Teacher Retention Plan for the Arts Classroom

Guest Post by PSAE Board Members:
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Gail Hubbard-Mack
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator
Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5

and​
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James A. Stroman, Sr.
Elementary Band Consultant
Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5

I remember reading an online article from the Washington Post (11/27/17) on teacher retention. It stated that more than 40% of all teachers leave the profession within their first five years with even higher rates for high-poverty, high-minority public schools. This should be a major concern. Losing our teachers is a serious matter. As educators, we need to be relentlessly proactive in our efforts to maintain qualified professionals in the classroom.

In my opinion, a critical first step to retain our teachers is to find out why they are leaving. Candid conversations need to take place to uncover what is “pulling” them away from the profession and what can be done for them to “stick and stay.” If we continue to lose teachers, we are putting the quality of instruction that our children receive at risk. In my district, I witness the challenges that administrators face each year in trying to ensure that there are highly qualified teachers in front of students. 

As the district’s Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, I encounter the same challenges with maintaining qualified fine arts faculty. I know that the best-qualified arts educators are looking for environments where the arts are an equal part of CORE-curricula and not just the “icing on the cake.” They want state-of-the-art facilities, equipment, materials and resources. They also want district-level administrators to understand the arts aren’t just a reprieve for students from the day-to-day routine of the “ordinary classroom,” but that students will leave with skills they will use throughout their lives.  In talking with arts teachers, they say that they don’t feel that their principals understand that arts classes are standard-driven and provide rigor – that they don’t understand how fine arts instruction ignites higher order thinking skills and gives students opportunities to have “real life” experiences. If school leaders do not acknowledge the power of the arts and the positive impact they have on student learning and support these teachers, fine arts teachers will continue to become harder to find with the ones who are still in the field looking to other more supportive school cultures.

One of my closest friends and colleagues is Mr. James A. Stroman, Sr., the district’s elementary band consultant. Mr. Stroman is my “go to” person for good, solid advice. With his years of experience and expertise, I often pick his brain for best practices he has learned over the years. So I asked him, “What can I do to prevent teachers from leaving our district after only one or two years?”  He shared the following insights.

In order to maintain and sustain your teachers, you as the fine arts coordinator need to implement a plan that includes the following:

• Providing support for teachers, ranging from ways such as mentoring and coaching, professional development, sufficient financial resources, to being the “loud” voice for arts advocacy at all levels.
• Cultivating collaborative efforts for the arts by encouraging your teachers join and participate in local, state and national arts foundations, task forces, arts commissions, local universities and city and county government.
• Creating the best possible working conditions by ensuring that their facilities are appropriate for their specific art form. This means working with school level administrators to make sure that arts classrooms meet the minimum state requirements for each area and that schedules are made that provide ample instructional time and manageable class sizes.
• Empowering teachers to succeed by keeping them informed of “what’s new” in the arts on the state and national levels as well as helping them to grow and become a part of local, state and national leadership teams.
• Recognizing your teachers publicly. Celebrate both their personal successes as working artists and their achievements as demonstrated through their students. Be sincere with the praise, and do it with consistency.
• Treating your teachers as if they are irreplaceable; make them a part of decision-making, fight for their rights and place in education and don’t be afraid to plead for their compensation. Most importantly, show them how much they are needed to convince them to stay on your team.
• And finally, establishing high expectations early on by providing them with clear definitions of the goals and objectives.  Poor teaching is not acceptable; in other words, make it plain.

His good advice made me realize how critical it is to have a plan in place. It needs to be a support system for both new and veteran fine arts educators, and one that reduces any barriers to open communication.  Mr. Stroman’s advice also serves as a reminder that just as our students love to hear when they have done a good job, my fine arts teachers need that also. Too often upper level administrators focus on how important students are to our success but they repeatedly forget to recognize how crucial teachers are to the success of those students.   
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In conclusion, rather than have teachers leave our district in pursuit of a better opportunities, we need to work to become the BEST option for those teachers.