Table of Contents

• Introduction



• Method



• Participants



• Societal Attitude



• Financial Issues



• Time Scarcity



• Workload



• Working Conditions



• Relationships with Students and
  Parents



• Conclusion

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Introduction

Teachers in the public and private K-12 schools in the United States are
currently the focus of considerable attention. In his 2002 State of the Union
Address, President George W. Bush highlighted the importance of a quality education
for each child and the importance of "a quality teacher in every classroom" (Bush,
2002). In a discussion pertaining to school reform, the National Commission on
Mathematics and Science Teaching Chaired by John Glenn (2000), also asserted, "The
most powerful instrument for change, and therefore the place to begin, lies at the
very core of education - with teaching itself" (p. 5).

Even though good teaching is recognized as the cornerstone of a good education,
quality teachers are difficult to attract and retain. Teachers are leaving the
profession in disturbing numbers. Several studies have documented this departure. A
recent report conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Education, for
instance, found that 20% of beginning teachers left the profession within four
years (Henke, Chen, Geis, & Knepper, 2000). Kirby & Grissmer (1993) studied
data generated from 50,000 Indiana teachers over a 32-year period and found that
half of the teacher population in the study left teaching by the end of year four.
Similarly, Konanc (1996) studied 81,000 teachers in North Carolina and found that
one-third left by the fifth year. Ingersoll (2001) studied data from the Teacher
Follow-up Survey of a national sample of 6,733 teachers conducted by the National
Center for Education Statistics as part of the Schools and Staffing Survey, and
found that there was a turnover rate of 13.2%. According to the survey, the primary
reasons for the dissatisfaction of the teachers who left were: poor salary (45%),
lack of student motivation (38%), inadequate administrative support (30%), student
discipline problems (30%), and inadequate preparation time (23%).

The results of other large-scale teacher surveys provided further quantitative
data regarding the opinions of teachers as they decided whether to stay or to leave
the profession. Kirby and Grissmer (1993) identified five actions that could reduce
teacher attrition: higher compensation, effective induction programs, increased
parental involvement, professionalization of teaching, and assistance with the
non-academic emotional and/or social issues of their students. A national survey of
3,560 public school teachers named the work environment as the main problem, and
further found that only one-third of the teachers strongly agreed with the
statement that they "felt supported by parents" (Lewis, Parsad, Carey, Bartfai,
Farris & Smerdon, 1999). Loss of respect from students was the major problem
identified in a phone survey of 914 K-12 teachers by Farkas, Johnson, and Foleno
(2000). They also found that three-fourths of the teachers interviewed believed
that they were seriously underpaid, and 86% said that reducing class size would
improve teacher quality. A survey of 1,400 teachers by Henke, Chen, Geis and
Knepper (2000) found that only small percentages of teachers were satisfied with
the following aspects of their job: Only 26.5% were satisfied with students'
motivation to learn; 32.7% were satisfied with student discipline and/or behavior;
and, 31% were satisfied with parental support. Clearly, the handful of studies
noted here suggest that many teachers are dissatisfied with various aspect of their
profession.

While these related studies are important to understanding the breadth of the
problems facing novice teachers, their quantitative results alone do not allow for
developing a fuller or more dimensional analysis of the issue. Based on the need
for more descriptive detail, the current study was designed to extend
understandings about novice teachers' reasons for leaving the profession by
specifically seeking the perceptions, beliefs, and personal accounts of the
day-to-day experiences of a sample of teachers. Providing these narrative accounts
is intended to lend to the overall literature that exists on the topic. While the
issues pertaining to leaving the profession reported on in this study are similar
to those found in the existing literature, the insightful details participants
provide about teaching and their own reasons for leaving the profession,
personalizes the lives of teachers. The intent of the work is to provide educators
at all levels, particularly school administrators and policymakers, understandings
about the nature of teachers' work and how their struggles in school affect their
decisions to remain in the profession.

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Method

The purpose of this study was to describe teaching from the perspective of
novice teachers in order to determine factors that might lead to their leaving the
profession. Novice teachers' experiences and perceptions of their teaching career
were collected through interviews, conducted both by phone and in person, and
open-ended questionnaires. Participants were asked to respond to a number of basic
questions: "What is it like to be a novice teacher? What are the best aspects of
teaching? What are the worst aspects of teaching? Please tell your story." These
multiple forms of data were triangulated throughout the course of the study to
identify common themes and patterns that represented participants' realties. The
initial analysis of the participants' narratives involved the identification of
points of strife related to teaching. Several recurrent themes (problem areas)
emerged and are supported by participant quotes.

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Participants

The participants in this study were all graduates of a Master's level (Master of
Arts in Teaching) teacher education program at a southern university. This yearlong
program offered initial licensure for students in secondary (9-12) teaching.
Admission to this program was competitive, and students typically had GRE scores in
the upper quartile. The teachers in this study completed the program between 1991
and 1997, and had been teaching, or eligible for teaching, between one and three
years at the time of data collection which occurred periodically over several
years.

All 118 graduates from the program between 1991 and 1997 were invited to
participate in the study. Current addresses were obtained from school records. A
letter and questionnaire were sent to all 118 graduates.

Sixty-four graduates returned questionnaires after two reminders. To obtain data
from non-responders, 35 telephone interviews were conducted with students who did
not return the questionnaire. To check and verify initial conclusions, a small
sample of 6 graduates who had not responded to the questionnaire and had not been
interviewed by phone were interviewed in person. They were chosen because of their
availability and relative proximity to the researcher. These six face-to-face
interviews were used for member-checking, and these data corroborated the initial
conclusions while adding additional descriptive detail. Thus, there were a total of
105 participants. Ages ranged from 25 to 44, with a median age of 28. The study
sample was comprised of 49 males (47%) and 56 females (53%). All participants were
secondary level (grades 9-12) teachers. The distribution of their subject
specialization was as follows: 28 English (27%), 26 Mathematics (25%), 26 Science
(25%), and 24 Social Studies (23%).

The participants were asked about their teaching experience. Fifty-five (52%)
were currently teaching, 32 (30%) had taught and then left teaching, and 18 (17%)
never taught. At the time of the study, 44 (42%) were teaching in public schools,
11 (10%) were teaching in private schools, 13 (12%) were working in education
related positions such as administration, 17 (16%) were working elsewhere - usually
in business, 12 (11%) were stay-at-home parents, and 8 (8%) were attending graduate
school. Their teaching experiences were in 18 different states.

Participants' real names were not used in the study. Subjects and teaching
assignments, however, are factual. Data were analyzed and generated six themes
related to why teachers leave the profession: societal attitude, financial issues,
time scarcity, workload, working conditions, and student/parent relationships.
These factors were considered by participants as problem areas believed to be
contributing to teachers leaving the profession.

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Societal Attitude

The participants in this study believed that the attitude of society toward the
teaching profession was unfair and detrimental to their overall functioning. They
did not believe that they were valued, despite their advanced levels of education.
In a recent nationwide survey of over 11,000 teachers and teacher candidates,
Henke, Chen, Geis, and Knepper (2000) found that only 14.6% of the teachers
surveyed were satisfied with the esteem in which society held the teaching
profession. This was also true of the teachers in the present study who maintained
that they did not feel respected, even though they had admirable goals in choosing
a teaching career. They wanted to help young people. They wanted to share their
love of learning. They wanted to improve society. Many of them were in the
profession because of a love for their subject, and most were there because they
liked young people and felt an altruistic sense of responsibility to the next
generation.

Abby, a high school history teacher, explained her reasons for teaching:

It is satisfying (and gratifying) to know that I am contributing to the good of
society and peoples' lives, both directly and indirectly, and on many levels.

Alvin, a former high school biology teacher described his motivations for
pursuing teaching, emphasizing "a sense of mission" as an important component:

I think the single most important quality that will guide preservice teachers
into the classroom is a sense of mission. It is this conviction that perpetuates
enthusiasm, creativity, persistence, motivation, and dedication. Without this
ingredient - futility waxes, interest wanes, and opportunities that are more
rewarding financially (and socially!) become more attractive every day.

There is a common erroneous belief that anyone can teach (Glenn, 2000). The
participants in this study viewed teaching as a professional pursuit. They had
spent five years in college and graduate school preparing for their profession.
They had earned Master's degrees and appropriate teaching licenses. They had passed
the Praxis Exam, which is parallel to a Bar exam or other professional standard of
preparation. Barbara, a former high school English teacher related her frustrations
with what she perceived as the public's devaluation of and lack of respect for
educators and the process of attaining their credentials:

Somehow, some way the American public has to renew its respect for educators. We
have to trust that these people are trained professionals equipped to do a very
specific, very challenging job. There is a tendency to believe anyone can teach,
but anyone who has been in a classroom for any length of time would surely
disagree. We must dispel the myth that "People who can, do. People who can't,
teach." Teaching is a profession, not a back-up option. People who go into
education usually do so as a first choice, not a last one.

Carol, a former high school math teacher who left teaching, described the lack
of value placed on her teaching experience as she sought other employment:

Currently, I do not believe that teaching is thought of as a "profession." When I
was interviewing in the business world, I was considered to have zero experience,
even though I had taught for two years. Teachers need to be viewed as
professionals.

The public perception of the image of the teacher is often far from the truth.
As noted by Ladson-Billings (2001):

Perhaps it comes from the persistence of Hollywood images of teachers in our
culture, but most people do not believe that teachers do intellectual work.
Michele Pfeiffer in the movie Dangerous Minds, Edward James Olmos in Stand and
Deliver, and Robin Williams in The Dead Poet's Society are examples of the images
of teachers that are inscribed in the public mind. Such depictions on the silver
screen rarely show the intellectual work of teaching. Hollywood teachers do not
prepare lessons; neither do they take graduate courses or participate in
professional networks.

Often times, the general public may not have a complete understanding of what
occurs in a teacher's workday. The teachers in this study believed that they had a
significant influence on the young people in their care, and as parents became less
involved with their children because of their own pursuits, the teachers were often
more familiar with the students' personal and social lives than were the parents.
Their day was long and intense, with many and various duties. Yet the teaching
profession is often accorded little prestige, and parents, peers, and even teachers
have been know to discourage students who express a desire to pursue a teaching
career. In a recent national survey of nearly one thousand teachers, Farkas,
Johnson, and Foleno (2000) found that 66% of the population they surveyed
maintained that they did not feel respected and appreciated, and 76% argued that
teachers are made scapegoats for all the "problems" in education.

Denise, a high school English teacher addressed the issue of respect:

There is a lack of respect for teachers. It's not just the money, but also the
attitude I get from administrators and politicians that teachers are trying to
get away with something. We have taken these cushy jobs where all we have to do
is stand up in front of a bunch of kids and BS for a few hours, and only work ten
months of the year, at that teachers have it easy! Every time we ask for
something (like, in my county, that the county pay our contribution to the state
retirement system, for example), they make us out to look like whiners - give 'em
an inch; they'll take a mile. The truth is, though, that teachers care so deeply
and work SO much beyond our "contract hours." I can't tell you how many come in
for weeks during the summer, as I do, and take on clubs after school (for which
we are not compensated), and work during vacations. This lack of respect for
teachers gets me down.

Similarly, Eva, a high school English teacher lends her observations:

Public school teachers face a fundamental lack of respect. We are not treated
like professionals, and the kids know it. I've had everyone from students to
friends to family members say things such as, "You're not going to teach for
long, are you? You could be so much more." Sadly, it boils down to the fact that
our society places high dollars on the things that it values, and by the looks of
my one and a half percent raise this year, I'm not very valuable. This turns off
the kinds of kids who would make good teachers. I've talked to many about it.
It's really not money as money that's the problem, but money as it represents
self-esteem in our society.

Fran, a high school math teacher, had this to offer:

Teaching could only be more attractive if people began to respect the profession.
I fear that the only way that would ever happen would be to have the parents and
community people somehow take a walk in our shoes and see that it is not a
year-round vacation. Most of them would not want to spend 8 hours a day teaching
their own 13 year old, much less 20 of their friends, but we don't get any
respect. I don't really see that changing.

Despite the lack of respect, these teachers emphasized the value of their
profession. They saw the numerous obstacles and societal problems that confront
many young people. In their respective schools they dealt with both well-adjusted
children, and also the children of neglect, the children of dysfunctional families,
the children of drugs and violence, and children with a multitude of other
problems. These teachers made considerable efforts, day after day. They struggled
to encourage and educate all of the children in their care. Abby, a high school
history teacher talked about her students, emphasizing the intrinsic value of her
work:

Every time a senior seeks me out to share good news about a college acceptance or
an underclassman looks for advice about school or a personal issue, I am reminded
how precious the work is that I do. Precious because the product I create is not
inanimate money or widgets, but living, breathing, working, and feeling young
people who deserve and demand my best. I hope to hell I'm giving it to them.

Brad, also a high school history teacher, talked about his students and the
inspiration they provide him:

I love the energy, creativity and different outlooks of the kids. When I close
the door to the hallway, I can create a world for them and me that is our own
learning experience. To see the light go on, the kid who wants to stay after, the
child who gets from me what no other adult gives him. These make it worthwhile at
the end of the day, the week and the year.

Whether they were preparing an honor student for a prestigious scholarship or a
high school non-reader for a competency test, these teachers believed that they
filled a number of student needs. And although they perceived that society did not
adequately appreciate them, they nonetheless believed that they were contributing
to it in influential ways.

In addition to a lack of respect, participants identified financial issues as
another factor that contributed to leaving the profession.

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Financial Issues

On top of the perception that they are not being valued by society, teachers are
notoriously underpaid in our country. Four years after their graduation, Henke et
al. (2000) surveyed a large sample of college graduates between 1992-1993. They
found that the teachers were tied with clerical staff and service workers for the
lowest salaries. A recent report from the American Federation of Teachers (AFT,
2000) found the following to be the case for the 2000-2001 school year:

For new teachers, the $28,986 average beginning salary lagged far behind starting
salary offers in other fields for new college graduates. For example, accounting
graduates were offered an average $37,143; sales/marketing, $40,033;
math/statistics, $49,548; computer science, $49,749; and engineering, $50,033.

The $43,250 average teacher salary fell short of average wages of other
white-collar occupations, the report found. For example, mid-level accountants
earned an average $52,664, computer system analysts, $71,155; engineers, $74,920;
and attorneys, $82,712.

The majority of the participants in this study related that they were simply not
paid enough to live comfortably. They drove old cars and lived in inexpensive
apartments. Others struggled to save enough money to buy a home. Calvin, a high
school science teacher, talked about his pay:

I love teaching, but I don't know if I love it enough to deprive my family and
myself of necessities. I have a baby and another on the way. I can't see how I
can ever save enough to make a down payment on a house, even with a second job in
the summer.

For the participants in this study, teaching often required a second job in the
summer to earn supplemental income. There were no summers of leisure, as can often
be the public's perception. Many also worked another job in the evenings or on
weekends during the school year. Teachers described their work as never-ending and
exhausting, and believed that increased pay would make the demands of the work more
bearable. The teachers in this study left the profession for many less appealing
occupations because the work was easier and the pay was greater. Doug, a high
school English teacher described his pay as an insult:

One of the worst aspects of teaching is pay, the monthly insult. I'll say right
up front that more money could make teaching more attractive. It is very
demanding and time-consuming work. The compensation just isn't appropriate.
Changing the public perception would also help, although I don't know how this
could be accomplished. It is a vicious cycle--low pay leads the "cream of the
college age crop" to not (on the whole) choose teaching as a profession. They can
and will find something else to do where they are less harassed and paid more
reasonably.

Denise, a high school English teacher was also unhappy with her compensation,
resolving her extra time commitments as "volunteer work":

Money is part of my discontent, frankly. I feel like this job is a kind of
ministry; it is both my employment and my volunteer work. That's how I can
justify 70 hour per week for $33,000/year.

Carol, a former high school math teacher acknowledged that the lack of monetary
rewards affected her decision to leave teaching:

The kids, the relationships, the challenges were all aspects of teaching that I
loved, but I needed more. I needed to be in a career that would reward you
financially for the time and efforts you give. Ultimately my decision was because
of the money.

As young teachers married and began their own families, they often had to find a
position that would allow them to support their family; a move many had to make
with regret. Glenn (2000) reported that the number one reason for teacher
dissatisfaction was poor salary, a reason cited by 66% of the teachers in this
study who left. Glenn also reported that teachers make 29% less on average than
others with similar degrees.

Eva, a high school English teacher stated her thoughts on teacher pay:

We must place an external value on what professional educators do. Compensate
them at a living wage that can support a family. As long as students know that
their teachers are paid so abominably and treated as members of a servant class,
there is no way that the "best and the brightest" will be convinced to enter or
stay in this profession.

One problem identified by the participants with respect to teacher pay is that
it is based on tenure and experience, and not on merit. Some teachers became
demoralized by low pay and ceased to give their best efforts to teaching. The
novice teachers in this study expected to work hard, succeed at teaching, and to be
rewarded for their success. They reported, however, that effort and incentive mean
nothing within the teacher-pay structured system that now exists. The creative and
successful teacher is paid on the same scale as the poor teacher, because the
salary schedule is solely based on years worked and degrees held. Teachers believed
that they should be paid more across the board, and excellent teachers should be
paid more based on merit. Abby, a high school history teacher compared her
colleagues:

One of the worst aspects of teaching is that there is no chance for promotion or
real recognition for a job well done - you will always be paid the same as Joe
Shmoe, the teacher who reads the newspaper all day in class.

Doug, a former high school English teacher who entered business subsequent to
teaching, related his dissatisfaction with the reward system, or lack thereof:

I wanted to work in a profession that rewards people based on merit not
longevity. I saw both good and bad teachers. However, there was no difference in
how they were compensated other than based on who had been there the longest. I
chose to enter the business world instead where at least I could rise or fall
based on my own efforts, whether good or bad.

Eugene, a former high school math teacher also criticized the salary system that
sometimes paid ineffective teachers more than those he believed deserved better
compensation, simply based on longevity:

The low pay and the salary system are a problem. There are so many teachers who
are not effective in the classroom and who spend little time preparing, yet they
earn more money than I do simply because they have shown up to work for more
years than I have. I truly believe some kind of merit pay system must exist if
schools hope to keep their best teachers. Schools do not do enough to reward/give
incentives to their best employees; everyone is treated equal regardless of job
performance.

The teachers in this study reported that money was a factor that influenced many
novice teachers to quit. It was not greed, but simply a desire for an adequate
living. The bright new teachers reported a need to be recognized and financially
rewarded for the demands of the work and success in their classrooms. Teachers'
compensation is a difficult issue, and data from the teachers in this study show
that financial considerations do affect decisions to leave teaching.

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Time Scarcity

Many new teachers were physically and emotionally fatigued to the point of
exhaustion. They reported that they worked long days at school, and then took home
lesson plans to create, papers to grade, and parents to call. They also worked
nights and weekends on school-related work.

Helen, a high school math teacher, talked about her full schedule:

I rarely work less than 55 hours a week. I often times have to take work home
with me in the evening or to do on the weekends. Added to the fact that teaching
all day is exhausting, I am always tired.

Dissatisfied with a demanding schedule that left little time for recreation and
personal pursuits, Alvin, a former high school biology teacher, explained why he
left teaching:

I left teaching after a year because I wasn't sure if this is what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life. The job wasn't nearly as glamorous as I thought it would
be. I saw others my age come home from 9 to 5 jobs, go out to eat, go home to
watch TV all night and then go to sleep. That's not the teacher's life. There is
grading papers all night, parents to call, plans to make, and even then there is
always something left undone. Then you get up the next day at the crack of dawn,
only to start a long trek of non-stop activity. The time demand was awesome and
left no time for a life outside of school and that's something I was not willing
to give up at this time in my life.

Jessica, a high school math teacher relayed a similar experience:

I work 70 hours a week, and after 3 years it's not getting any better. When
Friday night rolls around, all I want to do is fall asleep at 8 p.m.! Obviously
that doesn't lead to a very exciting social life, or much of a "life" at all, if
I can hardly stay awake long enough to go out to dinner with my friends and
family. Even at holidays there are always papers to grade.

Fred, a high school English teacher also had difficulty with the amount of time
required to do his job, pointing to the effect the time constraints had on family
relationships:

The time commitment is the worst. During my first two years of teaching I worked
70-80 hour weeks, including time worked during the school day, in the evenings
and over the weekend. Time commitment varies with the subject taught and with
experience, but this aspect of the job nearly ran me out of teaching on several
occasions and I witnessed one great new teacher leave teaching for this very
reason. "It's my job or my marriage," she explained. "I never see my husband, and
we're living under the same roof."

Gary, a high school English teacher remembered his first two years as both
emotionally and physically taxing:

Fatigue is my dominant memory of those first two years, physical and emotional
fatigue. In some ways it was truly foolish to keep going and I regularly
considered quitting. I was socially starved. I was frequently sick. I was
unnerved by stress and lost weight when I had no business losing it. I even broke
down at one point early in my second year on a Saturday morning in my apartment,
utterly overwhelmed by my insane decision to go at it another year. But I did,
for such is the power of vanity and snow days. Both kept me going.

Participants' comments clearly indicate that teaching is a very time-consuming
and intensive profession. The novice teachers in this study regularly spent long
days working both at school and at home not only because of the demands of the job,
but also because of their desire to do it well. They reported that it was not
because they were inefficient; it was simply because there was so much to do. The
actual time spent in the classroom teaching was only one part of the teacher's
responsibility. There was also the time required to plan interesting and motivating
lessons, to prepare the materials for those lessons, and to assess the students'
progress. Additional time was consumed as the teachers analyzed and reflected on
each lesson in order to self-evaluate and improve. Furthermore, there were parents
to contact, colleagues to meet with, and often a sports-related practice or
athletic event to supervise. They related that there were simply not enough hours
in the day.

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Workload

The data reveal that it is nearly impossible for a conscientious teacher to
complete all that is expected of them in one school day. At the high school level,
teachers were teaching five or more classes in a traditional school, and three in a
block schedule school. For each class this meant that the teacher's task was to
design a complete lesson lasting at least one hour. This lesson had to follow the
state curriculum, be engaging and interesting to students, and include various
components as required by the school district, such as a warm-up, class activities,
and homework. The teachers wanted to use outside resources such as the Internet to
connect the material to real world applications. Additionally, they reported that
there were often several special needs students in the class, and each of them
needed some special accommodation. They found that planning was not a trivial task;
it took several hours to design one effective instructional plan.

Hugh, a former high school mathematics teacher described his experiences with
special needs students:

I had one class that had six students with IEPs [Individual Educational Plans for
special education students]. In theory, I had help with that class, but all I
really had was a resource teacher that came by about once a week and said
"Hello." So I was teaching a class of 29 lower level algebra students, and six
were identified as needing special help and most of the others did, too, and I
just couldn't get to everyone. It was very frustrating.

Kari, a former high school English teacher, shared her first teaching
schedule:

Between the time I interviewed and the day I started, the other teachers in the
department had divvied up the departing teacher's classes (including gifted
students and yearbook/journalism). I walked into my first teaching position with
five different low-level classes.

Carol, a former high school math teacher related a similar experience:

I was hoping to teach a balance of lower and higher level courses. I was more
comfortable in student teaching with my honors classes. The students were less
challenging and the material more interesting. It seems that other teachers feel
the same way, so that the teachers with seniority get the "good" classes, while
the new teachers get thrown to the wolves teaching all the "bad" classes. These
labels are unfair, but the lower-level classes would have more students who would
challenge me in terms of discipline as well as learning difficulties.

The perceptions of teachers such as Carol were that the new teachers were
usually assigned the "leftover" courses. The veteran teachers had some choices in
the schedule, but the new teacher often did not know her or his schedule until the
beginning of the school year. Not only did the new teachers get the lowest level
classes, but they also got the widest variety of classes, even out of their field
of expertise. This all contributed to what one teacher called "an impossible
workload." Hugh a former high school math teacher made a suggestion about
scheduling:

An effort needs to be made to not give new teachers a schedule filled with the
worst classes all day long. This will burn out teachers very quickly, and make
them realize that you have to teach 10-15 years before you can get a "good" class
and the low pay and horrible classes for 10 years is not worth that possible
future reward.

No differentiation is made for a twenty-year veteran and a novice teacher. They
are assigned the same number of courses to teach, and usually the new teacher has
the more difficult courses, in terms of content and student population. After a
teacher has taught a course once, if he or she is well organized, the previous
course materials can serve as a resource for the next time that course is taught.
That is assuming the teacher is assigned a similar teaching schedule on successive
years. The beginning teacher must work even harder to build up this resource file.
Ike, a high school history teacher remembered his first year:

During year one, the quality of life was poor due to exhaustion and simply trying
to keep up with my classes (4 preparations, including two semester long courses
that did not have textbooks nor an extensive curriculum). The workload is too
heavy and could potentially be a factor if I leave teaching. The system is set up
for mediocrity due to large class sizes, heavy outside requirements, and too many
classes.

First-year teachers should have one less class to teach than other teachers. Most
other professions allow for a breaking-in period for new employees, why not
teaching? No matter what administrators might say, in the teach-a-day world, new
teachers are expected to perform the same tasks at the same level as veteran
teachers. They are assessed by the very same criteria as veteran teachers, and
yet they are paid half as much while receiving little, if any, organized
mentoring assistance. There must be a concession somewhere.

According to the teachers in this study, class sizes were another difficult
feature of the teacher's day. In public high schools, most class sizes ranged from
25 to 35 students for a total of 125-175 students in a traditional school, and
75-105 in a four period block school. Henke et al. (2000) reported that the average
number of students taught by secondary teachers each day is 115.8. Abby, a high
school history teacher explained the effect of large class sizes:

Imagine any other professional trying to deal with the needs of this many
"customers" at one time. If a physician were seeing patients, and grouped this
many together, it is readily apparent how ridiculous it would be to expect her or
him to address the needs of each person. The same is true for teachers.

Each student is an individual, with needs and issues that must be addressed. In
a class period, the teachers expressed frustration because they could not address
the needs of 25 or more students. Gina, a former high school science teacher
described the variety in her workload as well as in her students' abilities:

What I least expected was the amount of paperwork I had to do. Grading papers,
progress reports, parent conferences, English-as-a-Second Language, exceptional
students, ADD paperwork, and even work for absent students seem to take more time
than "teaching."

To compound the issue, teachers also related many learning issues, where
students had questions or misunderstandings that could easily have been cleared up
with a few minutes of one-on-one time. They also reported discipline issues that
got more serious when they were not addressed. Some students were bored. Some
lacked basic skills and could not perform without help. In general, the teachers
expressed being frustrated because they are educated professionals who could
address these issues, if there were time to get to everyone. There was simply not
enough time to address the variety of issues that simultaneously too place. Farkas
et al. (2000) reported that 86% of new teachers report that the change most likely
to improve teaching is reducing class size. Eva, a high school English teacher
summed up her frustration with large class sizes.

This was not a matter of poor time management; it was a matter of too many
students with too many needs and one harried teacher trying to be superhuman.
There were times that I had a great lesson plan, only to have it totally derailed
because of one or two students who needed individual attention and could not get
it.

The total number of students that this professional was expected to evaluate,
plan, and care for each day was as many as 150.

Jay, a former high school history teacher, explained the comprehensive job of
the teacher:

Unfortunately, most people feel that they have complete authority in judging,
even dictating, the roles of teachers, because at some point in their lives they
have sat in front of a few of them. While most people have seen a teacher teach,
however, few have seen a teacher work. Instruction is the public part of
teaching--and the easy part. Preparing for instruction and assessing what one's
students do is quite another matter--an incredibly important and time-consuming
matter, and one for which very little if any significant time is provided at
work.

Gina, a former high school science teacher suggested a solution:

You can't do anything too different from the 30-student per class/6 classes per
day approach until you have more money for more teachers so you can reduce class
size drastically and give teachers the time and opportunity to help the students
who need a lot of help. School systems could hire enough teachers so that class
sizes would be smaller. That would cut down on grading and help with classroom
management and general quality of life.

In addition to teaching, the teachers were expected to complete a number of
other types of tasks on a regular basis. Their administrators demanded attendance
reports, discipline reports, detailed plans for exceptional students, make-up work
for absentees and discipline cases, and extensive records of grades. Parents
demanded that they be kept informed, both in regular written progress reports and
by phone whenever there was a problem. Outside of the classroom, professional
teachers reported that they performed other, menial duties. They were expected to
police the school in lunch duty, parking lot duty, and restroom duty. If a
substitute was unavailable for a teacher, another teacher was often required to
"cover" or "baby-sit" that class instead of having a planning period. Clerical or
secretarial assistance was very rare. Teachers spent hours at copying machines,
running off their own tests and other materials. Carol, a former high school math
teacher had a recommendation:

Assistance, please! Teachers need help just like every other professional does. A
teacher needs to spend time planning awesome lessons and teaching, not typing up
progress reports and doing data entry! There need to be more secretaries
available to run off papers, set up meetings with parents, and type up calendars,
maybe a secretary for each department.

Ken, a former high school English teacher agreed:

Schools should either get teachers a real aide (who can grade papers, help tutor
kids after school, etc.) or give teachers one professional day a week to grade,
record grades and do lesson plans--an academic day. Teachers could hold tutoring,
do all the clubs and activities for half the day and work on paperwork the other
half. This may not eliminate all the work that needs to be done, but would help
so much.

At the close of the school day, extracurricular activities begin. Even though it
is discouraged at the higher administrative levels, many new teachers report that
they felt pressured to agree to coach a sport or cheerleaders or a club in order to
be hired. While the time commitment varied, the data suggest that it was often
extensive. With practice and travel to away games, this was in itself a full-time
job after school, just when the teacher was desperate to find a minute to think
about tomorrow's plans and today's grading and discipline reports. The same was
true of new teachers who liked sports and were easily persuaded to coach, not
realizing that they had just given up all of their work time. Helen, a high school
mathematics teacher described her extracurricular duties:

You have to get there early, stay after to tutor, attend meetings, and then do an
extra-curricular activity (like coaching), proms, dances, parent meetings, and
concerts. When you finally get home you have to grade papers, make lessons,
record grades and call parents. You are left with a very limited personal time to
live your own life outside of teaching--and then you are too tired to do
anything.

The teachers reported that their workloads were incredible. The "in front of the
class" five hours was only a portion of what they did each day. For nearly all of
the participants in this study, the class loads were heavy, with usually five
classes per day. These five classes were almost never the same class, so each
different subject required a unique "preparation" for the day's lesson. Each class
had many students, usually 25 to 30, and each student wanted attention from the
teacher. The teachers reported that just the thought of understanding and
addressing the needs of up to 150 teenagers each day became exhausting. Then there
were the clerical duties the teachers had to complete, such as attendance reports
and duplicating materials. At the end of classes, teachers had to rush off to the
gym to coach. Finally, when many of these teachers arrived home, there was always
planning and grading and other work to do. Exhaustion was the mark of the beginning
teacher. Several of the teachers in this study reported that the workload was so
onerous that they had little time to sleep. Ivy, a former high school science
teacher captures the general viewpoint:

The long hours are the worst. Especially as a first year teacher, the workload is
overwhelming. In addition to actually teaching, you have to deal with homeroom,
lunch duty, coaching, etc. A 45-minute planning period was never adequate to even
begin to do all I had to do. I frequently worked 12-hour days, and then had to go
home to grade papers and plan for the next day. I considered giving it up. It was
the hardest job I have ever had, and I barely had time to sleep.

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Working Conditions

School administrators varied in their support of young teachers, and many
teachers reported that this support was inadequate. The new teachers felt that they
were evaluated and judged, but they would have preferred real feedback and
suggestions for improvement of their teaching. They felt that they were often not
supported in discipline issues or in conflicts with parents.

In many states, teachers are assigned a formal mentor to assist them in their
early years. In fact, this is one of the major recommendations of the Glenn Report
in fulfilling its charge to identify "ways of improving recruitment, preparation,
retention, and professional growth" for teachers (2000, p. 2). In some cases, the
young teachers reported an excellent relationship with their mentor, with the
mentor providing valuable guidance. In other cases, the teachers reported that the
mentor was overwhelmed with his or her own work, and gave little or no assistance
to the new teacher. Lee, a high school science teacher, described his first
years:

New teachers may feel very unsupported. I think that, in the two schools I have
taught, I have had good department heads and good colleagues. Nonetheless, I
don't feel that there was/is a support network in place to help young teachers
(or even old teachers!). Everything seems to be my problem to figure out. Such an
atmosphere is difficult to work in day in and day out.

A major U.S. Department of Education report found that only 34% of teachers had
participated in a mentor/induction program (Lewis, Parsad, Carey, Bartfai, Farris
& Smerdon, 1999). Glenn (2000) recommends that induction programs should "focus
on transmitting not only content matter, but also vital knowledge and skills
related to teaching itself" (p. 33). In some schools, where teachers worked
together in formal or informal teams, they were able to provide guidance and a
supportive atmosphere for the new teacher. Too often, however, there was no time
for real interaction about instructional issues. Some new teachers felt isolated
and alone, with no support or encouragement. Such was the case for Carol, a former
high school math teacher:

I was very frustrated with the lack of support from my principal/administration
in that after three observations I never got any feedback either in written or
verbal form. I never really knew how I was doing. I felt I was doing a good job,
but did not think the administration cared one way or the other.

It is a well-known fact that many teachers use portions of their salary to
purchase teaching supplies. For the teachers in this study, there was usually a
very small amount of funding set aside each year by the school for each teacher to
purchase supplies. A new teacher often came into a situation where he or she
learned the latest teaching techniques, which likely required new materials, such
as algebra tiles as mathematical models. The school would not have these materials,
so the teacher's choice was to abandon the innovative methods or spend personal
money. Fran, a high school mathematics teacher expressed a need for more funds:

Teachers should be given all the supplies that they need - $25 is not enough! At
all other jobs that I have worked at, whatever you need to do your job is
provided.

Another concern was the fact that many (if not most) new teachers must share
classrooms. In former days, each teacher had a classroom in which to organize
materials and to create a physically motivating environment for students. Because
of overcrowding, most schools now have many "traveling" teachers, which are usually
the new hires. Lani, a high school chemistry teacher was a "traveling" teacher in
her school:

One of my biggest obstacles was that I had to teach every class period in a
different room. That meant dragging all of my lab equipment with me between
classes. It was a huge pain, but I managed to have one lab for each class section
one day a week. That mean a lot of time before and after school setting up lab
equipment and making sure it was portable.

The "rover" moved around the school, using other teacher's rooms during the
periods when they were not teaching. If they were lucky, they had a cart on which
to pile all of their teaching materials. Both teacher and students were at a
deficit when they were forced to meet in a classroom that lacked appropriate
materials, such as a graphing board for mathematics or maps for history. In
addition to the gross management problems, some teachers felt unwelcome intruding
in the other teacher's space. There was often no private place to work during the
planning period or after school. Hugh, a former high school math teacher remembered
his "cart" days:

I had an audiovisual cart on which I stacked all of my materials, including
books, make-up work for students, class sets of calculators, and my notes and
plans. I pushed it up and down the hall every period. I felt fortunate because
some beginning teachers had to carry everything in a big satchel. I could not
leave materials in any of the rooms, both because I might need them and because
the rooms "belonged" to the teachers who used them most of the day. I did this
for two years, and I never did feel quite organized since I was arriving at the
class at the same time as the students. I had a desk in the teachers' lounge, and
no privacy whatsoever.

In addition to physical facilities, teachers' working conditions include
academic issues such as state-mandated curricula and testing. Several new teachers
reported that they were shocked at the shadow cast by standardized tests, decrying
the effects of the tests on their working conditions. In most states there are
detailed state curricula for most courses, and these must be followed closely in
order for students to excel on state achievement tests. This control severely
damages creativity in young teachers. Idealism goes out the window as they rush to
cover the mandated material. Novice teachers reported that they were frustrated
because they have little autonomy, either in content or methods of teaching. Max, a
former high school history teacher, did not like the tests:

The state curriculum was something I really disliked. I had very little choice in
what I taught because the curriculum was so extensive that it took rushing the
whole year to really finish. There was a great deal of pressure to make my
students perform well on the end-of-course test so that the state would think our
school was doing well. I felt as though I was just teaching to the test, rather
than in my student's best interest.

Nate, a former high school math teacher, was unable to teach creatively:

I was constantly frustrated with the conservative curriculum and controlled
testing. Teachers teaching the same course were essentially expected to begin and
end units on the same days. I actually had to prove to my department chair on one
occasion that the emphasis I had put on a semester-long project in my geometry
classes would not influence student grades more than one letter grade, and would
not make my classes too different from other sections of the same courses. He was
sure that it would. I took out a calculator and showed him that it could not
affect grades in the way he feared. I won the battle, but not his approval. That
event was something of a backbreaker for me. I found the very rigid tracking of
students in mathematics distasteful. This battle over what I considered possibly
the one worthwhile activity my students - all my students, regardless of their
track - were doing was too much.

Another aspect of working conditions involves teachers' colleagues. Teaching can
attract a few inadequate teachers. The data suggest that in a few instances these
few could really destroy the morale of a school. Despite advice to avoid the
teachers' lounge, novice teachers had to interact with the colleagues that were
less than favorable and thus contributed to a dissatisfying working environment.
For many teachers in this study, the administration typically did little to "clean
out" the poor teachers, and this was frustrating to the novice teachers who wanted
everyone to be as dedicated as they believed they were. After an initial period of
a few years (three in North Carolina), teachers are granted tenure and can only be
removed if it can be proved that he or she broke the law or violated school
procedures. Ken, a former high school English teacher gave his opinion on this
matter:

My biggest problem is with people who don't do their jobs. These people don't
ever get to the screw up state because they don't even try - how can you mess
something up when you never even give it a shot? The other bad thing is all the
complaining about things without the willingness to try to change it. People
assume that just because it happened one way in the past things will never change
and we shouldn't even try. They just want to sit around and bitch about things
and I can't stand that.

Alvin, a former high school biology teacher, agreed:

Get rid of bad teachers! The business world does not have tenure. If someone is
not doing their job, they need to go! No wonder respect can be low for teachers
with some of the slackers and bad apples there are out there. This could greatly
improve teachers' images and make it more attractive to newcomers.

Rick, a former high school math teacher, concurred:

The K-12 teachers need to give the good teachers more support and get rid of the
bad ones. There are some truly horrible teachers at our school and they are just
earning a paycheck. It's not fair to the students. Teachers should also be paid
by merit not strictly by experience.

Denise, a high school English teacher, had the same suggestions:

I have been most disillusioned by the number of teachers who


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