantitative surveys included differentiated questions specific to administrators and
teachers (see Appendices E and F) and did not identify data from National Board Certified
teachers. The quantitative surveys did disaggregate data by teachers’ years of experience (see
Appendix G). The quantitative survey items were aligned to each of the four research questions
with specific questions within each of the different survey tools. The majority of the quantitative
surveys included a Likert response scale: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neither Disagree Nor
Agree, Agree, and Strongly Agree. The quantitative teacher surveys included a 4-point Likert
response scale: Weekly, Monthly, Rarely, and Never; the quantitative teacher surveys also
included close-ended responses to queries on teacher training and PLCs.
Data Collection
In conducting the interviews, the research team deployed the Standardized Open-Ended
Interview approach (Patton, 2002) and administered a set list of questions that were asked of each
interviewee. The rationale for the use of this approach was to ask the same questions of each
participant to identify the differences in perceptions that might occur within the three geograph-
ical areas. The interviews were conducted at both school sites and district offices with the
participation of the research team and created a comfort level by utilizing participants’ natural
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 66
setting (Merriam & Tisdale, 2016). The quantitative data were collected by using the school
experience survey data from the LUD and were disaggregated by novice teachers, National Board
Certified teachers, and administrators’ responses.
The team protected the protected the anonymity of the participants by assigning pseudo-
nyms to each survey and interview participant in the dissertation research process and stored all
data in a safe location. The names associated with the study were kept separately from the
individual responses as part of the protection process. Documents were kept under lock and key
throughout the study and then destroyed following the conclusion of the dissertation research.
The collection of the survey and interview data was done after the regular work day to avoid
interference with participants’ everyday sequence of instructional activities.
Data Analysis
The data collected from the administrators, National Board Certified teachers, and novice
teachers were assessed and reviewed for the frequency of responses. This survey model allowed
the researchers to have a better understanding of the respondents’ perceptions about strategies for
effective recruitment, teacher retention, training, and teacher effectiveness.
The surveys were the basis for the open-ended questions that were contained in the
interview protocols of this study. Interviews were conducted at school sites and district offices
with purposefully selected administrators, National Board Certified teachers, and novice teachers
from three geographical areas in a large urban school district.
The research was conducted from a reflexive perspective. When utilizing this perspec-
tive, attention is often drawn to the importance of recognizing the social location of the re-
searcher as well as the ways in which the researchers’ emotional responses to respondents can
shape our interpretations of their accounts (Mauthner & Doucet, 2003). The interviewees’
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 67
answers were coded and transcribed. A thorough analysis of the data was done to identify the
perceptions of the sampling of administrators, National Board Certified teachers, and novice
teachers. The results of this data analysis determined that the sample size provided compre-
hensive results for the four research questions.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Merriam (2009) pointed to the use of two different strategies to ensure the credibility and
trustworthiness of research findings. The first strategy to be employed in this study is member
checking (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016), which will be done by sharing the coding and interpreta-
tions of the qualitative surveys and interviews of the administrators, National Board Certified
teachers, and novice teachers with selected participants to gauge their reaction. As outlined by
Patton (2015), the researcher must pay close attention to the reactions of the participants in
response to interpretations and findings.
The second strategy used was the peer review/examination, where the process, interpreta-
tions, and findings were shared with other research team members (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
The team members then provided constructive feedback and shared their perceptions on whether
the findings from the quantitative surveys and interviews answered the four research questions.
Ethics
Prior to conducting the interviews and surveys, the research team reviewed the Ethical
Studies Checklist discussed by Patton (2015). Due to the supervisory capacity of members of the
research team with the participants, it was critical to the integrity of the process to embody the
phrase, “Do no harm,” and to receive an informed consent from all of the administrators, Na-
tional Board Certified teachers, and novice teachers being interviewed as well as their supervi-
sors (Tracy, 2013).
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 68
This researcher can state with confidence that the conversations with the participants and
their supervisors, emails to confirm participation, and consent forms were included in the study
notes and, when applicable, audio recordings from the interviews. This study was conducted
ethically and did not impact the employment of the researcher or his good standing at the uni-
versity.
Limitations
Limitations of this study may have occurred due to the supervisory relationship of the
research team with the respondents. Although the participants were administrators, National
Board Certified teachers, and novice teachers who self-selected their participation, the fact that
respondents might have felt pressure to participate may have impacted the validity of their
responses. Additionally, the small sample size of the interview participants might have impacted
the generalizability of the study. The information gathered did not provide results that could
automatically be applied to a larger sample.
Another validity limitation was researcher bias. Two members of the research team
worked in the LUD; therefore, there was an inherent risk of researcher bias both in the selection
of administrators and teachers as well as the implemented protocols of the interviews.
Reliability
The researcher employed two strategies to ensure the reliability and validity of the
quantitative survey findings. The first strategy was member checking (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
This activity occurred from sharing the coding and interpretations of the quantitative school
experience surveys with three of the participating administrators and three participating teachers
to gauge their reactions. As outlined by Patton (2015), this process requires paying close
attention to the reactions that participants have to the interpretations and findings. Merriam
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 69
(2009) identified that member checking is the single most important strategy to reduce misinter-
pretation of participants’ meanings and to capture participants’ perspectives on their responses.
The second strategy to ensure reliability of the quantitative data was peer review/exami-
nation, which involved sharing the process, interpretations, and findings of the quantitative
school experience surveys with co-researchers for validation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The
co-researchers provided constructive feedback and shared their perceptions on the thoroughness
of the findings and whether the findings answered the research questions.
Ethical Considerations
This researcher can state with confidence that the conversations with the principal super-
visors, principals, and teachers were preceded by emails to confirm their participation and to
receive consent. This researcher fully believes that the research study was conducted ethically
and has impacted neither his employment nor his good standing at the university.
Chapter Summary
This chapter outlined the research methods used in conducting the convergent parallel
mixed-methods study. The methods described were the research design, the research team, the
sample and population, instrumentation, the methodology for data collection and analysis,
reliability, and ethical considerations (Creswell, 2013).
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 70
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS
The limitations of LUDs to effectively recruit, retain, train and build teacher effectiveness
have led to lower student achievement at socioeconomically disadvantaged schools that are hard
to staff and have high teacher transiency. Districts have experienced the loss of highly qualified
teachers because of noncollaborative working conditions and have retained less effective teachers
due to bargaining agreements and ineffective evaluation systems that have allowed teachers to be
transferred to other locations rather than have accountability for improving practices and improv-
ing student achievement. The lack of coherent systems in large districts does not emphasize the
systematic use of proven improvement and teacher efficacy supports including mentor teachers,
National Board Certified teachers, PLCs, and varied modes of professional development that are
on demand, including online professional development, microcredentialing, and professional
development delivered by experienced experts.
When districts implement rich professional development opportunities, new and surplus
teachers have ongoing exposure that often improves their craft. When districts implement effec-
tive evaluation systems, ineffective teachers and administrators are held accountable for student
achievement and do not remain in the system at higher rates than effective educators.
The purpose of this study was to examine how large urban school districts can increase
efficiency and effectiveness to recruit and retain quality teachers in the system beyond 5 years.
As indicated by the research of the NCTQ (Goe & Stickler, 2008), district professional develop-
ment is structured around building teacher efficacy from teachers’ introduction to the district into
their 5th year of service. Following the 5th year, professional growth is inconsistent and teacher
improvement is largely dependent on the self-motivation of the teacher in seeking professional
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 71
growth opportunities. This chapter reports the results of data collected and analyzed for the
study. The study was focused on four research questions:
1. What are the recruitment strategies used by LUDs that result in the most effective
hiring?
2. What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+ years or completion
of induction process) in the system?
3. How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to retain the highest number of
qualified teachers?
4. What strategies could or should be used to improve effectiveness of novice and
surplus teachers?
Four frameworks were used to analyze and understand how a LUD can overcome the
barriers of hiring qualified teachers and the attrition that occurs within the district to further
escalate the staffing problems. To overcome the cycle of staffing barriers, the research of Fullan
and Quinn (2016) provided one theoretical framework about how a LUD should use coherent
hiring strategies to recruit quality teachers in the district. Fullan and Quinn provided a four-part
strategy that can be utilized by the districts to prioritize and communicate effective staffing
practices that will improve the quality of teachers hired and positively impact student achieve-
ment. The research of Fullan and Quinn (2016) also provided a second theoretical framework by
identifying how a LUD can use a focused direction to implement strategies that address necessary
resources and supports for teachers in the system and to build the collaborative environments at
schools necessary to retain teachers.
A third theoretical framework was based on the research of Marzano (2004), who iden-
tified the necessary training required to provide background knowledge for new teachers and to
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 72
develop ongoing high-quality professional development that supports the growth of all teachers
and extends past the induction period of 5 years. The study examined the effects of traditional
and online professional development, the newly created microcredentials, and how these modes
of training impact both novice and experienced teachers’ ability to provide instruction that
improves students’ academic achievement. The study also examined how districts should imple-
ment support systems for teacher improvement, including the use and impact of induction
programs, the establishment of peer–mentor support (Feiman-Nemser, 2003), and the effective
use of National Board Certified teachers.
The fourth theoretical framework built on the work of DuFour et al. (2005). It identified
the strategies that a district should use to implement PLCs and differentiated training and work-
loads to build teacher self-efficacy and to foster collaborative school environment that, research
shows, positively impacts the retention of quality teachers (TNTP, 2012).
Research Design
The research team for this study consisted of 3 doctoral students under the direction of
Dr. Michael Escalante. In an effort to receive guidance and instruction, the team met monthly to
establish research questions, present and study research literature, and determine conceptual
frameworks that contributed to the study. This preparatory work provided support and under-
standing of how the four main concepts (i.e., recruitment, retention, training and teacher
self-efficacy/effectiveness) intersect and lead to the provision of high-quality instruction across a
LUD. From this thematic group approach, there are some similarities among the dissertations;
however, the majority of each distinctive group member’s study is individualized and specific to
the assigned school. The group organized the process for data collection through a valuable
connection with new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals from three
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 73
geographic areas: south Los Angeles, west Los Angeles, and the northwest valley area of Los
Angeles.
Participants
Purposeful sampling (Merriam, 2009) was used to select the participants for this predomi-
nately qualitative study. These participants represented the specific groups needed to triangulate
the researcher’s findings. According to Patton (2002), the method of purposeful sampling in
qualitative research allows for an in-depth study of a problem. Results from the researcher’s data
collection were included in the discussion of the four research questions and all emerging
themes. Data from new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals in each
geographic area were compared to data from geographic areas collected by other members of the
research team. Quantitative survey data from new teachers, experienced teachers, and veteran
teachers were collected and shared among research team members. Table 4 provides a summary
of participants involved in qualitative surveys and interviews.
New Teachers
Participants were purposefully selected to ensure that they had appropriate knowledge to
provide data to address the study’s research questions (Merriam, 2009). This study defined new
teachers as a teacher with less than 1 full year of experience. The 15 new teachers who were
interviewed and the 15 new teachers who participated in the qualitative survey represented three
geographic areas within the LUD: the northwest, south, and west regions.
National Board Certified Teachers
This study defined a National Board Certified teacher as one with current certification
from the National Board and currently completing service hours to fulfill the program require-
ments. The 15 National Board Certified teachers who were interviewed and the 15 National
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 74
Table 4
Summary of Participants, Their Organization/Position, and Data Type(s)
Participants Organizations/positions Data type(s)
New teachers
15 LUD teachers interview
15 LUD teachers survey
National Board Certified teachers
15 LUD teachers interview
15 LUD teachers survey
Administrators
15 principals LUD principals interview
15 teachers LUD principals survey
Teachers
842 LUD, less than 1 year survey
1,042 LUD, 1–2 years survey
2,391 LUD, 3–4 years survey
2,390 LUD, 6–10 years survey
14,474 LUD, over 10 years survey
Note. LUD = large urban district, pseudonym for district studied.
Board Certified teachers who participated in the qualitative survey represented three geographic
areas within the LUD: the northwest, south, and west regions.
Principals
At the time of this study, the principal participants were assigned to a school within the
LUD and had years of experience ranging from 5 to 15. The 15 principals who were interviewed
and the 15 who participated in the qualitative survey represented three geographic areas within
the LUD: northwest, south, and west regions.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 75
Data and Analysis
Data to provide answers to the study’s four research questions were gathered using three
research instruments: qualitative surveys, quantitative surveys, and interviews. From the raw
data collected from new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals, common
themes and findings were derived and formulated to create a rich and comprehensive summary of
strategies that would enable a LUD to improve recruitment, retention, and training and to build
teacher self-efficacy and effectiveness. The interview protocols are contained in Appendices B,
C, D, and E; the observation protocols, in Appendices F and G; and the survey protocols, in Ap-
pendices H and I. The following sections revisit the study’s four research questions, delineate the
findings into common themes, and relate the data to existing related research literature.
Findings for Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked, “What are the recruitment strategies used by LUDs that result
in the most effective hiring?” The objective of this question was to understand how qualitative
surveys of new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals were conducted in
order to collect data to inform this question. In addition to surveys, interviews of new teachers,
National Board Certified teachers, and principals were conducted. When triangulated, the data
provided a contextualized perspective of the recruitment strategies identified as most effective by
these stakeholders.
Theme 1: Higher Learning Institutes (HLIs) Are Essential in Effective Hiring for LUDs
The literature review indicated that successful districts implement a four-step system to
ensure coherence and to achieve outcomes that lead to academic achievement of students (Fullan
& Quinn, 2016). This study focused on the challenges to recruitment faced by LUDs, including
subject area teaching shortages. As discussed by Ingersoll (1999), the factors that lead to
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 76
constant hiring needs for large urban districts include teachers leaving the district to “better their
careers and/or teachers dissatisfied with teaching as a career” (p. 33). Based on the research
cited, LUDs must implement specific strategies to effectively recruit teachers in high-poverty
schools in specific teaching areas, including STEM and special education.
The research also included a focus on teacher and studies of the characteristics of individ-
uals who enter the teaching professions (Guarino et al., 2006). This study used the research of
Guarino et al. (2006) to establish the barriers to recruitment for LUDs including findings that
showed that college graduates with higher academic abilities were less likely than other college
graduates to enter teaching and the research of Engel et al. (2014) that found that teachers prefer
to work in schools that are local to their homes.
Based on the data from the qualitative surveys, there was strong evidence that LUDs can
counteract barriers to recruitment by forming partnerships with HLIs that create pathways for
college graduates to work in the LUD. As evidenced by the findings shown in Table 5, 100% of
the participating new teachers and National Board Certified teachers, as well as 86.7% of princi-
pals, strongly agreed or agreed that HLIs result in hiring effective teachers. The participants
indicated that hiring fairs at HLIs provide a pathway for an LUD to improve recruitment. This
perception included 100% of National Board Certified teachers and 86.7% of new teachers and
principals who strongly agreed or agreed with this strategy as effective. The research study data
also indicated that 100% of the new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals
strongly agreed or agreed that the recruitment staff at HLIs led to the hiring of effective teachers.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was the strongest support for the partnerships
with local universities or HLIs and the results in filling vacancies at hard-to-staff schools. This
sentiment was strongly conveyed by one principal who stated:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 77
Table 5
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Impact of Higher Learning Institutes (HLIs) in Recruit-
ment Strategies in Hiring Effective Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
HLIs result in hiring effective teachers and improving student
achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 73.33 73.33 66.67
Agree 26.67 26.67 20.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Hiring fairs for recruitment at HLIs result in hiring effective
teachers and improving student achievement and graduation
rates.
Strongly Agree 60.00 80.00 60.00
Agree 33.33 20.00 33.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 6.67 0.00 6.67
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Recruitment staff at universities result in hiring effective
teachers and improving student achievement and gradua-
tion rates.
Strongly Agree 86.67 66.67 73.33
Agree 13.33 26.67 26.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 6.67 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
For me, I’ve experienced hiring teachers that are coming out of the CSI3 program from
Cal State Dominguez Hills, and I feel that these teachers are coming well prepared, well
trained, enthusiastic about learning. They intrinsically want to learn more and are
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 78
passionate about teaching. It appears as though they all have shared these same qualities,
so I feel like that’s because of that program that they’re coming well trained. (interview,
November 8, 2018)
A second principal had similar perceptions about the partnership of the LUD with a local univer-
sity:
I think that speaks to getting the right candidate, right? The people that we were getting
in the past were really there for the incentive piece, but they were not necessarily a great
match for the community, whereas a program like the Dominguez program that actually
recruits local people to work in their community—they are homegrown. They know what
they’re going into, so it’s a good match. It works. (interview, November 8, 2018)
A third principal interview identified the importance of partnership with a HLI:
I think it goes beyond creating partnerships, through the partnership you form relation-
ships, and now you have people at the institutions. . . . Higher institutions looking out for
our best interests by always sending us their best candidates. I think we have to create
more of those type of pathways so that we can get additional candidates that are of high
quality. (interview, November 8, 2018)
Theme 2: Financial Incentives Help LUDs With Effective Hiring
It was reviewed in the literature that successful organizations have a focused drive that
permeates throughout the organization (Fullan & Quinn, 2016). Organizational focus is neces-
sary to address barriers to the hiring of effective teachers, such as the research of Allensworth et
al. (2009), which shows that new teachers are reluctant to select schools with high poverty,
commonly known as hard-to-staff schools.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 79
The study by Steele et al. (2010) found support for the impact of financial incentives to
increase the recruitment of new teachers to hard-to-staff, low-performance schools. The
researchers reviewed the findings from the GTF program, which was conducted in California
between 2000 and 2002. This study found that recruitment for hard-to-staff schools improved by
28% when the district offered $20,000. This program was aimed at attracting new, academically
talented teachers to low-performing schools and retaining them in these schools. The study
found that while an incentive improved retention, there was no statistical impact on retention.
Based on the data from the qualitative surveys, there was strong agreement among participants
for effective recruiting by offering financial incentives. Table 6 illustrates that 100% of the new
teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals surveyed strongly agreed or agreed
that financial incentives result in the hiring of effective teachers. It is noteworthy that only 60%
of new teachers strongly agreed, as compared to 80% of new teachers and 73.33 percent of prin-
cipals. The survey results also determined that 100% of the new teachers and principals strongly
agreed or agreed that offering immediate loan forgiveness also results in the improved recruit-
ment of effective teachers. Of the National Board Certified teachers, 93.33% either strongly
agreed or agreed that offering immediate loan forgiveness resulted in increased recruitment of
effective teachers, with 6.67% of NBC teachers surveyed indicated that they neither agreed nor
disagreed. Similarly, to the findings on financial incentives, the lowest percentage of strongly
agreed was found with the new teachers (66.67%) compared to 80% of National Board Certified
teachers and 80% of the principals surveyed.
Interview responses reflected data collected through the survey instruments in support of
using financial incentives to recruit new teachers; however, similar to the findings of Steele et al.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 80
Table 6
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Impact of District-Implemented Recruitment Strategies in
Hiring Effective Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Contract incentives result in hiring effective teachers and
improving student achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 60.00 80.00 73.33
Agree 40.00 20.00 26.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Offering immediate loan forgiveness programs results in
hiring effective teachers and improving student achievement
and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 66.67 80.00 80.00
Agree 33.33 13.33 20.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 6.67 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Increased advertising of benefits package (via district tele-
vision station) results in hiring effective teachers and
improving student achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 13.33 13.33 20.00
Agree 13.33 40.00 46.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 53.33 33.33 13.33
Disagree 13.33 13.33 13.33
Strongly Disagree 6.67 0.00 6.67
(2010), there was agreement that financial incentives and loan forgiveness do not impact reten-
tion:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 81
I worked at one of these hard-to-staff schools for 12 years and after my first year, I was
surprised to have received a $1,000 bonus and I didn’t even know I was going to get it, so
it was a nice surprise. Although it was a nice surprise, that wasn’t the reason why I stayed
there for 12 years. I feel that at schools like those, aside from any incentives what you
really need is the support. The support from administrators, coaches, counselors, and
other staff members. That’s more important than any incentives we may be able to offer.
(National Board Certified Teacher 2, interview, November 3, 2018)
Because I do agree, but I think if you’re trying to staff a hard-to-staff school, that’s a great
start on maybe the carrot to dangle and then perhaps that will lead for them to stay in a
place maybe they wouldn’t have looked at initially. I think that’s a good incentive. I do
not think it will deter attrition if there’s no support from the administrators. (National
Board Certified Teacher 5, interview, November 3, 2018)
One principal expressed that she had personally benefitted from a loan forgiveness
program:
It’s also important to know that these programs are especially important if you’re a first
time, first-generation college student and you don’t know what loans to take. I didn’t
know—I just stumbled upon it, and it was the loan I received. I didn’t know that it would
be forgiven if I went into teaching; it just worked out for me. But if students know, then
there may be the opportunity for them to take advantage of that knowing that some of
their loans can be forgiven if that’s still a viable option. I think it’s a possibility that you
will still lose some, but you may also have people who maybe didn’t intend to stay—stay
in teaching a little longer. (interview, November 8, 2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 82
Theme 3: Social Media and Online Advertising Are Less Impactful in Recruiting Effective
Teachers
It was reviewed in the literature that coherent districts communicate their goals to all
stakeholders and take actions that address teacher shortages through ambitious recruiting goals
linked to full staffing, with clear strategies to achieve the recruitment goals (Fullan & Quinn,
2016). The research of Cowan et al. (2016) concerned the need to implement policies to address
specific targeted shortage areas of STEM and special education teachers, especially in rural and
high-need schools. This study queried the participants about the effectiveness of using social
media, radio ads, job posting websites, and job posting ads to address the recruitment of teachers
in shortage areas, including special education and STEM.
Based on the data from the qualitative surveys, Table 7 illustrates that there was the
strongest agreement among National Board Certified teachers (86.66%) and principals (73.33%),
who either strongly agreed or agreed that social media is effective. Forty percent of the new
teachers surveyed, however, neither agreed nor disagreed that social media was an effective
strategy for recruiting in high-need areas. The data were very definitive for new teachers and
National Board Certified teachers in relation to the use of radio ads, with only 13.33% of new
teachers who agreed that radio ads are effective in recruitment in high-need areas and only 40%
of National Board Certified teachers who agree with this strategy. While the majority of princi-
pals (53.33%) either strongly agreed or agreed with the use of radio ads, 33.33% of the principals
disagreed with this strategy. The survey data were much stronger when identifying the effective-
ness of job posting websites with new teachers (60%), NBC teachers (80%) and principals (80%)
either strongly agreeing or agreeing with the use of job posting websites.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 83
Table 7
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of the Impact of Recruitment Strategies
(Advertising) in Hiring Effective Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Social media recruitment results in hiring effective teachers
and improving student achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 20.00 13.33 33.33
Agree 40.00 73.33 40.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 40.00 6.67 6.67
Disagree 0.00 0.00 13.33
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Radio ads result in hiring effective teachers and improving
student achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 0.00 0.00 13.33
Agree 13.33 40.00 40.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 40.00 46.67 13.33
Disagree 33.33 13.33 33.33
Strongly Disagree 13.33 0.00 0.00
Job posting websites result in hiring effective teachers and
improving student achievement and graduation rates.
Strongly Agree 33.33 20.00 13.33
Agree 26.67 60.00 66.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 40.00 20.00 20.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Summary Discussion for Research Question 1
It was noted in the discussion of data for this research question within the three themes
that the new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals surveyed identified that
HLIs and financial incentives are the strongest tools that a district can use to recruit new teachers
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 84
into the hard-to-staff schools within the district. The interviews also identified that LUDs should
create strong partnerships with the HLIs to engage in activities including hiring fairs and the
focused use of the HLI staff to help fill vacancies at the hard-to-staff schools. The study’s
findings also showed that while social media, radio ads, and job posting websites are effective,
there was considerably less support of these strategies to address the recruitment of teachers in
high-need areas, including special education and STEM.
Findings for Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked, “What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers
(5+ years or completion of induction process) in the system?” The objective of this question was
to examine the systems that a LUD must implement to effectively retain qualified teachers once
they are in the system. Fullan and Quinn (2016) discussed how districts can create “cultivating
collaborative cultures” (p. 461) that promote cooperation within the system. In order to prioritize
the creation and maintenance of collaboration, the district must set policies and implement strate-
gies that promote teacher retention. TNTP (2012) provided data that showed that higher per-
forming teachers, called irreplaceables, often leave districts at the same or higher rates than less
effective teachers. This study surveyed and interviewed new teachers, National Board Certified
teachers, and principals who worked in hard-to-staff schools and had experienced the void left
when higher performing teachers left a school and created vacancies that often were unfilled for
long periods of time, thereby negatively impacting student achievement. The findings of the
research are divided into three themes that provide insight into the effective practices necessary
for a LUD to improve the retention of qualified teachers.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 85
Theme 1: The Culture at Schools Greatly Impacts Teacher Attrition
The review of literature illustrated that schools within LUDs that promote strong collabo-
ration among teachers and between the principal and the teachers retain teachers at much higher
rates than other schools that lack collaborative cultures (Allensworth et al., 2009). Boyd et al.
(2008) studied teacher retention in New York City schools and found that over 40% of elemen-
tary and 60% of middle school teachers left their initial school within the first 2 years within the
LUD.
Table 8 indicates that based on the data from the qualitative surveys, 100% of the new
teachers, NBC teachers and principals surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that district supports
that promote collaboration, including demonstration lessons, gallery walks where teachers visit
each other’s classrooms, co-teaching with a peer lead to higher retention of qualified teachers.
The research of TNTP (2012) found that schools that retained a high percentage of irreplaceables
had principals who clearly communicated high expectations to teachers and ensured that the
teachers felt supported. Based on the data from the interviews, there is strong support for the role
of the school administrator in creating the collaborative culture. One National Board Certified
teacher stated:
Effective administrators demonstrate the qualities of character that model relatability,
compassion, and empathy. I’m just going to make that statement. There’re other things;
but having been in the situation with administrators that were good and those that are not,
I think it’s really about relatability and compassion and being able to model those charac-
teristics. If they don’t, it leaves a huge void and teachers want to leave. (interview,
November 3, 2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 86
Table 8
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differential Support Strategies to Improve
Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates in a Large Urban District, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
District support (i.e., demonstration lessons, gallery walks,
co-teaching, etc.) lead to higher retention of highly
qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 66.67 73.33 73.33
Agree 33.33 26.67 26.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
A second National Board Certified teacher discussed the importance of the school administrator
and having the skillset to promote collaboration:
I feel that administrator competency is critical in creating a collaborative culture.
Because I have an administrator, very relatable, very compassionate, but then she doesn’t
carry her end of the bargain. I don’t feel supported as a teacher; that’s why I don’t go to
her with problems. That’s a huge resource—I should be able to go to her. That’s her job;
that’s part of her job. I’m not the only teacher at my school site who feels like she talks
the talk but isn’t able to help us solve our problems and help us work together. I do feel
that she’s a compassionate person. But in the end, she doesn’t walk the walk by carrying
it out. (interview, November 3, 2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 87
Theme 2: Financial Incentives for Teacher Training Improve Retention
It was reviewed in the literature that teacher attrition can also be reduced by districts
providing higher salaries and opportunities for teachers to earn additional income (Guarino et al.,
2006). The study by Guarino et al. (2006) also found that in the surveys of teachers, dissatisfac-
tion with salary correlated very highly with teacher attrition and decreased commitment to the
district.
Table 9 identifies that data from the qualitative surveys indicated that over 90% of the
new teachers, NBC teachers and principals strongly agreed or agreed that additional funding to
attend professional development positively impacts the retention of qualified teachers. The data
in Table 9 also show that over 90% of all respondents believed that improved compensation for
completion of microcredentials leads to higher retention. These data correspond to the research
by Berry et al. (2016) that indicated that microcredentials allow teachers to use videos, work
samples, and other artifacts to demonstrate their mastery of learning. As noted by Yu et al.
(2015), the microcredential also rewards participation and provides an extrinsic form of accom-
plishment recognition.
The qualitative surveys also determined that 100% of the new teachers and principal
participants and 93.33% of National Board Certified teachers strongly agreed or agreed that loan
forgiveness programs improve the retention of qualified teachers. Based on the data from the
interviews, there was the strongest support for financial incentives improving the retention of
qualified teachers. One National Board Certified teacher discussed how loan forgiveness
programs have great meaning to teachers:
For me, I agree with most of what you said. I think yes, it could give . . . We don’t know
why people go into teaching, but I think every little incentive helps them maybe
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 88
Table 9
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Financial Incentive Strategies for a Large
Urban District to Retain Experienced Teachers in the System to Improve Students’ Achievement
and Graduation Rates, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Stipends to participate in professional development lead
to higher retention of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 66.67 46.67 53.33
Agree 26.67 53.33 40.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 6.67 0.00 6.67
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Improved compensation for professional development
completion (microcredentials) leads to higher retention
of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 53.33 73.33 40.00
Agree 46.67 20.00 53.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 6.67
Disagree 0.00 6.67 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Loan forgiveness programs lead to higher retention
of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 73.33 86.67 73.33
Agree 26.67 6.67 26.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 6.67 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Note. Experienced teachers: 5+ years of experience or completion of an induction process.
appreciate aspects of the job other than working with the students, just the perks that you
get, because we’re so different than the corporate world where every little thing we really
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 89
have to fight for, even if it’s pencils or crayons and things like that. I think we can also
maybe decrease the amount of years from 5 to a shorter amount or maybe make a tier that
during your first year, you can get this percent paid off. By your fifth year, 100% of
whatever the incentive is, you will be able to get. I think all of those factors can play in
because we don’t know what people’s psychology are [sic], but everyone appreciates and
values being recognized. (interview, November 3, 2018)
One principal interviewed shared his personal experience in working at a hard-to-staff
school in the LUD and participating in a program called the Ten Schools Program, which pro-
vided incentives to help improve staffing and consistency at the 10 lowest performing schools in
the district:
Yes. Personally, I participated in the Ten Schools Program, and that whole program was
based on some type of incentives to work at hard-to-staff schools, in addition to more pay
for additional professional development, et cetera. Adding an incentive will definitely
benefit the hard-to-staff schools and the low-performing schools. (interview, Novem-
ber 8, 2018)
A second principal also shared how her experience with loan forgiveness was beneficial:
Incentives worked for me. So, when I started, the plan was to teach a few years and then
go, but then the added incentive was that if you stayed a certain number of years because
. . . Which goes back to my previous comment about structure—it made me stay, and
some of my loans were forgiven. I think it was about $10,000. That was huge incentive
for me to not just stay but to stay at that school. The stipulation was that you had to stay
in a certain region of the district. (interview, November 8, 2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 90
Theme 3: Instructional Support for Teacher Development Improves Retention
The review of literature illustrated that Fullan and Quinn (2016) discussed the require-
ment that successful districts have clarity of strategy to promote commitment and change the
district’s culture. Ineffective districts are often ineffective in their support of teachers and do not
prioritize instructional support as a districtwide priority. TNTP (2012) cited findings that less
than 30% of irreplaceables left schools for personal reasons and that principals had the ability to
impact the other 70% through their actions. The research identified eight actions that site admin-
istrators can take to improve retention: (a) providing regular, positive feedback; (b) helping
teachers to identify areas of development; (c) giving critical feedback about performance; (d)
recognizing accomplishments publicly; (e) informing teachers that they are high performing; (f)
identifying opportunities for teacher leader roles; (g) giving teachers responsibilities over impor-
tant site initiatives; and (h) providing access to additional resources for their classrooms. The
data of TNTP found that high-performing teachers who experienced at least two of the aforemen-
tioned strategies remained at their schools an average of 6 years longer than those who did not.
TNTP found that less than half of the teachers in their study had experienced two or more of the
strategies.
Table 10 shows the data from the qualitative surveys that strongly aligned to the findings
of TNTP (2012). The data indicated that 80% of new teachers and 86.67% of National Board
Certified teachers and principals strongly agreed or agreed that programs to identify teachers as
mentors led to higher retention of qualified teachers. Other strategies that the survey participants
felt provided high correlation with retention of highly qualified teachers included substitute days
for teachers to attend professional development, which yielded strong agreement.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 91
Table 10
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Teacher Instructional Support Strategies
for a Large Urban District to Retain New and Experienced Teachers in the System to Improve
Students’ Achievement and Graduation Rates, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Programs to identify teachers as mentors lead to higher
retention of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 53.33 40.00 46.67
Agree 26.67 46.67 40.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 0.00 13.33
Disagree 6.67 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Substitute days to attend professional development leads
to higher retention of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 53.33 40.00 53.33
Agree 26.67 40.00 46.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 20.00 0.00
Disagree 6.67 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Note. Experienced teachers: 5+ years of experience or completion of an induction process.
Table 11 shows the data from the qualitative surveys that strongly aligned to the findings
of TNTP (2012) that helping teachers to identify areas of development and providing access to
additional resources for their classrooms are important factors in retaining high-quality teachers.
The data indicated that 86.67% of new teachers, 80% of National Board Certified teachers, and
73.33% of principals strongly agreed or agreed that providing extra planning time or conference
periods for planning leads to higher retention of qualified teachers. The survey data also deter-
mined that providing additional resources such as counselors, pupil service attendance staff to
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 92
Table 11
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Support Strategies for a
Large Urban District to Retain New and Experienced Teachers in the System, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Extra conference period/planning time for nonpermanent
teachers leads to higher retention of highly qualified
teachers.
Strongly Agree 46.67 46.67 40.00
Agree 40.00 33.33 33.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 20.00 13.33
Disagree 0.00 0.00 13.33
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Additional counselors (secondary/PSAs/PSWs/nurses
lead to higher retention of highly qualified teachers.
Strongly Agree 33.33 33.33 46.67
Agree 26.67 46.67 20.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 13.33 13.33
Disagree 40.00 6.67 20.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Note. Experienced teachers: 5+ years of experience or completion of an induction process. PSA
= pupil services and administration; PSW = psychiatric social worker.
promote improved student attendance, nurse support, and psychiatric social workers to address
the socioemotional needs of students were supported by the majority of participants. It is inter-
esting to note that the findings indicated that these additional supports had strong agreement or
agreement by 60% of new teachers but that 40% disagreed with these additional supports as a
successful strategy to improve teacher retention. The ratings were higher for National Board
Certified teachers, of whom 80% strongly agreed or agreed with this support and only 6.67%
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 93
were in disagreement. The results showed that principals (66.67%) largely strongly agreed or
agreed with these additional resources to support improved retention; 20% disagreed.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was the strongest support for providing
opportunities for support, from helping teachers to identify their areas of development to using
mentors to support teachers. By giving mentor teachers responsibilities over teacher develop-
ment, the interviews showed a strong correlation with the findings of TNTP (2012). One princi-
pal discussed the importance of mentors:
I wanted to say that there are huge benefits when I think back to when I started, and we
were assigned a mentor teacher. To be effective, I think that the mentor has to be at the
school site so there’s immediate support. Someone that comes from another school
doesn’t know your school, and comes once a month or every 3 months, is not going to
make an impact on who you are and what you do. (interview, November 8, 2018)
A second principal discussed how she was supported by a mentor:
I go back to thinking when I started, and I started on an emergency credential. I literally
had no training, and I was training on the job, and I had a wonderful mentor teacher who
really supported me and spent time with me after school on their own time, learning, and I
wanted to learn but even the program that I was in, I don’t feel is what prepared me to be
an effective teacher. It was my desire to be effective and my mentor teacher who helped
me. (interview, November 8, 2018)
The interviews also showed that National Board Certified teachers believed that the
strongest support for teacher support leading to retention is the provision of professional develop-
ment opportunities. One National Board Certified teacher stated
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 94
I think valuing the effective teacher by giving them little perks helps keep people in the
district. I think the best way is professional development. Sure, you want to go to profes-
sional development, but it’s hard when it’s after school or on Saturday. You have to give
people the time during the day to learn. That’s why I like the idea of substitute days and
release time. (interview, November 3, 2018)
The following response of one new teacher distinguished her perceptions about the role of
mentors in helping to create improved working conditions for all teachers that led to higher
retention:
I think this question implies that we have more ineffective teachers than effective ones.
That’s how I read it. Like the ineffective ones stay on, and the effective ones leave. And
so, I looked at it as effective teachers are always striving for excellence for their students.
Which is very draining. It’s a kind of caring that you can’t pay somebody to do. It’s just
something that comes with someone who wants to be a teacher. You love kids; you want
the best for them; and you’re always trying to set that really high mark for them and for
yourself. And that can be very draining. Especially if you’re in an environment where
that is not matched by colleagues, so that you’re kind of by yourself trying to make this
stuff happen. But I think the intention is also about supporting all teachers . . . I think the
support that we’re talking about is really about reinforcing teachers to work with teachers,
who’s really being there and acknowledging. Instead of just saying good morning to them
but really seeing the good work that they do and having other good teachers or mentors
help them as much as possible. Because people are doing really good work out of their
own energy and their own desire to just have excellence. (interview, October 22, 2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 95
Summary Discussion for Research Question 2
A prominent theme indicated that the creation of collaborative environments at schools
helps to retain high-quality teachers. The survey and interviews indicated that a LUD can
accomplish this cultural transformation by focusing on creating structures districtwide to build
collaboration. The data indicated that the district can also show support for teacher retention by
financial incentives and stipends to attend professional development and by rewarding teachers
for receiving microcredentials to improve their craft, which increases teacher income and shows
that the district values their success. The data also showed that instructional support for teachers
helps to create a culture of collaboration and emphasizes the importance of the role of mentors as
a system resource.
Findings for Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked, “How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to
retain the highest number of qualified teachers?” The objective of this question was to identify
the necessary frameworks that a LUD must put in place to improve the training of teachers
through their introduction into the district and beyond the traditional postinduction period of 5
years. The research of Marzano (2004) cited the importance of the creation of background
knowledge to improve the ability of teachers to effectively provide instruction to students. This
research is especially important when addressing the training needs of new teachers who enter the
system without having this background knowledge (Marzano, 2004; Marzano, McNulty, &
Waters, 2003). This research and the findings of a study conducted by Kennedy (2005) identified
that providing background knowledge to teachers helps to directly improve the effectiveness of
classroom teachers. The survey and interview research conducted in this study identified three
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 96
themes that corresponded to the findings of Kennedy (2005) and Marzano (2004) and their work
on strategies that lead to improved effectiveness.
Theme 1: Teacher Training Programs Are Key To Teacher Effectiveness
As discussed in the literature review, Marzano (2004) found one characteristic of effec-
tiveness is a byproduct of the quality of the training program that teachers receive. Darling-
Hammond et al. (2005) concluded that teacher credentialing programs, more than ever, are
responsible for the quality of the teachers entering the educational system and their ability to
persevere, improve their craft, and successfully prepare students for using 21st-century strategies.
The review of literature determined that there are conflicting opinions of how teacher
training programs can best prepare teachers to be effective. Opponents of increasing the level of
teacher education and certification have argued that teacher effectiveness emanates as much from
a teacher’s general academic ability or content knowledge as it results from any specialized
trainings in how to teach. Betts et al. (2003) concluded that studies of more certification and
trainings for teachers have confirmed more training results in higher student learning. Darling-
Hammond et al. (2005) identified that a combination of full certification, having a professional or
standard teaching certificate, and graduation from an approved teacher education program
resulted in greater achievement for students.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was the strongest support for new teachers to
receive in-classroom experiences to build their effectiveness. One National Board Certified
teacher, who also served as a professor in a teacher training program at a local university, noted:
I’ll weigh in and knock myself out of a job. I teach at Cal State so for sure, the biggest
issue is that we teach theory. Theory is not classroom practice. I’m not saying that
research and all that isn’t important—I’m a researcher. However, what I’ve seen from my
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 97
perspective, students that I’ve taught content courses to versus other teachers that I’ve
worked with in other universities, you need school partnerships. You need university
schools. You need teachers training in a classroom with children, not with professors.
(interview, November 3, 2018)
One new teacher outlined her personal experience of learning on the job as a substitute
teacher while seeking her full teaching credential:
So, for me, I was subbing while I was getting my credential. So, I just got real-life experi-
ence dealing with kids because it’s better than any program. And also, it helps because
when you are in a teacher program, they try to give you the strings; they give you the
ropes; give you everything, and then you’re the one that has to try to get experience. But
having those couple of weeks or months being a sub teacher helps you see things that
maybe you never thought of would happen or have any ideas for that. (interview, Octo-
ber 22, 2018)
One NBC teacher advocated for a program that would provide new teachers with an
introductory student teaching period where the teacher serves as a co-teacher until he or she is
fully trained:
Then student teaching—we do student teaching for free. Other professions, they get paid
while they’re learning. For example, a structural engineer does not sign off any docu-
ments during their first and second year. They’re engineers in training, so they’re directly
underneath somebody but they’re making starting engineering wages. They just can’t
sign off on anything. The same thing with doctors, I believe. We’re the only ones who
are handed a key and a roster, and you’re now legally responsible for this. Student
teaching is not the same as that. Maybe if we—and this is going into fantasy world—
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 98
maybe if we compensate teachers in training, we can better prepare them for success.
(interview, November 3, 2018)
Theme 2: Professional Development Is Key to Improving Teacher Practice
The review of literature illustrated that the long-standing research about the effectiveness
of teacher professional development has identified a crossroads in the future of traditional pro-
fessional development models (Hill et al., 2013). Hill et al. (2013) cited results from recent
rigorous studies of programs, including characteristics that yielded poor results and demonstrated
a weak return on the district funds spent to implement the traditional professional development
model delivered locally at the school site.
The findings of Hill et al. (2013) complicate the role of the principal, who is often respon-
sible for designing and implementing teacher professional development as a part of his or her
role as the instructional leader of the school. Hill et al. discussed that the flaw with the tradi-
tional model is that principals are locally developing the professional development, on very short
cycles, to align the teachers’ instruction to the focus of the district. Borko (2004) discussed
research that provided evidence that when professional development is intensive and has an
explicit focus on subject matter, teacher practices change and teachers experience growth in their
knowledge. Garet et al. (2001) also found that intensive professional development that is sus-
tained is more likely to have an impact than shorter professional development.
Borko (2004) found that to be effective, professional development should engage teachers
in activities such as solving problems and conducting experiments in order to build greater
understanding. Garet et al. (2001) discovered that professional development that focuses on
academic content and gives teachers opportunities for hands-on work is more likely to improve
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 99
the knowledge and skills of teachers. Desimone (2009) identified these characteristics as the
consensus regarding effectiveness among research findings.
Based on the data from the qualitative surveys, Table 12 indicates that there was strong
support for online professional development as a strategy to improve the postinduction training
of teachers. The new teachers (93.33%), National Board Certified teachers (73.33%), and prin-
cipals (86.67%) strongly agreed or agreed with this flexible training as a method to improve
teacher training. These findings corresponded to the research of Dede et al. (2009), who asserted
that a solution to the issues of traditional professional development is found in the implementa-
tion of online professional development that provides access to resources not found locally and
that are available on demand at times that fit the teachers’ schedules and provide innovative,
work-embedded support extending across multiple sites, districts, and states.
Table 12 further identifies that the qualitative survey data indicated that participants
strongly supported the provision of stipends for participation in professional development to
improve the postinduction training of teachers. One hundred percent of new teachers, 80% of
National Board Certified teachers, and 93.33% of principals strongly agreed or agreed that
providing a stipend would improve the postinduction training of teachers.
Table 13 indicates that 86.67% of new teachers and National Board Certified teachers
strongly agreed or agreed with the provision of additional compensation to improve postinduc-
tion training. It is noteworthy that 100% of principals, who at the time of this study had the
responsibility in the LUD of locally developing professional development, strongly agreed or
agreed that a district providing additional compensation for microcertifications in content areas
would improve postinduction training.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 100
Table 12
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to
Improve the Postinduction Training of Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Online professional development (on demand) improves
the postinduction training of teachers.
Strongly Agree 40.00 46.67 26.67
Agree 46.67 46.67 73.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 13.33 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Salary (stipends) to participate in training improves the
postinduction training of teachers.
Strongly Agree 80.00 46.67 33.33
Agree 20.00 33.33 40.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 20.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 6.67
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 101
Table 13
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies for a Large Urban District to
Improve District Postinduction Training, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Additional compensation for microcertifications (digital
badges of training completion) in content area(s) improves
district postinduction training.
Strongly Agree 66.67 73.33 73.33
Agree 33.33 26.67 26.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
These findings corresponded to the findings of Yu et al. (2015), who identified the
primary benefits for microcredentials as follows:
1. The ability to document accomplishments and learner motivation. The documenting
can represent both formal and informal learning accomplishments and are a more flexible way of
sharing training compared to traditional transcripts or paper certificates.
2. Benefit of learner motivation present because these digital badges motivate people to
engage with professional learning and to earn the reward of a microcredential. Microcredentials
reward participation and provide an extrinsic form of accomplishment recognition.
Yu et al. discussed how microcredentials represent a paradigm shift of professional development
from attendance-based recognition to criteria-based recognition.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 102
Theme 3: Administrators Improve Practice for Teachers
The review of literature indicated that Marzano et al. (2003) conducted a meta-analysis of
70 studies involving 2,894 schools, 14,000 teachers, and 1.1 million students and found that there
was a substantial correlation to school leadership and the impact on student achievement from
teachers. This study identified that principals affect the school culture and provide the primary
variable that impacts the degree of positive outcomes, including whether leaders properly identify
and prioritize improving the school strategies that leaders should implement such as the factors
that align with this research study (i.e., implementing a viable curriculum, setting challenging
goals with effective feedback, and supporting collegiality and professionalism).
Boyd et al. (2011) conducted an extensive study of over 1,900 teachers and found that
almost 20% of the teachers who left their jobs reported that their principals did not work with the
staff to support teachers in meeting curriculum standards; 30% reported that their principals did
not support teacher collaboration. TNTP (2012) also identified specific strategies that help to
improve working conditions, including providing regular positive feedback, helping teachers to
identify areas of development, and giving critical feedback about performance. The findings
from TNTP indicated that administrators who implemented two or more of these strategies could
improve working conditions and create conditions that led to higher teacher retention.
Table 14 summarizes data from the qualitative surveys taken from the LUD’s school
experience survey that corresponded to the findings of TNTP (2012) with respect to providing
regular positive feedback, helping teachers to identify areas of development, and giving critical
feedback about performance. The survey data indicated that administrators visited classrooms
weekly to observe teaching more frequently for new teachers (19.2%), with declining frequency
for years of experience: 1–2 years, 14.1%; and 3–5 years of experience, 13.1%. The data also
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 103
indicated that following the postinduction period of 5 years, principals began increasing weekly
visits based on more experience with 6–10 years of experience at 13.7% and over 10 years of
experience, 14.8%. The findings that were concerning for the LUD showed that administrator
visits were not occurring frequently for a large number of teachers, with respondents indicating a
few times per year to never for less than 1 year of experience, 34.5%; 1–2 years of experience,
38.8%; 3–5 years of experience, 44.1%; 6–10 years of experience, 44.7%; and over 10 years,
44%.
Table 14
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Instructional Support Strategies Were
Implemented, by Percentages
Length o f t i me teaching
Less than Over 10
1 year
a
1–2 years
b
3–5 years
c
6–10 years
d
years
e
Administrators visit your classroom
to observe your teaching:
Weekly 19.2 14.1 13.1 13.7 14.8
Twice a month 19.0 20.0 18.5 17.7 18.0
Monthly 27.2 27.1 24.3 23.8 23.2
A few times per year 24.3 29.7 30.9 30.9 30.3
Hardly ever 6.8 7.0 10.1 9.8 10.2
Never 3.4 2.1 3.1 4.0 3.5
Administrators provide useful feed-
back to you based on their obser-
vations:
Always 29.2 26.6 21.2 20.2 22.4
Often 30.4 33.9 31.1 29.3 28.0
Sometimes 25.8 27.9 20.7 28.8 29.8
Rarely 9.6 8.4 13.0 15.0 13.6
Never 5.0 3.2 5.1 6.7 6.1
a
n = 842.
b
n = 1,042.
c
n = 2,391.
d
n = 2,390.
e
n = 14,474.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 104
The data from Table 14 do indicate that despite inconsistent visitations to classrooms to
observe teaching in the LUD, when observations did take place, the majority of teachers gave
feedback that they viewed the observations and resulting feedback as useful. The survey data
indicated that teachers received useful feedback either “always” or “often” following visits as
follows: less than 1 year of experience. 59.6%; 1–2 years of experience, 60.5%; 3–5 years of
experience, 52.2%; 6–10 years of experience, 49.5%; and over 10 years of experience, 50.4%.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was also the strongest support for the role
that the administrator plays in supporting the improvement of teachers. One second-year teacher
noted that
the position where I was before, the culture, the atmosphere that was created by the
administrators made me want to leave. So I think that happens for a lot of people. It’s
not necessarily your job or the fact you don’t want to be a teacher anymore. It’s just that
the environment doesn’t work for you; it doesn’t support you; it’s not a welcoming place.
(interview, October 22, 2018)
Another new teacher discussed how her principal’s actions set a positive tone for the school:
The principal where I’m at the moment has a book club, and they’re going over the
mindset book. And just the mentality is, from that administration down—and everyone
during that time period is collaborative, focused on growth, mindset, focused on how we
improve this—this and that. So, the growth mindset is essential to just having that
positive outlook, regardless of where you stand on the data, on any aspect. Because
you’re looking at it like, okay, so we are where we are but it’s going to get better. We’re
going to do it together. And it becomes this collaborative effort. (interview, October 22,
2018)
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 105
A principal with over 10 years of experience noted the principal as being the key compo-
nent to providing a supporting environment:
I think it’s the most important factor, the absolute most important factor, more important
than mentor teachers, more important than teacher training programs. I think it’s the most
important. It has the most impact on retaining effective teachers. We’re talking about an
administrator who’s fostering a satisfactory work condition, right? That is probably the
number one reason why we cannot retain teachers is because [of] the working conditions.
No matter how much they love their job, they’re being torn, they’re exhausted—every-
thing that they’re trying to do and being effective, it’s not working because they don’t
have the support of the administrator. I think that people will endure tough working
conditions if they feel like they have the administrator’s support. They know that the
administrator’s working on it and that the administrator’s buffering as much as they
possible can . . . that’s coming from the different programs or coming from the district.
(interview, November 8, 2018)
A principal with 8 years of experience also prioritized the importance of the principal in fostering
a supportive environment to support teachers:
It’s about the environment, right? If you create the environment for them and a growth
mindset type of environment where they’re allowed to actually make mistakes, learn from
their mistakes, and continue. To me it’s the key to being a leader. If you can create the
environment where people can take chances, then you’re going to usually find people that
are going to be successful. I just a left a school where I told a couple of people from the
instructional team, “It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay . . . I’d rather you make a
mistake while you’re trying than to sit idle on the sideline and not do anything.” At the
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 106
end of the day, as a leader, an effective leader, it’s always going to create an environment
where people take risks, where people take chances along the way. You’re molding them,
you’re teaching them, you’re educating, you’re learning alongside with them; and when
they feel that you’re there with them, then they’re going to go out of their way to step up.
(interview, November 8, 2018)
Summary Discussion for Research Question 3
The data analysis for Research Question 3 revealed findings that teaching programs are
the key to effectiveness and that professional development and administrative support are priori-
ties for teacher improvement. The findings indicated that new teachers, National Board Certified
teachers, and principals understand the importance of providing different formats of professional
development, including online training that is available on demand. The participants felt that
rewarding microcredentials is a strategy that a LUD should employ to improve training for
teachers including past the postinduction period of 5 years. The participants also strongly sup-
ported the importance of principals visiting classrooms, providing feedback, and creating a
culture of support to improve teacher practice.
Findings for Research Question 4
Research Question 4 asked, “What strategies could or should be used to improve the
effectiveness of novice and surplus teachers?” The objective of this question was to explore the
relationship of the recruitment, retention, and training program of a LUD to build effectiveness of
all teachers within the system. Goe and Stickler (2008) defined teacher effectiveness as the
degree to which teachers impact student learning and have higher-than-predicted increases in
student achievement. Their research concluded that this improvement was in part due to
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 107
variables that included factors such as teacher qualifications, teacher practices, teacher character-
istics, and other unobserved factors.
The new teachers and surplus teachers were the central point of this question because they
required that districts provide focused efforts and training to ensure that they met the educational
needs of the students in their classrooms, impacted their learning and increased student achieve-
ment. New teachers lack the training and background knowledge to effectively provide high-
quality instruction (Anderson et al., 1995), and surplus teachers have been displaced from their
teaching assignments largely due to ineffectiveness. Three main themes emerged to provide
conclusions for Research Question 4.
Theme 1: PLCs Improve Teacher Collaboration, Effectiveness and the School Culture
The review of literature illustrated that the work of DuFour et al. (2005) provides the
framework for training teachers to become effective through the creation of PLCs to build
teacher capacity and to improve school cultures. This framework is aligned with the research on
the KTH, cited by Anderson et al. (1995), who asserted that effective teaching consists of highly
specific professional knowledge that is shared among members of the teaching community and
refined through discussions and interaction with other experts.
Table 15 summarizes that based on the data from the qualitative surveys, there was the
strongest agreement among participants who dedicated time for PLC’s improve teacher effective-
ness. The results indicated that 100% of National Board Certified teachers and principals
strongly agreed or agreed that PLCs improve teacher effectiveness. The data for the new teachers
indicated that 93.33% of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that dedicated time for PLCs
improves teacher effectiveness.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 108
Table 15
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to
Support the Effectiveness of Novice and Surplus Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Support from National Board Certified teachers improves
effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 46.67 33.33 6.67
Agree 26.67 33.33 73.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 20.00 33.33 13.33
Disagree 6.67 0.00 6.67
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Dedicated time for professional learning communities
improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 80.00 60.00 80.00
Agree 13.33 40.00 20.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 6.67 0.00 0.00
Disagree 6.67 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
The district should require teachers to commit to his-
torically underperforming schools for a minimum of
4 years to build staff consistency.
Strongly Agree 6.67 53.33 33.33
Agree 13.33 26.67 33.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 20.00 6.67 0.00
Disagree 33.33 13.33 26.67
Strongly Disagree 6.67 0.00 0.00
Table 16 summarizes the responses from the LUD school experience survey data and the
questions that measured the degree of implementation of strategies aligned to PLCs. These data
included 21,139 responses from teachers disaggregated by years of experience. The data indi-
cated that there were limited opportunities for teachers to observe their colleagues to get ideas for
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 109
their own instruction, with the majority of responses ranging from a few times per year to never,
as follows: new teachers, 62.8%; 1–2 years of experience, 65.2%; 3–5 years of experience,
71.9%; 6–10 years of experience, 68.2%; and over 10 years of experience (71.6%).
The data in Table 16 also show that the majority of teachers indicated that they received
opportunities ranging from weekly to monthly to work with colleagues to examine evidence of
students’ understanding and mastery and to calibrate test data and student work, as follows: new
teachers, 59.9%; 1–2 years of experience, 60.6%; 3–5 years of experience, 58.9%; 6–10 years of
experience, 55.1%; and over 10 years of experience, 55.7%.
Table 17 summarizes the responses from the LUD school experience survey data and the
questions that measured the frequency to which PLC strategies were implemented. These data
included 21,139 responses from teachers disaggregated by years of experience. The data in Table
17 indicate strong affirmation that opportunities for teacher collaboration by departments, grade
levels, or PLCs did occur within the LUD, as follows: new teachers, 90.5%; 1–2 years of experi-
ence, 92.1%; 3–5 years of experience, 89.4%; 6–10 years of experience, 87.1%; and over 10
years of experience, 88.6%.
Based on data from interviews, there was the strongest support for PLCs building collab-
oration and being a successful strategy to use in schools. One National Board Certified teacher
stated:
The impact of PLCs is huge. I think that’s where it starts in the classroom, but we don’t
work in silos, so it’s the grade level. I know I participated in a very great PLC. I was
kind of hesitant because when you look at your grade level, it’s not always people you
would have relationships with, but it was a learning experience. I think if you aren’t able
to have an honest conversation with your colleagues, then there’s nowhere to really go
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 110
Table 16
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Collaborative Strategies Were Used in
Professional Development (Training, Grade- and Department-Level Meetings, Etc.), by Per-
centages
Length o f t i me teaching
Less than Over 10
1 year
a
1–2 years
b
3–5 years
c
6–10 years
d
years
e
Observed the instruction of my col-
leagues to get ideas for my own
instruction:
Weekly 15.7 13.4 10.6 9.0 7.8
Twice a month 8.7 8.3 6.9 5.5 4.7
Monthly 12.8 13.1 10.6 11.4 9.0
A few times per year 24.3 25.0 28.6 23.1 20.2
Hardly ever 17.1 21.3 23.1 23.0 26.5
Never 21.4 18.9 30.2 22.1 24.9
With my colleagues, examined
evidence of students’ understand-
ing/mastery (e.g., test data, student
work) to improve my instruction:
Weekly 23.4 21.3 19.2 17.2 16.2
Twice a month 15.1 16.3 15.1 14.9 15.4
Monthly 21.4 23.0 24.6 23.0 24.1
A few times per year 20.4 24.6 27.2 28.9 29.4
Hardly ever 10.2 9.6 9.5 10.8 10.1
Never 9.5 5.2 4.3 5.3 4.8
a
n = 842.
b
n = 1,042.
c
n = 2,391.
d
n = 2,390.
e
n = 14,474.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 111
Table 17
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Frequency That Professional Learning Community (PLC)
Strategies Were Implemented, by Percentages
Length o f t i me teaching
Less than Over 10
1 year
a
1–2 years
b
3–5 years
c
6–10 years
d
years
e
Teachers meet to examine student
performance data:
Weekly 28.4 25.1 22.8 20.5 19.2
Monthly 51.6 55.3 54.9 55.6 56.7
Rarely 17.0 17.9 20.5 22.2 22.1
Never 2.9 1.8 1.9 1.7 2.1
Teachers collaborate with one an-
other by department, PLCs, or grade
level about curricular or instructional
issues:
Weekly 49.2 46.9 43.0 39.5 42.2
Monthly 41.3 45.2 46.4 47.6 46.4
Rarely 7.9 6.6 9.8 11.8 10.1
Never 1.6 1.2 0.9 1.1 1.3
a
n = 842.
b
n = 1,042.
c
n = 2,391.
d
n = 2,390.
e
n = 14,474.
from there, so I think it’s huge. If schools were to just establish those learning safe com-
munities, per grade level or however they decide or subject, you can get a lot accom-
plished in a shorter amount of time. (interview, November 3, 2018)
A second NBC Teacher affirmed the positive results from PLCs but opined that the district must
provide time for PLCs during the work day:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 112
I know one of the things that helps us build is teachers need time together. One of the
things—you brought this up earlier—money is not always why teachers leave the profu-
sion. Many of the teachers that I’ve known that have left, it’s because they’re spending so
much time outside of working hours to build that community to the expense of their
family. I’ve watched teachers walk away because you know what, family is important.
When your family life is destroying itself, there’s no way to be a happy camper at work. I
think there needs to be a balance of districts providing the teachers that time inside of
work hours to be together to do this—not expecting them to stay until 6:00 at the expense
of their children and their wives and their husbands. (interview, November 3, 2018)
One principal, who implemented PLCs at his school, expressed the benefits of teachers’
collaboration:
I think that all schools should have to plan PLC time. Definitely! First of all, implement
professional learning communities because not all schools do that and when they do,
[they should] provide sufficient amount of time for those PLCs to work together so that
the new teacher has that support system and is not left alone for too long to come up with
their own ideas on how to address those student needs. We have PLCs here at our school
and our new teachers—that’s become their family. There are already great teaching ideas
at school, so those teachers are sharing their ideas and new teachers are not having to
come up with everything all on their own. (interview, November 8, 2018)
The interviews indicated that the LUD did not have a system in place that required all
schools to implement PLCs. One new teacher shared her concerns with having to plan outside
the school day because her school did not implement PLCs:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 113
I have to be honest. I came to a training, and that was the first time I had heard of PLCs.
Which made me extremely sad, because the school where I’m currently working at, they
used to have them last year. And they got rid of it. But what I’m hearing from all the
other teachers is saying that it was wonderful to have that because they actually had the
time to work together and be on that same path and all come to an agreement as to what
their goal was going to be at a grade level and a schoolwide. And now, as a new teacher
there, I need that. I’m constantly running to my colleagues and saying like, “What are
you doing for this?” or “What are you planning?” And they want to plan on Saturdays
and Sundays. And it’s like, I already feel like I’m neglecting my family. And my daugh-
ters . . . I can’t. I can’t give you my Saturdays and Sundays as well. So I think the role of
having that after school is a must. It should be mandated that all schools have these if
they want the schools to grow together and succeed. (interview, October 22, 2018)
A second new teacher also voiced a lack of understanding regarding PLCs: “I don’t know about
PLCs. I never heard of that. I also don’t have a chance to work with a mentor. Support should
be the same throughout the district” (interview, October 22, 2018).
One principal identified the need to receive training in order to assist her with implement-
ing PLCs:
I think before that there should be sufficient training, professional development on the
purpose of having a PLC, because PLC is not grade-level collaborative time—it’s data
based, right? That’s what’s driving that discussion, and the need for collaborating for the
plan is how we’re going to address that data. I think that there needs to be training for
administrators and staff about what the true purpose of a PLC is, establishing your smart
goal—all those things before they start allocating time; otherwise, that time may just be
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 114
collaborative planning time or “Let’s plan our field trips; “Let’s do this,” et cetera. A
PLC has to be completely different from free time to meet about random topics. (inter-
view, November 8, 2018)
Theme 2: Mentoring Support Builds Teacher Self-Efficacy and Effectiveness
The review showed that teacher self-efficacy was discussed in the research of Tschannen-
Moran et al. (1998). This research defined teacher self-efficacy as the judgment that a teacher
has about his or her ability to bring about positive outcomes in student engagement and learning.
The research of Henson (2001) also addressed teacher self-efficacy and asserted the need for
empowered teachers to especially focus on leading improvement for students who lack motiva-
tion.
Bandura (1997) pointed out that positive changes in self-efficacy come from disrupting
preexisting negative beliefs about one’s abilities. In relation to the research question regarding
the strategies that a district can use to build the effectiveness of novice and surplus teachers,
Henson (2001) discussed how teacher efficacy is changeable for preservice and new teachers,
while Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998) found that it is very difficult to change the self-efficacy of
experienced teachers because their beliefs have been magnified by their personal experiences.
The literature review yielded studies that found mentor support as a strong strategy to
improve the effectiveness of teachers. Feiman-Nemser (2003) studied what new teachers have to
learn after they begin teaching to become effective. This study found that new teachers have a
need to learn situational strategies that cannot be learned during pretraining, student teaching, or
induction programs. Feinman-Nemser asserted that new teachers not only are adopting to a new
career but also must be enculturated into their new school community. The new teachers typi-
cally need 3 to 4 years to achieve competence and several additional years to obtain proficiency.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 115
These new teachers are indoctrinated by their experienced peers, who impact their attitudes
through modeling and messages (Eddy, 1969).
Feiman-Nemser (2003) identified that new teachers need support from their experienced
peers in discussing curriculum, implementation of curriculum, and gaining insight from col-
leagues with experience in teaching the subject areas. This study found that helping new teachers
in creating effective learning environments, implementing engaging instruction, and working
effectively with parents outweighs the value of receiving emotional support.
Table 18 summarizes the strong agreement of the participating new teachers, National
Board Certified teachers, and principals regarding three mentoring support strategies. Based on
the data from the qualitative surveys, 100% of the new teachers, National Board Certified
teachers, and principals strongly agreed or agreed that conducting a demonstration lesson with
mentor feedback improves effectiveness. Similarly, Table 18 shows that 100% of new teachers,
National Board Certified teachers, and principals strongly agreed or agreed that weekly supports
for mentors and administrators improves teacher effectiveness.
Table 18 includes data that indicate that 100% of National Board Certified teachers and
principals felt that receiving peer feedback from fellow teachers, not identified as formal
mentors, improves teacher effectiveness. The new teachers’ responses revealed that 86.67%
strongly agreed or agreed, with 13.33% of respondents expressing neither agreement nor dis-
agreement.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was the strongest support for an LUD to
ensure access for new teachers and surplus teachers to quality mentors. One National Board
Certified teacher discussed how a mentor kept her from leaving education:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 116
Table 18
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Mentoring Support Strategies That Could/
Should Be Used to Improve the Effectiveness of Novice and Surplus Teachers, by Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Conducting a demonstration lesson with mentor feedback
improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 66.67 80.00 86.67
Agree 33.33 20.00 13.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Weekly supports from mentors and administrators improve
improve effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 73.33 80.00 86.67
Agree 26.67 20.00 13.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Observing fellow teachers and receiving peer feedback
improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 33.33 73.33 66.67
Agree 53.33 26.67 33.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 0.00 0.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
I think I can probably talk about that because for me, personally, if my mentor wasn’t
there, day 1, I would have quit already. I was breaking down. I was like, I needed the
reality check. But I think the importance is having an effective mentor and a partnership
where both people are invested. She cared about me teaching, and she said, “No, you can
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 117
do it—just come back tomorrow.” And I did. Then I was also someone who wanted to
give it a try and learn from her. The way our district does it is pairing up. Okay, this
person legally needs a mentor so whoever is available, even if it’s not at your school site.
I think that is a really huge disservice because it just makes it so much harder to build that
relationship. (interview, November 3, 2018)
One of the new teachers interviewed expressed support for mentors in lieu of asking col-
leagues for ongoing support:
It’s highly recommended in my opinion. Especially not just having like school site
mentor unofficial or officially, but outside of that school site mentor. Because, just my
personal feeling, I feel like I’d be bugging my colleagues too much. And after a while it’s
just like, “Dude, I have my own classroom—you have your own classroom—you’ve got
to get it together.” And eventually I am worried that these guys won’t want to help me
out. (interview, October 22, 2018)
One of the principals interviewed discussed how a mentor helped her to become an
effective teacher more than a teacher training program:
I go back to thinking when I started, and I started on an emergency credential. I literally
had no training, and I was training on the job, and I had a wonderful mentor teacher who
really supported me and spent time with me after school on their own time, learning, and I
wanted to learn but even the program that I was in, I don’t feel is what prepared me to be
an effective teacher. It was my desire to be effective and my mentor teacher who helped
me. (interview, November 8, 2018)
One National Board Certified teacher specifically described the role that she had played
in serving as a mentor for a surplus teacher who was then becoming effective:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 118
I’m actually helping out a surplus teacher who has been offered a permanent position,
because I got to work with her and I got to sort of enculturate her to our school culture.
She was a surplus teacher not because she had to be, but by choice. She chose to leave
the school. She has a different mindset because she actually wants to improve. She asks
good questions. She’s even just looking at “Okay, what are the lesson plans we need to
do for next week, but how do you manage this—how do you deal with parents?” I
already see in her a lot of growth. I think it really depends on the person. It’s just like in
any profession. There are people that just want to do the job from 9:00 to 5:00, or what-
ever, get their paycheck, and bye-bye, and there are people who want to improve. Re-
gardless of whether it’s novice or a surplus teacher, in my years of mentoring brand new
teachers, she’s not a brand new teacher but she’s new to the school site, and so she’s
putting herself in that mindset of “I’m just here to learn,” and I think that’s a great rela-
tionship. (interview, November 3, 2018)
Theme 3: Districts Must Provide Differentiated Training and Workloads for New and
Surplus Teachers to Build Their Effectiveness
In the literature review, it was discussed that Marzano et al. (2003) described teacher
support as a key component of the work that principals must do to implement positive cultures at
the school. This support includes knowledge of curriculum, instruction, and assessment as a key
metric that requires principals to provide conceptual guidance to teachers regarding effective
practices in the classroom.
In alignment with the findings from Marzano et al. (2003), this research study surveyed
new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals regarding differentiated support
to improve teacher effectiveness. Table 19 summarizes the quantitative survey responses that
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 119
Table 19
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Assignments and Training
Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to Improve the Effectiveness of Surplus Teachers, by
Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
Surplus teachers receiving co-teaching support from
mentor teachers improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 33.33 33.33 13.33
Agree 66.67 33.33 66.67
Neither Disagree nor Agree 0.00 33.33 20.00
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Surplus teachers not being placed at historically under-
performing schools improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 40.00 53.33 60.00
Agree 40.00 26.67 20.00
Neither Disagree nor Agree 13.33 6.67 13.33
Disagree 6.67 13.33 6.67
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Programs to retrain surplus teachers on best practices
improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 46.67 26.67 33.33
Agree 46.67 53.33 33.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 6.67 20.00 33.33
Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
Strongly Disagree 0.00 0.00 0.00
indicated strong agreement that districts should provide differentiated opportunities for surplus
teachers. One hundred percent of new teachers strongly agreed or agreed that surplus teachers
should receive co-teaching support from mentors to improve their effectiveness. The majority of
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 120
NBC teachers (66.66%) and principals (80%) also strongly agreed or agreed with this differentia-
tion strategy.
Table 19 further shows that 80% of the new teachers, National Board Certified teachers,
and principals strongly agreed or agreed that surplus teachers should not be assigned to histori-
cally underperforming schools. The majority of respondents strongly agreed or agreed with the
strategy of the LUD retraining surplus teachers on best practices to improve their effectiveness:
new teachers, 93.33%; and National Board Certified teachers and principals, 80%.
Table 20 summarizes the different perceptions that the respondents held for new teachers
versus surplus teachers. Although 93.33% of the new teachers and 80% of the National Board
Certified teachers and principals strongly agreed or agreed that surplus teachers should not be
placed at historically underperforming schools, the data in Table 20 shows that only 46.67% of
new teachers, 0% of National Board Certified teachers, and 33.33% of principals felt that new
teachers should not be assigned to historically underperforming schools.
Table 21 summarizes the responses from the LUD school experience survey data and the
questions that measured the degree to which teachers perceived that professional development is
differentiated to meet their individual needs and build their effectiveness. These data included
21,139 responses from teachers, disaggregated by years of experience. The table indicates that
the majority of all teachers strongly agreed or agreed that the professional development provided
at their school was differentiated for their level of teaching experience: new teachers, 79.8%; 1–2
years of experience, 80.7%; 3–5 years of experience, 79.2%; 6–10 years of experience, 77%; and
over 10 years of experience, 77.6%. The data in Table 21 also show that the majority of all five
categories of teachers strongly agreed or agreed that the school professional development was
differentiated to meet the needs of their students: new teachers, 85.8%; 1–2 years of experience,
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 121
Table 20
Participants’ Responses Indicating the Importance of Differentiated Assignments and Training
Strategies That Could/Should Be Used to Improve the Effectiveness of Novice Teachers, by
Percentages
National
Board
New Certified
Survey item and response categories teachers teachers Principals
New teachers not being placed at historically underperforming
schools improves effectiveness.
Strongly Agree 20.00 0.00 20.00
Agree 26.67 0.00 13.33
Neither Disagree nor Agree 6.67 13.33 26.67
Disagree 40.00 33.33 33.33
Strongly Disagree 6.67 33.33 6.67
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 122
Table 21
Participants’ Responses Indicating Their Perceptions on the Differentiation of Professional
Development to Improve the Effectiveness of Teachers, by Percentages
Length o f t i me teaching
Less than Over 10
1 year
a
1–2 years
b
3–5 years
c
6–10 years
d
years
e
The professional development at this
school is differentiated for my level of
teaching experience.
Strongly Agree 31.5 31.8 29.1 27.3 25.7
Agree 48.3 48.9 50.1 49.7 51.9
Disagree 16.9 15.6 16.6 17.2 17.5
Strongly Disagree 3.3 3.6 4.1 5.7 4.9
What I learn in our school profes-
sional development meetings addresses
my students’ needs.
Strongly Agree 32.7 28.9 25.7 23.7 25.3
Agree 53.1 53.7 52.5 52.8 52.9
Disagree 11.8 12.8 16.6 17.8 16.5
Strongly Disagree 2.4 4.6 5.2 5.7 5.3
a
n = 842.
b
n = 1,042.
c
n = 2,391.
d
n = 2,390.
e
n = 14,474.
82.6%; 3–5 years of experience, 78.2%; 6–10 years of experience, 76.5%; and over 10 years of
experience, 78.2%.
Based on the data from the interviews, there was strong belief among the participants that
all teachers can become effective with the appropriate support. One new teacher referenced the
work of Marzano (2004) on defining an effective teacher:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 123
Yeah, I think anybody can become an effective teacher with support. I do know that
effective teachers have a quality called With-it-ness, which is an ability to sense things are
going to happen before they happen in the classroom. So that you can actually tell when
the students are about to get uneasy or something is about to . . . It’s called With-it-Ness,
and it’s a quality that some teachers possess, and it gives them an advantage. Like a
teacher of mine used to say, “Nip it in the bud before it happens.” So, you can always
jump ahead of anything in terms of discipline or management and stop it before it hap-
pens. It’s not an issue. That I know just comes with time. (interview, October 22, 2018)
One principal respondent also referenced the work of Marzano in identifying the qualities of an
effective teacher:
Marzano talks about . . . Not to cite research, but Marzano talks about “With-it-ness.” I
think my effective teachers—they know that’s a teachable moment. They know, “I need
to reteach.” They know, “Okay, I need to stop right now. Let’s all come back together.”
They just have that sense and I don’t know . . . The next question talks about natural
abilities. I think that might have something to do with it. Innately, they just understand.
They’re with it. All the time. All the time. They’re always on their A-game. All the
time. (interview, November 8, 2018)
One principal with 3 years of experience questioned the LUD’s system of staffing schools
and its impact on teacher effectiveness:
For me, it’s we have a system, again, where the hardest-to-staff schools are the ones who
get the leftovers and at times we end up with must-place teachers, a must-place adminis-
trator, et cetera, and yet we wonder why they would continue to be underachieving and
with low test scores, historically underperforming. There’s a lot of factors that take into
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 124
place, and we don’t really want to talk about resolving those issues. To me, all of that is
connected because if we really wanted to be fair to a brand new teacher, are you going to
put them at some of the toughest schools? That’s a tough question. (interview, Novem-
ber 8, 2018)
Summary Discussion for Research Question 4
Data analysis for Research Question 4 indicated three themes that emerged from the
findings. The first theme of PLCs improving teacher effectiveness and the school culture was
expressed by multiple stakeholder groups through surveys, interviews, and a districtwide survey
with more than 20,000 respondents. The interview findings also indicated that although the
respondents understood the benefits of PLCs, there were some new teachers who did not have
access to PLCs at their schools. The interviews determined that there was a lack of training on
the implementation of PLCs that was provided to principals and there were no district policies
that mandated PLCs. The uneven application of this research-based best practice aligns with the
research of Fullan and Quinn (2016) and the need for a focusing direction to successfully move a
district forward.
The second theme that emerged from the data in this study was the finding that mentoring
support builds teacher efficacy and effectiveness. The respondents from all stakeholder groups
indicated in both surveys and interviews that mentors are a strategy that a LUD must use to build
teacher efficacy and effectiveness. The data were strongest for the new teachers and the need to
provide them with the background knowledge that cannot be provided in teacher training
programs. This finding correlated to the research by Marzano et al. (2004) and the impact of
background knowledge on both teachers and student learning.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 125
The third theme that emerged from the data was that the LUD must provide differentiated
training and workloads for new and surplus teachers to build their effectiveness. The respon-
dents strongly supported the provision of differentiated professional development and identified
that surplus teachers should not be assigned to historically underperforming schools. The data
also showed that the stakeholder groups did not overwhelmingly indicate that new teachers
should not be assigned to historically underperforming schools. The responses indicated that
although the data showed that all stakeholder groups felt that surplus teachers could receive dif-
ferentiated support to become effective, there were concerns with their impact on students at
historically underperforming schools while this skill building takes place.
Chapter Summary
The data analysis for this study included a review of the literature, survey responses, and
interview responses. The data were analyzed and correlated with the four research questions and
the three frameworks—DuFour et al. (2005), Fullan and Quinn (2016), and Marzano (2004)—
were used to analyze and understand the four-part cycle of teacher staffing: recruitment, reten-
tion, training, and improvement.
Data related to Research Question 1 produced three themes. The first theme asserted that
HLIs are essential in the effective hiring of qualified teachers for LUDs. As LUDs face staffing
barriers due to high attrition and the resistance of qualified new teachers to work in hard-to-staff
schools. These hiring challenges are met with partnerships between districts and HLIs that
conduct hiring fairs and work with the district to find compatible placements for their qualified
applicants.
The second theme indicated that financial incentives can help LUDs with effective hiring.
An analysis of the survey and interview data showed that new teachers, National Board Certified
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 126
teachers, and principals strongly believed that offering financial incentives, including loan
forgiveness, would assist the district with recruiting qualified teaching candidates.
The third theme addressed the different digital and technology-based strategies that a
LUD can use to recruit teachers, including social media, radio ads, online job posting, websites,
and so on. The respondents felt that there was some validity in using these different practices but
that the majority of qualified teaching candidates would be found through the partnerships
formed with local HLIs.
An analysis of the data related to Research Question 2 yielded three themes. The first
theme was that the culture at schools greatly impacts teacher attrition. The surveys and inter-
views resulted in the identification of strategies that help to build collaboration and limit the
attrition of teachers due to noncohesive working environments. The data showed that district
supports that promote collaboration, including demonstration lessons, gallery walks where
teachers visit one another’s classrooms, and co-teaching with a peer lead to higher retention of
qualified teachers. It was noted in several of the interviews that the respondents felt that school
principals play a critical role in shaping the culture of the school.
The second theme showed that financial incentives to participate in training supports
teacher retention. The respondents indicated that teachers receiving additional funding to attend
professional development or districts providing additional compensation for teachers who earn
microcredentials encourage teachers and provide additional motivation to remain with the
district. The data indicated that the district offering loan forgiveness programs not only benefits
recruiting but also helps retain teachers during the period of the loan forgiveness. Interview
responses indicated that providing this incentive for teachers to remain in the district while their
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 127
loans are being repaid will sometimes serve as the small motivation necessary for a teacher to
prioritize teaching over other career options.
The third theme related to Research Question 2 was that instructional support for teacher
development improves retention. The data indicated that programs that identify lead roles for
teachers, such as mentors and the provision of substitute days to support teacher attendance at
professional development, were highly supported by the new teachers, National Board Certified
teachers, and principals who were surveyed and interviewed.
Analysis of the data related to Research Question 3 produced three themes. The first
theme was that teacher training programs are key to teacher effectiveness. The interviews indi-
cated that respondents felt that the district should implement programs that provide new teachers
with opportunities for co-teaching and an extended period with less responsibility while they
were receiving the background knowledge necessary to become effective teachers.
The second theme from the data was that professional development is key to improving
teacher practice. The responses indicated that the LUD should provide flexible opportunities for
professional development, including online access that is available on demand. Online
professional development provides teachers with access to resources that are not available at the
school through the traditional application of teacher training.
The third theme stemming from Research Question 3 was that administrators improve
practice for teachers. The data indicated that when administrators visit classrooms and provide
meaningful feedback, this improves teacher practice. Data showed that classroom visitations
were not happening consistently across the LUD; however, when the visits occurred, the majority
of visits did yield meaningful feedback that teachers viewed as helpful.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 128
Analysis of the data stemming from Research Question 4 produced three themes. The
first theme identified PLCs as a process to provide teacher collaboration time, to improve teacher
effectiveness, and to improve the culture of the school. The respondents strongly endorsed the
facilitation of PLCs as an opportunity for teachers to work together and analyze student data so as
to collectively identify instructional strategies. The interviews identified that the LUD had some
schools that were excelling in providing PLC time during the day and ensuring that teachers were
working in collaboration. The data also indicated that PLCs were not mandated by the district
and that there were new teachers who did not have access to PLCs and were conducting instruc-
tional planning in isolation or with peers after their work hours.
The second theme that emerged from the data was that mentoring support builds teacher
self-efficacy and effectiveness. The findings supported the existence of structured mentor
programs with mutual accountability. The new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and
principals interviewed reinforced the motivational impact of a well-trained mentor and his or her
ability to serve as a resource. The data also showed that surplus teachers in the LUD benefit from
the assignment of a mentor to co-teach, to provide demonstration lessons, and to provide mean-
ingful feedback to benefit their instructional practices.
The third theme that resulted from analysis of the data was that LUDs must provide dif-
ferentiated training and workloads to build the effectiveness of new and surplus teachers. The
data indicated strong support for strategies including additional planning time, co-teaching
opportunities, nonassignment of surplus teachers to historically underperforming schools, and
additional training opportunities to build skillsets.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 129
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS
LUDs, defined by the NCES (2006) as a district of over 250,000 students, encounter
teacher staffing barriers that impact student achievement and student access to consistent high-
quality instruction across the system. In order to address these impacts, a LUD must implement a
leadership system that prioritizes the hiring, retention, and support of high-quality teachers in
order to retain these teachers in a system and to cultivate cultures of growth and collaboration.
This study was designed to collect data from 15 new teachers, defined as having 1 year or
less of teaching experience; 15 National Board Certified teachers with experience ranging from 1
to over 10 years of providing NBC support, and principals with experience ranging from 3 to 16
years. This collection of data allowed the researcher to construct meaning about the perspectives
of participants with experience in hard-to-staff schools within a LUD. Data were collected using
surveys, interviews, and data from the district’s school experience survey, which had 21,139
responses from teachers ranging in experience from less than 1 year to over 10 years.
Chapter One was an overview of the study that included an introduction of the research
questions, a presentation of the statement of the problem and purpose, discussion of limitations
of the study, and the definitions of the terms used in the study. The research questions were
designed to understand the actions necessary to recruit qualified teachers, to provide support that
retains teachers within the system, to train teachers in practices that lead to student achievement
and mastery of grade-level standards, and to develop systems that build the self-efficacy and
effectiveness of all teachers within the district. This study focused on new and surplus teachers,
defined as teachers who are often assigned as substitutes or in a nonteaching capacity because
they have not received effective support and appropriate evaluations to support their improve-
ment. The study also researched the impact of the school culture in fostering an atmosphere that
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 130
supports district retention and builds collaboration that improves professional development.
Finally, the study researched how mentors, PLCs, and differentiated support for teachers posi-
tively impacts the school culture and builds collaboration.
Chapter Two presented a comprehensive review of related literature. A cornerstone of
the review of the literature was the main concepts that aligned to the theoretical framework of
Fullan and Quinn (2016) and the creation of a LUD-coherent system that supports recruitment,
retention, training, and improvement. The main concepts discussed were (a) recruitment, includ-
ing subject area teaching shortages, teacher characteristics, and teacher preferences; (b) teacher
retention including mindset versus skillset; (c) myths about skillsets; (d) causes for high-
performing, irreplaceable teacher attrition; (e) consequences of nonretention of high-performing
irreplaceables; (f) factors relating to attrition and high mobility; teachers’ characteristics; (g)
students’ characteristics; (h) working conditions; (I) administrator impacts; and (j) ineffective
teachers.
The second framework was built around the work of Marzano (2004) with strategies to
support the professional growth of teachers. The study concerned teacher training including
teacher credentialing, professional development, and online professional development. The third
theoretical framework of this study was an integration of the work of Marzano (2004) and
DuFour et al. 2005). Marzano asserted that new teachers must receive an infusion of background
knowledge on teaching in order to improve their ability to effectively engage students and
improve academic achievement. He analyzed how the retention of effective teachers and the
implementation of a cohesive training and support program led to the improvement of teacher
effectiveness and yielded positive academic growth by students. DuFour et al. contended that
teacher effectiveness for both new and experienced teachers is promoted through the
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 131
implementation of PLCs that build teacher efficacy and foster the sharing of professional knowl-
edge through a powerful teacher community. These PLCs also create an environment of collabo-
ration.
TNTP (2012) found that poor school culture is one of the primary reasons that teachers
leave the profession and that when a collaborative and supportive school culture exists, high-
quality teachers remain in the profession to continue to make a positive difference in academic
improvement and support for student learning. The fourth main concept of the study dealt with
building teacher efficacy including improvement strategies, defining effectiveness, PLCs, peer
mentor support, NBC, and induction programs.
In addition to the theoretical frameworks that were outlined in Chapter Two, the review
of literature for the main concept of recruitment also included the research of Darling-Hammond
(2005), who described approved teacher programs; Kennedy (2005), who described the impact of
educational background on teacher effectiveness; and Ingersoll (1999), who discussed out-of-
field teaching and teacher shortages.
The review of literature for the main concept of retention included the research of Boyd et
al. (2011), who examined the reasons that teachers leave their schools and/or the profession of
teaching; Boyd et al. (2008), who studied the correlation between teacher retention and working
conditions in New York City schools; Guarino et al. (2006), who found there was a u-shaped
pattern of attrition, with the highest turnover rates for teachers occurring in their first years of
teaching, and after many years when teachers were nearing retirement; Isenberg et al. (2013)
discussed how disadvantaged students have less access to effective teaching; TNTP (2012)
identified three causes that lead to the loss of high-performing “irreplaceable” teachers.
The main concept of this study, training, was based on the following:
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 132
1. The research by Hill et al. (2013) on the effectiveness of teacher professional develop-
ment and identification of a crossroads in the future of traditional professional development
models (Hill et al., 2013);
2. The research of Boyd et al. (2008), who found that learning for teachers with opportu-
nities for the practice of teaching or having a capstone project not only was associated with
positive first-year teaching results but also led to higher content learning and positive second-
year results;
3. The research of Borko (2004), who found that to be effective, professional develop-
ment should engage teachers in activities such as solving problems and conducting experiments
to build greater understanding;
4. The research Garet et al. (2001), who also found that professional development that
focuses on academic content and gives teachers opportunities for hands-on work is more likely to
improve knowledge and skills of teachers; and
5. The research of Desimone (2009), who identified these characteristics as the consen-
sus regarding effectiveness among various research findings.
The main concept of teacher self-efficacy and effectiveness was based on the research of
Bandura (1997), who defined the meaning and description of self-efficacy; the research of
Henson (2001), who discussed self-efficacy beliefs and behavioral changes; and defining the
concept of self-efficacy discussed in the research of Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998).
Chapter Three presented the study’s methodology, including vital elements, such as
participants, setting, instrumentation, research design, data collection procedures, data analysis
procedures, and ethical considerations in relation to the implemented procedures. This predomi-
nantly qualitative research study used the researchers as the primary data collection instruments.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 133
The instrumentation and protocols used by the research team consisted of two survey protocols
and two interview protocols (Creswell, 2014). The main instruments for data collection were the
survey and interview protocols, which supported the researchers in gathering information from
administrators, National Board Certified teachers, and novice teachers. The research team
aligned the qualitative survey questions of administrators, novice teachers, and National Board
Certified teachers with the four research questions and the conceptual frameworks. In conduct-
ing the interviews, the research team deployed the Standardized Open-Ended Interview approach
(Patton, 2002) and administered a set list of questions that were asked of each interviewee. The
rationale for the use of this approach was to ask the same questions of each participant in order to
identify the differences in perceptions that occurred within the three geographical areas. The
interviews were conducted at both school sites and district offices with the participation of the
research team and created a comfort level in utilizing the participants’ natural settings (Merriam
& Tisdale, 2016).
Chapter Four outlined data collected and revisited the study’s research questions in terms
of identified themes related to each of the questions. This analysis consisted of a coded frequency
analysis of specific survey items; samples of interview transcriptions; and a summary of thematic
findings from participants in the interview setting including new teachers, NBC teachers, and
principals. Following each theme’s discussion, conclusions were drawn for each of the study’s
four research questions. Chapter Five provides a summary of the previous chapters and presents
implications for current practice and recommendations for future research.
The purpose of this study was to examine how large urban school districts can improve
their focus on recruiting and retaining quality teachers in the system beyond 5 years. The
research was centered on identifying strategies that increase support through professional
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 134
development, PLCs, and mentorship to build teacher self-efficacy and effectiveness. As indi-
cated by the research of the NCTQ (Goe & Stickler, 2008), district professional development is
structured around building teacher efficacy from teachers’ introduction to the district into their
5th year of service. Research has indicated that following the 5th year, professional growth was
inconsistent and teacher improvement was largely dependent on the self-motivation of the
individual teachers in seeking professional growth opportunities.
This study employed theoretical frameworks driven by the research of Fullan and Quinn
(2016) and corresponding research on the importance of district-created systems that prioritize
key issues and support their effective implementation through clear direction, engagement with
stakeholders, and training on the focus and accountability for the system. The research of Fullan
and Quinn was critical for identifying how LUDs must prioritize the recruitment and retention of
qualified teachers to address high rates of attrition as well as the factors that drive them out of the
system. A third theoretical framework in this study also built on the work of DuFour et al. (2005)
and Marzano (2004), who identified strategies that lead to the successful training and improve-
ment of teachers and the support systems necessary to build their self-efficacy and effectiveness.
To meet the purpose of this study, four research questions were addressed:
1. What are the recruitment strategies used by LUDs that result in the most effective
hiring?
2. What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+ years or completion
of induction process) in the system?
3. How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to retain the highest number of
qualified teachers?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 135
4. What strategies could or should be used to improve effectiveness of novice and
surplus teachers?
Summary of Findings
Twelve themes emerged related to the study’s four research questions. This section
presents a summary and discussion of the study’s findings in relation to current practice.
Research Question 1
Research Question 1 asked, “What are the recruitment strategies used by LUDs that result
in the most effective hiring?” The objective of this question was to understand how, in order to
collect data to inform this question, qualitative surveys of new teachers, National Board Certified
teachers, and principals were conducted, in addition to interviews. When triangulated, the data
provided a contextualized perspective of the recruitment strategies identified as most effective by
these stakeholders.
Three findings emerged from the data collected from the literature, surveys, and inter-
views. The first finding from the qualitative surveys was that there was strong evidence that
LUDs can counteract barriers to recruitment by forming partnerships with HLIs that create
pathways for college graduates to work in the LUD. The participants indicated that hiring fairs at
HLIs provide a pathway for the LUD to improve recruitment. The research study data indicated
that the new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals strongly felt that the
recruitment staff at HLIs leads to the hiring of effective teachers. The interviews identified that
LUDs should partner with the HLIs to engage in activities including hiring fairs and the focused
use of the HLI staff to help fill vacancies at the hard-to-staff schools. The study findings showed
that while social media, radio ads, and job posting websites are effective, there was considerably
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 136
less support for these strategies to address the recruitment of teachers in high-need areas, includ-
ing special education and STEM.
The second finding was that there was strong agreement among participants for effective
recruiting by offering financial incentives. The survey results also determined that the partici-
pants strongly agreed with offering immediate loan forgiveness and believed that this would
result in the improved recruitment of effective teachers.
The third finding was that there was the strongest agreement among the new teachers,
National Board Certified teachers, and principals that social media is effective in recruiting new
teachers. The participants mildly agreed that radio ads are effective in recruitment for high-need
areas; the majority did not agree with this recruitment strategy. The majority of respondents did
agree with the use of job posting websites and ads to recruit effective teachers to the district.
In summary, it was noted in the discussion of data for this research question, with respect
to the three themes, that the new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and principals
surveyed identified that HLIs and financial incentives are the strongest tools that a district can
use to recruit new teachers for the hard-to-staff schools within the district. The interviews
identified that LUDs should create strong partnerships with the HLIs to engage in activities
including hiring fairs and the focused use of the HLI staff to help fill vacancies at the
hard-to-staff schools.
Research Question 2
Research Question 2 asked, “What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers
(5+ years or completion of induction process) in the system?” The objective of this question was
to examine the systems that a LUD must implement to effectively retain qualified teachers once
they are in the system. Fullan and Quinn (2016) discussed how districts can create “cultivating
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 137
collaborative cultures” (p. 461) that promote cooperation within the system. In order to prioritize
the creation and maintenance of collaboration, the district must set policies and implement strate-
gies that promote teacher retention. TNTP (2012) provided data that demonstrated that higher
performing teachers, or irreplaceables, often leave districts at the same or higher rates than less
effective teachers.
This study surveyed and interviewed new teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and
principals who worked in hard-to-staff schools and had experienced the void left when higher
performing teachers left a school and created vacancies that often were left unfilled for long
periods of time, thereby negatively impacting students’ achievement. The findings of the
research are divided into three themes that provide insight into the effective practices necessary
for a LUD to improve the retention of qualified teachers. The first theme was that the culture at
schools greatly impacts teacher attrition. The review of literature illustrated that schools within
LUDs that promote strong collaboration among teachers and between the principal and the
teachers retain teachers at much higher rates than other schools that lack collaborative cultures
(Allensworth et al., 2009).
The first finding was that 100% of the participating new teachers, National Board Certi-
fied teachers, and principals surveyed strongly agreed or agreed that district supports that
promote collaboration, including demonstration lessons, gallery walks with peer visitations, and
co-teaching with a peer, are factors that lead to higher retention of qualified teachers.
The second finding relating to the main concept of retention was that teacher attrition can
be reduced if the district offers financial incentives such as loan forgiveness, higher salaries,
stipends to attend professional development, and compensation for the earning of microcreden-
tials leads to higher retention of teachers. This finding aligned with the findings of Guarino et al.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 138
(2006) that teacher dissatisfaction with salary correlated very highly with teacher attrition and
decreased commitment to the district.
The third finding relating to this main concept was that over 90% of the new teachers,
National Board Certified teachers, and principals strongly agreed or agreed that additional
funding to attend professional development positively impacts the retention of qualified teachers.
Respondents also felt that improved compensation for completion of microcredentials leads to
higher retention. These data corresponds to the research by Berry et al. (2016) and Yu et al.
(2015), who noted that microcredentials allow teachers to use videos, work samples, and other
artifacts to demonstrate their mastery of learning, rewards participation, and provides an extrinsic
form of accomplishment recognition.
Research Question 3
Research Question 3 asked, “How can LUDs improve their postinduction training to
retain the highest number of qualified teachers?” The objective of this question was to identify
the necessary frameworks that a LUD must put in place to improve the training of teachers
through their introduction into the district and beyond the traditional postinduction period of 5
years. The research of Marzano (2004) cited the importance of the creation of background
knowledge to improve the ability of teachers to effectively provide instruction to students. This
research is especially important when addressing the training needs of new teachers who enter the
system without having this background knowledge. This research and the findings of a study
conducted by Kennedy (2005) identified that providing background knowledge helps to directly
improve the effectiveness of classroom teachers. The survey and interview research conducted in
the present study identified three themes that corresponded to the findings of Kennedy (2005)
and Marzano (2004) and their work on strategies that lead to improved effectiveness.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 139
The first finding was that teacher training programs are key to teacher effectiveness.
Marzano (2004) found that one characteristic of effectiveness is a byproduct of the quality of the
training program that teachers receive. Darling-Hammond et al. (2005) concluded that more than
ever, teacher credentialing programs are responsible for the quality of the teachers entering the
educational system and their ability to persevere, improve their craft, and successfully prepare
students using 21st-century strategies.
The review of literature indicated that Darling-Hammond et al. (2005) contended that a
combination of full certification, having a professional or standard teaching certificate, and
graduation from an approved teacher education program resulted in greater achievement for
students. Based on the data from the interviews, the respondents indicated the strongest support
for new teachers to receive in-classroom experiences to build their effectiveness.
The second finding relating to Research Question 3 was that professional development is
key to improving teacher practice. The literature review illustrated that the long-standing
research about the effectiveness of teachers’ professional development has identified a crossroads
in the future of traditional professional development models (Hill et al., 2013). Hill et al. (2013)
cited results about a weak return on the district funds spent to implement the traditional profes-
sional development model delivered locally at the school site. Hill et al. discussed that the flaw
with the traditional model is that principals are locally creating the professional development on
very short cycles to align teachers’ instruction to the focus of the district. Borko (2004) found
that to be effective, professional development should engage teachers in activities. Based on the
data from the qualitative surveys, there was strong support for online professional development
as a strategy to improve the postinduction training of teachers. There was also strong support for
providing a stipend for teachers to attend trainings.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 140
The third finding was that administrators improve practice for teachers. The review of
literature illustrated that Marzano (2004) summarized the importance of administrators for
improving the effectiveness of teachers. TNTP (2012) also identified specific strategies that help
to improve working conditions, including providing regular, positive feedback; helping teachers
to identify areas of development; and giving critical feedback about performance. The findings
from TNTP indicated that administrators who implement two or more of these strategies can
improve working conditions and create conditions that lead to higher teacher retention.
Data from the qualitative surveys taken from the LUD’s school experience survey corre-
sponded to the findings of TNTP (2012) about the impact of providing regular, positive feed-
back; helping teachers tp identify areas of development; and giving critical feedback about per-
formance. These data included 21,139 responses from teachers across the LUD. The data
indicated that despite inconsistent visitations by administrators to classrooms to observe teaching
in the LUD, when observations did take place, the majority provided feedback that teachers
viewed observations as useful. The survey data indicated that teachers received useful feedback
either “always” or “often” following visits.
Research Question 4
Research Question 4 asked, “What strategies could or should be used to improve the
effectiveness of novice and surplus teachers?” The objective of this question was to explore the
relationship of the recruitment, retention, and training program of a LUD to build the effective-
ness of all teachers in the system. Goe and Stickler (2008) defined teacher effectiveness as the
degree to which teachers impact student learning and have higher-than-predicted increases in
student achievement. Their research concluded that this improvement was in part due to vari-
ables including factors such as teacher qualifications, teacher practices, teacher characteristics,
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 141
and other unobserved factors. The new teachers and surplus teachers were the focal point of this
question because they require that districts provide focused efforts and training to ensure that
they meet the educational needs of the students in their classrooms, impact students’ learning,
and increase students’ achievement. New teachers lack the training and background knowledge
to provide high-quality instruction (Anderson et al., 1995), and surplus teachers have been
displaced from their teaching assignments largely due to ineffectiveness. Three main themes
emerged to provide conclusions for Research Question 4.
The first finding was that PLCs improve teacher collaboration, effectiveness, and school
culture. The review of literature indicated that the work of DuFour et al. (2005) provides the
framework for training teachers to become effective through the creation of PLCs to build teach-
ers’ capacity and improve school culture. Based on the data from the qualitative surveys, there
was the strongest agreement among participants that dedicated time for PLCs improves teacher
effectiveness.
The second finding was that mentor teachers build teachers’ self-efficacy. This finding
aligns with the research of Tschannen-Moran et al. (1998), who defined teacher self-efficacy as
the judgment that a teacher has about his or her ability to bring about positive outcomes in
students’ engagement and learning. The literature review included Henson (2001), who dis-
cussed how teacher efficacy is changeable for preservice and new teachers, and the research of
Tschannen-Moran et al. found that it is very difficult to change the self-efficacy of experienced
teachers because their beliefs have been magnified by their personal experiences. Tschannen-
Moran pointed out the difficulty that LUDs face in changing the self-efficacy of experienced
surplus teachers who often encounter loss of classroom assignments, changing of schools, and
negative feedback from administrators on their teaching practices. The review of literature
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 142
discussed studies that found mentor support to be a strong strategy to improve the effectiveness
of all teachers, regardless of experience level.
The third finding relating to Research Question 4 was that districts must provide differen-
tiated training and workloads for teachers to build their effectiveness. The survey data indicated
that there was strong agreement that the LUD should provide differentiated opportunities to meet
the needs of teachers. The participants also indicated that surplus teachers should receive co-
teaching support from mentors, along with retraining on best practices in order to improve their
effectiveness.
Implications for Practice
This study examined a four-part cycle of teacher staffing: recruitment, retention, training,
and improvement. The results were action steps that LUDs can take to provide a coherent focus,
daily high-quality instruction in every classroom, and to avoid the current barriers to effective
staffing. The data on recruitment indicated that LUDs should form partnerships with local HLIs
to conduct hiring fairs and partner with the district on the placement of teaching program gradu-
ates. The research further showed that financial incentives (e.g., loan forgiveness programs,
stipends, additional pay for microcredentials) are effective in recruiting qualified teachers. The
findings also indicated that LUDs should use multiple formats to advertise vacancies including
social media, radio ads, and job website posting, to reach all potential applicants.
The data for retention indicated that the culture at schools greatly impacts teacher attri-
tion. The results showed that poor environment is a very significant factor in attrition. LUDs can
promote collaboration, including demonstration lessons, gallery walks where teachers visit one
another’s classrooms, and co-teaching with a peer, lead to higher retention of qualified teachers.
The findings related to retention also indicated that teachers should receive financial incentives to
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 143
participate in training including pay to attend professional development and additional compen-
sation for teachers who earn microcredentials. Most importantly, offering loan forgiveness
programs helps to motivate teachers to remain in education. Another implication for retention is
that instructional support for teacher development improves retention. The data showed that the
district should identify lead roles for teachers, such as mentors, and provide substitute days to
support teachers’ attendance at professional development.
The data from this study indicated that a LUD can address training by implementing
programs that provide new teachers with opportunities for co-teaching and an extended period
with less responsibility while they are receiving the background knowledge necessary to become
effective teachers. Training data further indicated that professional development is key to
improving teachers’ practice and that districts should offer flexible opportunities for professional
development, including online access that is available on demand. The data from training indi-
cated the importance of administrators in improving teacher practice. The implications are that
LUDs should support and monitor administrator classroom visits to observe teaching with
follow-up meaningful feedback to improve teachers’ practice. The results showed that when
teachers receive feedback, the majority of them perceive the feedback as helpful for their prac-
tice.
The implications of the data on teacher self-efficacy and effectiveness demonstrate the
importance of PLCs to build collaboration and to improve the culture of a school. The findings
were that districts must provide the principals with the training to facilitate PLCs and must
provide time during the work day via substitutes or release time for teachers to engage with their
colleagues. LUDs should also implement mentor programs that allow for co-teaching, opportu-
nities for demonstration lessons, observations with feedback, and mutual accountability for the
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 144
process to build teacher effectiveness. Finally, the findings of this study indicated that LUDs
must implement policies to provide differentiated training and workloads to build the effective-
ness of new and surplus teachers. The data identified the strategies that should be implemented
to differentiate support, including additional planning time, co-teaching opportunities, nonassign-
ment of surplus teachers to historically underperforming schools, and additional training opportu-
nities to build skillsets.
Recommendations for Future Research
This study’s review of literature provided four separate areas of the staffing of high-need
schools by a LUD but no comprehensive research on the study of the four-part system of recruit-
ment, retention, training, and improvement. Although this study has provided data for four
essential research questions in this field, the study did not disaggregate data by demographics
including teacher gender, ethnicity, age, and so on. There is an opportunity to continue the
examination of the policies that a LUD should implement in order to operate a coherent system
that prioritizes the support of teachers to deliver high-quality instruction in all classrooms and for
all students.
Although the LUD under study had successful models of PLCs being implemented, there
were not policies that mandated PLCs at every school or the provision of mentors for every new
or surplus teacher. Due to declining enrollment and rising benefit costs, there were also no
financial incentives or district-sponsored loan forgiveness programs in place to overcome the
staffing barriers experienced annually.
Additional research is recommended to expand participant samples and also to identify
data by gender, ethnicity, age of participants, and so on. These data would be very useful to
guide the actions of LUDs that are using this research for improvement. The second
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 145
recommendation for further research is to explore other LUDs and compare data collected from
multiple districts to test the validity of the findings.
Conclusion
The strategies identified in this study provide a blueprint for LUDs to ensure daily
instruction from highly qualified teachers. The strategies provide an action plan to establish
districtwide focus and clarity of goals to drive a coherent system of hiring, support, and retention
in order to build teacher self-efficacy and effectiveness. LUDs should use these results to
implement PLCs, mentoring programs, financial incentives for hiring and professional develop-
ment, and differentiated training and supports to improve teacher practice.
The data collected and analyzed in this study indicated significant support for these
strategies in addressing the staffing needs at hard-to-staff schools. This study calls for systems to
promote collaborative school cultures and differentiated support for the teachers who daily make
a positive difference in the lives of the deserving students of LUDs.
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 146
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Appendix A
Recruitment Letter to Principals
Dear [CONTACT NAME],
My name is [USC STUDENT’S NAME], and I am currently [USC STUDENT’S TITLE/
POSITION], located in the United States. I am also a doctoral student at the University of
Southern California (USC), and in September 2018 I will conduct research along with two other
doctoral students from USC as part of a research team led by Dr. Michael Escalante.
Recently, a member of our research team contacted you or a representative at your school to
request your participation in a 1-day study. On September 14, 2018, another doctoral student and
I hope to visit [NAME OF SCHOOL/INSTITUTION] to talk with and survey willing teachers
and administrators.
This study’s ultimate goal is to understand how school districts can improve the recruitment,
retention, and training of teachers to build effectiveness and reduce attrition. We are interested in
the impact of professional development, mentor teachers, National Board Certified teachers, and
professional learning communities (PLCs) on building teacher self-efficacy and improving the
ability to raise academic achievement in students. Furthermore, we aim to understand how the
support system at schools reduces teacher attrition by creating collaborative cultures that promote
conditions for success.
The following questions will guide our research:
1. What are the recruitment strategies used by large urban districts that result in the most effec-
tive hiring?
2. How can large urban districts improve their postinduction training to retain the highest
number of qualified teachers?
3. What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+ years or completion of
induction process) in the system?
4. What strategies could or should be used to improve the effectiveness of novice and surplus
teachers?
Thank you for considering my request and taking your valuable time to read this correspondence.
Without your help, this study would not be possible.
May I request that you reply at your convenience via email to [USC STUDENT’S EMAIL] to
provide a contact number and preferred time for me to call you to discuss details about my visit
to [NAME OF SCHOOL/INSTITUTION].
Sincerely,
[USC STUDENT’S NAME]
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 155
Appendix B
Study Information Sheet
INFORMATION/FACT SHEET FOR EXEMPT NONMEDICAL RESEARCH
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall
3470 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, CA 90089
THE INFLUENCE OF TEACHER RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, TRAINING,
AND IMPROVEMENT ON DISTRICT SUPPORT OF 21ST-CENTURY
TEACHING AND LEARNING
You are invited to participate in a research study. Research studies include only people who vol-
untarily choose to take part. This document provides information about the study. You should
ask questions about anything that is unclear to you.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to examine how large urban school districts can increase efficiency
and effectiveness in recruiting and retaining quality teachers in the system beyond 5 years. This
study takes a comprehensive look at the necessary training needed to build teacher self-efficacy
and the effects of traditional and online professional development, the newly created microcre-
dentials, and how these modes of training impact both novice and experienced teachers’ ability to
provide instruction that improves student academic achievement. The study also examines how
districts should implement support systems for teacher improvement including the use of and
impact of PLCs, induction programs, the establishment of peer–mentor support, and the effective
use of National Board Certified teachers.
PARTICIPANT INVOLVEMENT
If you agree to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in a 15-minute survey and/
or a 45-minute audiotaped interview. You do not have to answer any questions that you don’t
want to answer; if you don’t want to be taped, you can still participate in the study.
You may elect to participate in the interview process and not be audio recorded. You may elect
not to participate at all. Your relationship with your school/employer will not be affected by
whether or not you participate in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
No identifiable information will be obtained in connection with this study. Your name, address,
or other identifiable information will not be collected. The members of the research team and the
University of Southern California’s Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) may access the
data. The HSPP reviews and monitors research studies to protect the rights and welfare of
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 156
research subjects. When the results of the research are published or discussed in conferences, no
identifiable information will be used.
INVESTIGATOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Principal Investigator:
Dr. Michael Escalante, Clinical Professor, University of Southern California, mescalan@usc.edu
Co-investigators:
Christopher Downing, Superintendent, Anaheim Elementary School District, cdowning@usc.edu
Vivian Ekchian, Deputy Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, vekchian@usc.edu
Cheryl Hildreth, Local District Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District, childret@usc.edu
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
University Park Institutional Review Board (UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu
IRB CONTACT INFORMATION
If you have questions, concerns, or complaints about your rights as a research participant or the
research in general and are unable to contact the research team, or if you want to talk to someone
independent of the research team, please contact the University Park Institutional Review Board
(UPIRB), 3720 South Flower Street #301, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0702, (213) 821-5272 or
upirb@usc.edu
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 157
Appendix C
Qualitative Survey Protocol for School Administrators
Date: Location of Survey:
Directions: Please read the terms and definitions below prior to proceeding to the questions.
Once you have read the terms and definitions, proceed to survey items 1–11 and rate your
opinion next to each statement.
Highly qualified: Teachers who help students learn 2–3 additional months of mathematics and
reading compared to an average teacher.
Professional development: Training that supports the development of effective teachers and
improving student achievement.
Professional growth: Improvement in teacher practice demonstrated by growth in the ability to
engage students and to provide student-centered instruction that yields higher-than-predicted
increases in student achievement.
Teacher effectiveness: The degree to which teachers impact student learning and have higher-
than-predicted increases in student achievement.
Post-induction: Access to external training and National Board Certification support provided to
teachers after their 5th year of service (e.g., peer mentors, professional learning communities
[PLCs], teacher support, etc.).
RESEARCH QUESTION #1: What are the recruitment strategies used by large urban districts
that result in the most effective hiring?
Identify how much impact each of the following recruitment strategies results in hiring effective
teachers and improves student achievement and graduation rates:
Recruitment strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Higher Learning Institutes (HLIs) F F F F F
Hiring Fairs F F F F F
Contract Incentives F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 158
Increased Advertising of
Benefits Package via District
TV Station Job Search Ads
F F F F F
Radio Ads F F F F F
Social Media F F F F F
Job Posting Websites F F F F F
Programs to Train Existing Staff
to Meet Teaching Qualifications
of Nonpermanent Teachers
F F F F F
Recruitment Staff at
Universities
F F F F F
Increased Partnerships With
HLIs to Host Student Teachers
F F F F F
Offering Immediate Loan
Forgiveness Programs
F F F F F
Recruiting Content Specialists
(e.g., Engineers, Biologists etc.)
F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #2: How can large urban districts improve their postinduction
training to retain the greatest number of highly qualified teachers?
Identify how much impact each of the following training strategies has had on your ability to
improve student achievement and graduation rates:
Training strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Conducting a demonstration
lesson
F F F F F
Weekly supports from mentors
and administrators
F F F F F
Observing fellow teachers and
providing peer feedback
F F F F F
Annual training to address cultural
diversity and awareness
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 159
Additional compensation for
micro-certifications in content area
F F F F F
School site retention plan for new
teachers
F F F F F
Nonpermanent teachers teaching
fewer periods than permanent
teachers
F F F F F
Programs to training existing
staff to meet teaching qualifications
of nonpermanent staff
F F F F F
Teachers completing an annual
Survey to identify their training
Needs
F F F F F
Requirement to commit to his-
torically underperforming school
for a minimum of 4 years
F F F F F
Programs to develop parent
Engagement strategies
F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #3: What strategies could or should be used to retain experienced
teachers (5+ years or completion of induction process) in the system?
Identify how much impact each of the following investments or additional supports has had to
support your ability to improve student achievement and graduation rates:
Investment/additional support
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Training Stipends F F F F F
Additional A-Basis Assistant
Principal
F F F F F
Additional Counselors
(Secondary/Pupil Services &
Administration (PSA)/Psychiatric
Social Worker (PSW)
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 160
Special Education Support
Provider
F F F F F
Programs to Identify Teachers
as Mentors
F F F F F
Professional Development Salary F F F F F
Extra Conference Period for
Nonpermanent Teachers
F F F F F
Substitute Days (25/35/45) F F F F F
Extended Assignment Substitute F F F F F
District Staffing Support F F F F F
Improved Compensation F F F F F
Loan Forgiveness Programs F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #4: What strategies could or should be used to improve effectiveness
of surplus teachers?
Identify how much impact each of the following strategies has had on your ability to improve
student achievement and graduation rates:
Retraining strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Conducting demonstration lessons
with mentor feedback
F F F F F
Weekly supports from mentors and
administrators
F F F F F
Observations of fellow teachers F F F F F
Annual trainings to address cultural
diversity and awareness
F F F F F
Additional compensation for micro-
certifications in content area
F F F F F
Surplus teachers receiving co-teaching
assignments with mentor teachers
F F F F F
Programs to retrain surplus teachers to
identify their training needs
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 161
Surplus teachers not being placed at
historically underperforming schools
F F F F F
Programs to develop parent
engagement strategies
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 162
Appendix D
Qualitative Survey Protocol for Teachers
Date: Location of Survey:
Directions: Please read the terms and definitions below prior to proceeding to the questions.
Once you have read the terms and definitions, proceed to survey items 1–11 and rate your
opinion next to each statement.
Highly qualified: Teachers who help students learn 2–3 additional months of mathematics and
reading compared to an average teacher.
Professional development: Training that supports the development of effective teachers and
improving student achievement.
Professional growth: Improvement in teacher practice demonstrated by growth in the ability to
engage students and to provide student-centered instruction that yields higher-than-predicted
increases in student achievement.
Teacher effectiveness: The degree to which teachers impact student learning and have higher-
than-predicted increases in student achievement.
Post-induction: Access to external training and National Board Certification support provided to
teachers after their 5th year of service (e.g., peer mentors, professional learning communities
[PLCs], teacher support, etc.).
RESEARCH QUESTION #1: What are the recruitment strategies used by large urban districts
that result in the most effective hiring?
Identify how much impact each of the following recruitment strategies result in hiring effective
teachers and improves student achievement and graduation rates:
Recruitment strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Higher Learning Institutes (HLIs) F F F F F
Hiring Fairs F F F F F
Contract Incentives F F F F F
Increased Advertising of
Benefits Package
F F F F F
Radio Ads F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 163
Social Media F F F F F
Job Posting Websites F F F F F
Programs to Train Existing Staff
to Meet Teaching Qualifications of
Nonpermanent Teachers
F F F F F
Recruitment Staff at
Universities
F F F F F
Increased Partnerships With
HLIs to Host Student Teachers
F F F F F
Offering Immediate Loan
Forgiveness Programs
F F F F F
Recruiting Content Specialists
(e.g., Engineers, Biologists, etc.)
F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #2: How can large urban districts improve their postinduction
training to retain the greatest number of highly qualified teachers?
Identify how much impact each of the following training strategies has had on your ability to
improve student achievement and graduation rates:
Training strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Conducting a demonstration
lesson
F F F F F
Weekly supports from mentors
and administrators
F F F F F
Observing fellow teachers and
providing peer feedback
F F F F F
Annual training to address
cultural diversity and awareness
F F F F F
Additional compensation for
micro-certifications in content area
F F F F F
School site retention plan for
new teachers
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 164
Nonpermanent teachers teaching
fewer periods than permanent
teachers
F F F F F
Programs to train existing staff to
meet teaching qualifications of
nonpermanent teachers
F F F F F
Teachers completing an annual
survey to identify their training
needs
F F F F F
Requirement to commit to his-
torically underperforming school
for a minimum of 4 years
F F F F F
Programs to develop parent
engagement strategies
F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #3: What strategies could be used to retain experienced teachers (5+
years or completion of induction process) in the system?
Identify how much impact each of the following investments or additional supports has had to
support your ability to improve student achievement and graduation rates:
Investment/additional support
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Training Stipends F F F F F
Additional A-Basis Assistant
Principal
F F F F F
Teacher Retention Incentive Pay F F F F F
Additional Counselors
(Secondary/PSA/PSW)
F F F F F
Special Education Support
Provider
F F F F F
Programs to Identify Teachers
as Mentors
F F F F F
Professional Development
Salary
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 165
Extra Conference Period for
Nonpermanent Teachers
F F F F F
Substitute Days (25/35/45) F F F F F
Extended Assignment Substitute F F F F F
District Staffing Support F F F F F
Improved Compensation F F F F F
Loan Forgiveness Programs F F F F F
RESEARCH QUESTION #4: What strategies could or should be used to improve the effective-
ness of surplus teachers?
Identify how much impact each of the following strategies has had on your ability to improve
student achievement and graduation rates:
Retraining strategies
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
Conducting demonstration lessons
with mentor feedback
F F F F F
Weekly supports from mentors and
administrators
F F F F F
Observations of fellow teachers F F F F F
Annual trainings to address cultural
diversity and awareness
F F F F F
Additional compensation for
micro-certifications in content area
F F F F F
Surplus teachers receiving co-
teaching assignments with mentor
teachers
F F F F F
Programs to retrain surplus teach-
ers to identify their training needs
F F F F F
Surplus teachers teaching fewer
periods than permanent teachers
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 166
Programs to retrain surplus teach-
ers on best practices
F F F F F
Teachers completing an annual
survey to identify their training
needs
F F F F F
Surplus teachers not being placed
at historically underperforming
schools
F F F F F
Programs to develop parent
engagement
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 167
Appendix E
Quantitative Data Collection Source: 2017-18 School Experience Survey
(Teachers)
How many years have you worked at any school in your current position (teacher)?
( ) Less than 1 year
( ) 1 to 2 years
( ) 3 to 5 years
( ) 6 to 10 years
( ) Over 10 years
Section I:
How strongly do you agree or disagree with each statement about your experience teaching at
this school this year?
Statement
Strongly
disagree Disagree
Neither
disagree
nor agree Agree
Strongly
agree
I feel confident integrating technol-
ogy into my instruction.
F F F F F
I feel confident using digital tools
to personalize learning activities.
F F F F F
I have sufficient autonomy to
implement an instructional
program that meets the needs of my
students.
F F F F F
The professional development at
this school is differentiated for my
level of teaching experience.
F F F F F
What I learn in our school profes-
sional development meetings
addresses my students’ needs.
F F F F F
The educator development and sup-
port process for teachers helps me
improve my teaching and learning.
F F F F F
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 168
Section II:
In your professional development (training, grade-level and departmental-level meetings, etc.),
about how often did you do the following this year?
Activity Weekly
Twice a
month Monthly
A few
times
per
year
Hardly
ever Never
Observed the instruction of my
colleagues to get ideas for my
own instruction
F F F F F F
With my colleagues, I examined
evidence of students’
understanding/mastery (e.g., test
data, student work) to improve
my instruction.
F F F F F F
Worked in grade-level or
department-level teams to re-
view and align grading prac-
tices.
F F F F F F
Section III:
How often does school leadership do the following?
Activity Weekly
Twice a
month Monthly
A few
times
per
year
Hardly
ever Never
Visit your classroom to observe
your teaching
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Section IV:
How often does school leadership provide useful feedback to you based on their observations?
( ) Always
( ) Often
( ) Sometimes
( ) Rarely
( ) Never
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 169
Section V:
To what extent are teaching social and emotional skills happening in classrooms at your
school?
( ) Not really taught in my school
( ) In some teachers’ curricula but not in others
( ) Happening on a programmatic basis school wide
( ) Not sure
Section VI:
How often do teachers do the following at your school?
Activity Weekly Monthly Rarely Never
Teachers meet to examine student performance
data.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Teachers collaborate with one another by de-
partment, Small Learning Communities, or
grade level about curricular or instructional
issues.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Section VII:
Do teachers have common planning time in teams to discuss instruction and academic sup-
ports for students?
( ) Yes
( ) No
( ) Don’t know
About how often do teachers in your school participate in common planning related to in-
struction and academic supports
( ) Less than once a month
( ) About once a month
( ) Two to three times per month
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 170
Appendix F
Qualitative Administrator Interview Protocol
Interviewer: Date:
Interviewee: Location:
Job Title: Contact Information:
Length of Time in Your Position:
Start Time: End Time:
Introduction:
[Introduce yourself and your affiliation.]
During this conversation, we hope to learn more about [insert affiliation] and your perceptions of
how recruitment, retention, training and improvement strategies contribute to teacher effective-
ness. Your responses should be based on your own experiences and your observations of peers
who meet the quality of effectiveness, including the degree to which teachers impact student
learning and have higher-than-predicted increases in student achievement.
We are requesting use of a tape recorder to help accurately capture all your responses. We will
compile the data from this study into a report that will include your direct quotes; however, none
of the responses will be attributed to you. We will create a pseudonym for you and your school
to maintain your confidentiality.
If you remember, we shared a Study Information Sheet with you at the time you agreed to partici-
pate in the study. As it outlined, we will maintain data from this study in a password-protected
computer for 3 years, at which time it will be destroyed. Do we have your consent to record?
This interview will last approximately 45 minutes. Do you have any questions before we begin?
I. Influence of Recruitment Strategies on Teacher Shortages
1. What is your opinion of the importance of Higher Learning Institutes in recruiting teach-
ers to districts and hard-to-staff schools?
2. What is your opinion of contract incentives to fill teacher vacancies at hard-to-staff, low-
performing schools?
3. Would the implementation of immediate loan forgiveness programs increase the recruit-
ment of teachers and reduce teacher attrition from the district?
4. What is the importance of teacher training programs in preparing future recruitments
who become effective teachers?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 171
5. How do programs such as Teach for America that recruit candidates to remain in teach-
ing for short-term periods impact student achievement?
II. Influence of Retention Strategies on Retaining Highly Effective Teachers in School
Districts
1. What is your opinion of mentors to improve teacher competency and reduce attrition?
2. What is the impact of ineffective administrators of fostering satisfactory working condi-
tions to retain effective teachers in the district?
3. How do mindsets impact teachers’ perceptions about their jobs?
4. How do administrators retain effective teachers at higher rates than ineffective teachers?
5. How do inter-district teacher mobility rates impact the attrition rate of districts by provid-
ing teachers with the ability to transfer schools?
6. What is the importance of effective teacher skillsets in preparing teachers to be success-
ful and to remain in the district?
7. What is the more important teacher quality, mindset or skillset?
III. Strategies to Implement Effective Teacher Training
1. What is the role of the school to provide PLCs to promote teacher discussion and focus
on commonly identified student needs?
2. What is the value of a PLC to improve teacher practice?
3. What is the role of universities and teacher training programs to provide ongoing training
support for teachers once they work for a district?
4. What is the role of the district in providing effective training to build teacher knowledge
and practice?
5. What are the characteristics of an effective teacher induction program?
6. What is the role of National Board Certified teachers in improving the skills of novice
and less effective teachers?
7. How can the district improve the use of mentors to work with novice and less effective
teachers?
8. How should districts and universities work together to create teacher training programs
and support teacher development?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 172
IV. Strategies to Implement Teacher Effectiveness
1. What characteristics are evident in an effective teacher?
2. Do effective teachers have natural abilities that other less talented teachers do not?
3. Do “bright people” have the ability to figure out teaching as they experience it?
4. Do “bright people” make better teachers?
5. Do effective teachers have specific professional knowledge that is improved through
interactions with other teachers?
6. What is the role of mentors in helping to share practices of effectiveness?
7. What is your opinion on all effective teachers being good mentors?
8. What can districts do to make sure that PLCs are implemented to promote teacher discus-
sion and collaboration?
9. What is your opinion on the characteristics of PLCs that improve teacher effectiveness?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 173
Appendix G
Qualitative Teacher Interview Protocol
Interviewer: Date:
Interviewee: Location:
Job Title: Contact Information:
Length of Time in Your Position:
Start Time: End Time:
Introduction:
[Introduce yourself and your affiliation.]
During this conversation, we hope to learn more about [insert affiliation] and your perceptions of
how recruitment, retention, training and improvement strategies contribute to teacher effective-
ness. Your responses should be based on your own experiences and your observations of peers
who meet the quality of effectiveness, including the degree to which teachers impact student
learning and have higher-than-predicted increases in student achievement.
We are requesting use of a tape recorder to help accurately capture all your responses. We will
compile the data from this study into a report that will include your direct quotes; however, none
of the responses will be attributed to you. We will create a pseudonym for you and your school
to maintain your confidentiality.
If you remember, we shared a Study Information Sheet with you at the time you agreed to partici-
pate in the study. As it outlined, we will maintain data from this study in a password-protected
computer for 3 years, at which time it will be destroyed. Do we have your consent to record?
This interview will last approximately 45 minutes. Do you have any questions before we begin?
I. Influence of Recruitment Strategies on Teacher Shortages
1. What is your opinion of the importance of Higher Learning Institutes in recruiting teach-
ers to districts and hard-to-staff schools?
2. What is your opinion of contract incentives to fill teacher vacancies at hard-to-staff, low-
performing schools?
3. Would the implementation of immediate loan forgiveness programs increase the recruit-
ment of teachers and reduce teacher attrition from the district?
4. What is the importance of teacher training programs in preparing future recruitments
who become effective teachers?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 174
5. How do programs such as Teach for America that recruit candidates to remain in teach-
ing for short-term periods impact student achievement?
II. Influence of Retention Strategies on Retaining Highly Effective Teachers in School
Districts
1. What is your opinion of mentors to improve teacher competency and reduce attrition?
2. What is the impact of ineffective administrators of fostering satisfactory working condi-
tions to retain effective teachers in the district?
3. How do mindsets impact teacher perceptions about their job?
4. How do teachers retain effective teachers at higher rates than ineffective teachers?
5. How do inter-district teacher mobility rates impact the attrition rate of districts by provid-
ing teachers with the ability to transfer schools?
6. What is the importance of effective teacher skillsets in preparing teachers to be success-
ful and to remain in the district?
7. What is the more important teacher quality, mindset or skillset?
III. Strategies to Implement Effective Teacher Training
1. What is the role of the school to provide PLCs to promote teacher discussion and focus
on commonly identified student needs?
2. What is the value of a PLC to improve teacher practice?
3. What is the role of universities and teacher training programs to provide ongoing training
support for teachers once they work for a district?
4. What is the role of the district in providing effective training to build teacher knowledge
and practice?
5. What are the characteristics of an effective teacher induction program?
6. What is the role of National Board Certified teachers in improving the skills of novice
and less effective teachers?
7. How can the district improve the use of mentors to work with novice and less effective
teachers?
8. How should districts and universities work together to create teacher training programs
and to support teacher development?
INFLUENCES ON 21ST-CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING 175
IV. Strategies to Implement Teacher Effectiveness
1. What characteristics are evident in an effective teacher?
2. Do effective teachers have natural abilities that other less talented teachers do not?
3. Do “bright people” have the ability to figure out teaching as they experience it?
4. Do “bright people” make better teachers?
5. Do effective teachers have specific professional knowledge that is improved through
interactions with other teachers?
6. What is the role of mentors in helping to share practices of effectiveness?
7. What is your opinion on all effective teachers being good mentors?
8. What can districts do to make sure that PLCs are implemented to promote teacher discus-
sion and collaboration?
9. What is your opinion on the characteristics of PLCs that improve teacher effectiveness?

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The success of school districts to effectively educate students is driven by the quality of the daily classroom instruction that takes place. Teacher shortages, especially in the fields of special education, science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related fields, negatively impacts instruction by forcing districts to hire under-qualified teachers. The quality of teaching is further impacted by high attrition rates in high-poverty schools that often have a high turnover of teachers and teaching staffs, including many new teachers. These impacts are especially important in large urban districts (LUDs) that often have agreements with bargaining units that prohibit the removal of teachers that are ineffective in comparison to smaller districts, which can displace ineffective teachers and replace them with more qualified teachers taken from rich pools of applicants. ❧ This study cited research that described the barriers impacting the effective recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. The study identifies the type of training and support necessary to build self-efficacy among new teachers and veteran teachers who have a history of ineffectiveness. The research study also identifies research-based findings on how districts can better support teachers to create a collaborative environment and to reduce the attrition of highly qualified teachers. The study investigated how the training and improvement strategies of a district can directly improve the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers, thereby leading to a system of coherence that positively impacts student achievement.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Downing, Christopher Todd (author)

Core Title Influence of teacher recruitment, retention, training, and improvement on district support of 21st-century teaching and learning

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 03/22/2019

Defense Date 03/11/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 21st-century teaching and learning,district support,OAI-PMH Harvest,retention,teacher recruitment,training and improvement

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Escalante, Michael (committee chair), Castruita, Rudy (committee member), Torres, Erika (committee member)

Creator Email cdowning@usc.edu,ctdowning1@aol.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-135905

Unique identifier UC11675299

Identifier etd-DowningChr-7175.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-135905 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-DowningChr-7175.pdf

Dmrecord 135905

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Downing, Christopher Todd

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