教师为什么留下来?? CECI项目成功地留住了 青年教师

Devan Washington distinctly remembers his first day as 教师助理. 那是新学年的开始 COVID-19 pandemic and 13 small kindergarten faces appeared in Zoom 电脑上的方块.

第一天，我的合作老师 internet went out, so I had to start the whole day by myself," 2021年毕业于大峡谷大学的华盛顿说. “我还没准备好 for that, but it turned out to be a great experience."

华盛顿现在在弗里蒙特教五年级 International Academy in 巴特尔克里克, may have had to fly solo that day but he has been supported in his teaching career since. 作为一个 一年级当老师，他就参加了 早期职业教师辅导计划(ECT) 通过GVSU的教育和社区学院 创新. 华盛顿方面继续接受有关方面的指导 Professional Learning Community (PLC), a program for second- and 三年级老师.

这两个导师项目就是其中的策略 由 Grand Valley, Battle的伙伴关系 克里克公立学校(BCPS)和W.K. 凯洛格基金会 对该地区的教育产生积极影响. 该项目成立于2019年，旨在增加 BCPS的教师保留率. 全国范围内，近40%的教师 在头五年内离开. 

自项目启动以来，已有97名BCPS教师 参加了. Sarah Cox, visiting faculty of education, serves as a mentor and 说 the programs are making a difference, adding that the retention rate among teachers in the program is 85% from 2019-2024.

Retention rates among BCPS teachers are increasing, Cox 说, because she and other mentors provide individualized support and talk frankly with mentees about their classrooms and their lives 作为老师.

“当你是一名教师实习生时，你就会明白 foundation of teaching but that's only one part of becoming a 课堂老师，”考克斯说. “他们必须承认 that they will participate fully in the lives of their students. 但 then they take a breath and look at that classroom environment and 问:‘这是什么意思?'"

雷克萨斯·巴克斯代尔(雷克萨斯巴克辛德尔)也是该校2021届毕业生 biology at 巴特尔克里克 中心高中 and serves as the 学校的科学系主任. 和华盛顿一样，巴克斯代尔也加入了 her third year of teaching and has 参加了 in three years of 导师项目. 她说，每年的节目内容都有变化 与前一年不同的关注点和基础.

“今年，我们一直在谈论成为一个 leader, how to make changes and implement them," Baxendale 说. "We build on the discussions we have had over the past two years and talk about how we can make significant change."