Running head: TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 1

Teachers Change Lives

University of Mount Union

Master of Arts in Educational Leadership

Spring 2018
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Chapter 1: Problem Formation – The Formative Years to Now

A Calling
“No punishment anyone lays on you could possibly be worse than the punishment you lay
on yourself by conspiring in your own diminishment. With that insight comes the ability to open
cell doors that were never locked in the first place.”
—Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach
To talk about one’s life in an academic sense was a harrowing task for me. It was difficult

to break the parameters that I have been taught for so long, like not using “I” in academic

writing, and always using factual, academic sources to support my ideas and arguments. When I

wrote my Scholarly Personal Narrative, I had to attack it differently. When I thought about my

life, where I was at the time in my career, education, and personal achievements, I thought about

my motivators. I have come in contact with some really amazing people in my life. My

influencers have had such a huge part in making me who I am, that it was important to discuss

them in my scholarly personal narrative. Through reflecting about my short 26 years of life so

far, I also paid a lot of attention at how much my time in Undergrad at Kent State University

helped shape and mold me. Those were unforgettable years that will remain with me for as long

as I live, because I learned about Chris, and I learned who Chris was as a person, and what he

needed out of life. I have had the opportunity to learn and grow under the mentorship of stellar

human beings, who helped to teach me about life, and how to live a meaningful one. My mother,

my Aunt Tiffany, and my English professor Dr. Vera Camden have all impacted my life and

helped shape me into the man I am today.

My first teacher, and the most important teacher I will ever have is my mother. My mom

always told me that she would be my first, and longest best friend. This rings true because to this

day she is the one person that I can go to for anything. I often find myself calling my mom when

I am under pressure or stressed, and she will give me a few minutes to vent, and then she will tell
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me “it’s okay to be down, but you need to get right back up. Now let it go, it will be alright.” She

taught me to have faith in God, and to know that things, good or bad, happen for a reason. When

one door closes, it is so the perfect door can open. Keeping those things in mind has helped me

tremendously in facing the trials that I have in my life. My mother is definitely my backbone and

support system. . I saw the strength of my mother every day – she raised us mostly by herself,

and I saw her work long hours in a factory for over thirteen years just to make sure she was able

to provide for her family. Her strength is what made me stronger, and when my mother went

back to school and earned her first degree as a non-traditional student, it made me so proud of

her. In my eyes, my mother is the epitome of class, grace, and strength. She has endured a lot,

but never let her situation dictate her happiness or her success.

When I graduated college, my mother was the only person who was able to attend. It was

a little bittersweet, because for me, as an African American young man, that was such a victory

in my eyes. I wanted to celebrate with all of my loved ones, but it was just another example of

how my mom is always in my corner, always there for me, and always rooting for me. She is

charismatic, and has such a bubbly personality – she made quick friends with the families around

her, and when I finally walked across the stage they were all cheering for me: my mom, and two

other families that I did not even know! That moment made everything right in the world. It

exemplifies how much my mother is committed to making sure that I am happy, even well into

adulthood. That attitude definitely rubbed off on me, and I believe that is why I am so committed

to making the lives of others better. So many of the things I’ve experienced in my life so far, my

mother has been a huge part of, either as a supporter, or as my inspiration. I cherish our bond and

our relationship, and I know that no matter what I do, no matter how badly I mess up, or what

mistakes I make, I know my mom will always be in my corner. I think that dedication is exactly
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what students need, especially from their teachers. When I decided to become a teacher, it was

because I saw something lacking in the educational system her in America. I see students who

aren’t thought of, cared for, or put first. I want to give to them what I have, my all.

My mother’s sister is Aunt Tiffany. She and my mother traveled different roads in life,

but they have both equally affected my life. I always say that I have two mothers. Aunt Tiffany

worked for Kent State since I was a kid – we are both graduates of Kent State University. I

would say that my aunt is the person who sparked my love for learning and education. To this

day, my aunt is constantly teaching me life lessons. There is a theme in what she teaches me – it

is that life has its ups and downs, but nothing is too terrible that one cannot come back from it. I

remember being around nine years old, and I had a horrible day at school. To me, from my nine-

year-old perspective, all of the kids that I thought were my friends were being mean to me for no

reason. They said really nasty, mean, and hurtful things, and I remember riding the bus home and

then going straight to my room and crying. The nine-year-old Chris thought that this was the end

of the world. No amount of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, or Charmed could fix my feelings.

My aunt was at our home, and although she did not have children of her own, she had (and still

has) a motherly, nurturing spirit. She would be hard on me when necessary, but she saw that I

was hurt and her mother instincts kicked in.

She and I got in the car and we proceeded to drive to a mall that was about two hours

away. It never occurred to me why we were driving so far away when we had a perfectly good

mall about twenty minutes from my house. We spent the whole two-hour drive talking about

other things – my aunt told jokes and got me to laugh, and it completely took my mind off of

what happened at school. We window-shopped and ate at the food court, and then we saw X-Men

at a movie theater. I remember on our way back home my aunt told me that I have to be strong,
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and words that others use are meaningless. The only meaning that words have is the meaning

that we as human beings give them. I will not say that I never let a word hurt my feelings after

that, but it definitely taught me a huge life lesson and that was to never let anyone take away my

happiness. I am a firm believer that we dictate when we are happy – that it is a conscious choice

we can make and we allow others to make us unhappy.

The Impact of Higher Education

“There are years that ask questions, and years that answer.”

-Zora Neale Hurston

College was the most amazing experience I have had in my life. My time as an

undergraduate was filled with ups and downs, emotionally, academically, spiritually, and every

other ‘ally” that one can think of. But I would go out on a limb and say that almost every college

student has the same feelings toward undergrad. I have a thirst for learning, which is what made

it so difficult for me to choose a major. I changed my major so many times that when I choose

Political Science, I told myself I would not change it again. I wanted to commit to something,

stick to it, and see it through. It’s difficult growing up into an adult, still being a child, all while

having a lot of responsibility. I don’t like to live my life thinking “what if”, however, I do regret

not having stellar grades that matched with my academic ability. One lesson I had to learn the

hard way is that you cannot allow personal situations to affect your livelihood – i.e.) your grades!

Political Science taught me many things. I learned how to argue intelligently, I learned to

make facts my best friend, how to think analytically, and most importantly, I learned about the

machine that is American Politics. However, the most impactful course as an undergrad was not

a Political Science class, but an English Special Topics course entitled Pure Heroines. I

remember when I first signed up for this course, and it was mainly because after reading the
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course description I found out we would be reading comic books! I thought that would be the

easiest class ever, because I am an avid comic book reader and from the course description, the

class was definitely in my wheelhouse! I didn’t realize how much of an impact Pure Heroines

would have on me, but it left quite the impression. The dynamic Dr. Vera Camden, who quickly

became my favorite professor, taught Pure Heroines and after the semester concluded, we

continued to stay in contact. In this class, we studied multiple media and how female heroines

were represented. This included comics, books, movies, art, music, and TV. We also learned

about feminism, which was the start of a new journey for me. I originally decided to pick up this

course because I figured it would be writing, and when I saw the booklist in the bookstore, it was

ALL comic books. Why wouldn’t a fiction geek such as myself pass up the opportunity to read

comic books and get an A for it? It was a no brainer for me, but I came to find out that it would

be so much more than just comic books and marvel movies. We had to also create a project

about our lives, which had to incorporate some sort of artistic medium. I decided to create a

comic book that served as a memoir of a college student. Now that I think about it, that project

was very similar to our scholarly personal narratives, except it incorporated more visual aid and

less written material.

I was raised by strong women; my entire family on my mother’s side is made up mostly

of women. I have always known the strength that women have, but Dr. Camden opened my eyes

to a whole new academic study through feminism. I probably had heard of feminism before, but

never read about it or researched it. The most enlightening part of the course was our study of a

book called The Complete Persepolis. It was a graphic novel memoir about an Iranian woman

named Marjane Satrapi detailing her life, growing up in such an oppressive regime. At the same

time, I was taking an Art History course where we were studying the Middle East and I
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absolutely fell in love with their culture, their art, and their customs. However, there are some

very insidious and horrible things that go on in the Middle East, especially that affect women and

girls. Marjane Satrapi’s novel brought out many emotions in me, sadness, laughter, anger, all at

different moments in the book. A moment that sticks out to me in particular is a portion in the

book where Satrapi discusses what they did to virgin women who were arrested for resisting the

oppressive regime. In this point in the book, she’s probably 11 or 12 years old. Satrapi was pretty

sheltered, but her parents did their best to educate her and be honest with her about the world

they were living in. To be a rebel was treason, and it was punishable by death. Many of the

members of the resistances in Iran were young, including women. I remember reading that it was

against Islam to execute an unmarried (virgin) woman, so she would be sexually assaulted by her

captors and then executed. Her mother is explaining all of this to her, and then Marjane

remembers her mother breaking down into tears, falling to her knees and being inconsolable. It

was that moment that Marjane understood how her actions could affect her loved ones, and it

was at that moment that I realized how extremely tough women have it by just existing in this

world. I was so angry after reading that, and hurt. I think I was angrier at the fact that we had to

read that without any warning. When I spoke about it in our next class, Dr. Camden informed me

that that was exactly the response she wanted from us. The first step in bringing about change is

for individuals to get angry at the injustice.

Dr. Camden enlightened me on what feminism is: the belief that women should have

equal economic, social, and political power. I, in turn, became a feminist. I am unconditionally

grateful for Dr. Camden because she helped teach me so many things, she challenged my way of

thinking, she taught me to ask questions, and she taught me that it’s okay to be outraged, it’s

okay to be angry, so long as you use those emotions and make them produce something valuable,
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something that will make the world a better place! It was through Dr. Camden that I saw how life

changing a teacher can be. I don’t recall ever having a teacher who moved me in that way, and I

committed myself to being the same kind of educator for my students. To this day, I can e-mail

or text Dr. Camden to see how she is doing, or ask her opinion on a certain topic on which I

would like her insight.

I was so moved through the work that we did with Dr. Camden, and through the

knowledge that I had gained from being a pupil of hers that I sought out an internship with the

Department of Health’s Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Prevention program. I wanted to

help women and girls, and it became a passion of mine. Unknowingly, I tied everything I learned

in my life, from my mother, my aunt Tiffany, and Dr. Camden, and I used those lessons to help

bring awareness to these issues and fight for justice. One day, it is my goal to create a nonprofit

organization that will offer counseling services, housing, financial management counseling, and

many more services to women and girls who have been victims and are survivors of sexual

assault and domestic violence. I am only twenty-five years old, I have not fully discovered who I

am, but I do know that there is so much for me to learn, and so much good for me to do. I know

that my life has purpose, and that purpose is to shine light where there is darkness, and help to

uplift anyone who needs it.

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The Start of Important Work

“I sit with Shakespeare and he winces not. Across the color-line I move arm in arm
with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From
out the caves of the evening that swing between the strong-limbed earth and the tracery of the
stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no
scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the Veil. Is this the life you grudge
us, O knightly America? Is this the life you long to change into the dull red hideousness of
Georgia? Are you so afraid lest peering from this high Pisgah, between Philistine and Amalekite,
we sight the Promised Land”
-W.E.B. Du Bois, Of the Training of Black Men

But how does one begin to make the world a better place? It is my hope to leave the

world a better place than I found it, but that is sometimes an overwhelming thought for me.

There is so much ill will in the world, thus for individuals who want to help make the world a

better place, it seems nearly impossible to find the right place to start. It is my hope that this is

what most educators have in mind when they decide to enter the educational field. For me, the

first step in creating a better world is through education. When I think back to my college

experience, I can truly say that it saved my life. I was able to learn so much, from so many

different people. I grew tremendously in many areas: socially, mentally, and emotionally. As a

result, I am stronger because I had the opportunity to earn my degree. I am stronger because I

was able to develop, and to grow in areas that many of my peers from high school have,

unfortunately, remained stagnant since graduation.

The scary fact is that not every student has the same reality that I have; there are serious

gaps that our children are falling through, and they must be addressed if we are to truly make the

world a better place. I shied away from topics dealing with race, racism, or multi-culturalism in

college, because I did not want to offend any of my white friends, my professors, or my co-

workers. I recognize that these topics are very sensitive, and in an effort to be what I thought was

socially conscious and respectful, I would keep most of my thoughts to myself when in mixed
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company (including class). I know now that this is not only detrimental to myself and the causes

that I fight for, but it doesn’t help those who I come in contact with because they will continue to

hold their opinions without having the opportunity to be educated on a new way of thinking.

These topics are hard to grapple with, but they are crucial conversations to be had if there is any

progress to be made.

In my journey to becoming a teacher, and in my past experiences with students as an

academic coach, tutor, and mentor, I recognize that I want to help our youth as much as I

possibly can. Working with Upward Bound and Akron Buchtel High School as a tutor exposed

me to students that do not have much. These students lack crucial resources, including:

economic, social, and personal (family, mother, father, etc.) that are needed for a successful

educational experience. This work taught me to be sensitive to the needs of others, to choose my

words carefully, and to always remember that someone has it worse than I do; this obligates me

to help others in need. The beautiful thing about Upward Bound is that the student makeup is

very diverse. Children came from many different ethnicities, cities, and towns. They all had their

individual stories, which made teaching and guiding them all the more interesting because I had

to put forth serious effort to individualize and properly address the needs of the students. As

stated in For Each and Every Child – A Strategy for Education, Equity, and Excellence, The

school districts in which they live do not have the best schools or teachers, and, often-times,

these children fall through the cracks. I have seen these disparities first hand, and the children

who are affected are no less bright or capable than their white, middle class, and/or wealthy

counter-parts.

In one of our course readings, I read about Arizona and their ban on “ethnic studies.”

This infuriated me. Firstly, I find it hilarious to ban “ethnic studies” when “white” or
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“Caucasian” is an ethnicity – what is really being banned is the studies of cultures that are not

“white”. I was already familiar with the watering down of slavery in textbooks in Texas due to

an article in the Washington Post, but I had not heard about the banning of ethnic studies. To

take away anyone’s culture, essentially takes away one’s identity. Such practices are unfair,

unconstitutional, and un-democratic; to wit, the banning of ethnic studies informs groups of

people that their histories and cultures are not worthy to be taught in school simply because it

may offend the majority. It does a disservice to the students of non-hegemonic ethnic

backgrounds because now they will be missing out on opportunities to face serious growth that

many do not experience until college. This is a prime example of how our educational system in

America is failing our students. The decisions that are being made, such as the aforementioned

decision in Arizona, do not take into account every child, but only a few, the majority. As an

aspiring history teacher, it definitely hits home for me because these challenges will be what I

face head on
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Chapter 2: Literature Review – Teachers Change Lives

Unlearning and Teacher Retention

“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series

Throughout my time in the MAEL program, there have been many interesting take-away

moments. The focus on race and multiculturalism fostered a much needed discourse about race,

the positive self-image our students have of themselves, and also issues that stem from not

having these conversations. In the article “I won’t learn From You! Thoughts on the Role of

Assent in Learning” by Herbert Kohl, he successfully paints a picture of different students he

had the opportunity to work with, but most importantly learn from, during his career as an

educator. “Not learning” is a term used in the article by Kohl that describes the action of

intellectually and socially challenging what is being taught to a person (Kohl, 1991). This is a

natural, and healthy response for many students who “refuse to be molded by a hostile society.”

How can we blame students for not wanting to learn from us, especially if the reasoning for their

“not learning” is because the students don’t feel that their teachers have the actual child in mind

when teaching. Teaching just to cover material, or simply to have students assimilate into what is

considered “proper” American culture is detrimental to the mental and educational wellbeing of

all students.

I realized that I myself was a victim of “unlearning” starting in the 4 th grade, when I had a

teacher who, in my 4th grade eyes, was very mean and uncaring. I had the same 4 th grade teacher

that my mother had, who was a white male, and beginning one the first day of class, I was

compared to my mother in every aspect possible. My mother had a natural affinity for
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mathematics, and I did not, and I was constantly reminded of this fact with statements like “your

mother would understand this, what’s wrong with you?” to other belittling and embarrassing

remarks and statements made by a person who I was supposed to learn from, and feel supported

by. My fourth grade teacher put a terrible taste in my mouth when it came to school in general,

but especially when it came to mathematics.

I believed what he told me, that I would never understand it, and that I was not smart

enough or good enough. The feeling of worthlessness that I felt at such a young age is almost

indescribable. I remember my mother coming to have lunch with me and we would study my

math, and that made me even more embarrassed. I felt that I was “slow” or that something was

wrong with me. Why couldn’t I just understand the math concepts? Why couldn’t I do well on

my math tests? This behavior continued well into college, which I didn’t understand that I

developed a fear of learning math. It was not until Dr. Martin’s course in the MAEL program,

and discovering the phenomena of “unlearning” that I realized what I had endured, and why I

was so afraid of math. This strengthened my resolve to become an educator, and it made me

know that without a shadow of a doubt that I was meant to be in the education field.

Unlearning is just one example of the dire and detrimental effects of poor teaching, which

sets up a child’s view of education. As mentioned above, ever since the 4 th grade, I developed a

fear of math to where I molded my entire future around having nothing to do with math. This

does a disservice to our students, because we do not allow them to reach their full potential if we

limit them before they even get to begin. Research by Blazar & Kraft (2017) assert that a

substantial body of evidence indicates that student learning is multi-dimensional, with many

factors beyond their core academic knowledge as important contributors to both short and long

term success. Blazar & Kraft, (as cited in Baron, 1982, & Duckworth, Quinn, & Tsukayama,
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2012), psychologists find that emotion and personality influence the quality of one’s thinking

and how much a child learns in school. This research begs the question that if students and their

learning is multidimensional, shouldn’t our teaching be multidimensional as well? High-quality

teachers are thought and expected not only to raise test scores but also to provide emotionally

supportive environments that contribute to students’ social and emotional development, manage

classroom behaviors, deliver accurate content, and support critical thinking (Cohen, 2011;

Lampert, 2001; Pianta & Hamre, 2009).

In the Spring semester of 2017, I was tasked with creating an Equity Audit that required

me to create research that was equitable in its findings and that would benefit my school and/or

my school district. At the time, I had yet to be employed by a school district; I have been

employed by a non-profit health center since my acceptance into the MAEL program. The fact

that I was not directly employed by a school district, let alone teaching or working with students

on a daily basis would seem like a hindrance to some, or even seem that I have been wasting my

time earning my master’s degree altogether. These were the things that I continued hearing from

people, or questions that I had been asked by seemingly well-meaning individuals. Honestly, I

would sometime second guess myself, and ask, “What am I doing?” and “What do I want to get

out of this work?” But since I was not employed with a school district, to complete my equity

audit, it simply meant that I needed to be more creative and think a little more “outside of the

box.”

I had previously done a few smaller assignments with Akron Public Schools that

consisted mainly of me conducting informal interviews or requesting basic information from the

district about their internal processes, mission, vision, goals, etc., because they were the school

district for the county that I resided in at the time. I asked my contact with the district if they had
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a need for an equity audit, and to my surprise, and to their relief, they had a huge need. I

originally wanted to focus on minority student’s access to higher education due to the fact that at

the time of my equity audit, I was my goal to find employment with a College or University,

working with student support services or student programs such as Upward Bound. It seemed to

me that following my dreams to becoming a teacher was a bit out of reach due to Ohio’s

requirements for an Alternative Teaching License. After doing some research, however, I

quickly learned that teacher retention has very direct consequences, positive or negative, or

student academic success, and therefore, student matriculation to two or four-year degree

programs at colleges and universities. Not only was the content area something that I had

developed an incredibly huge interest in, but it was also an opportunity to conduct a district wide

research project that would be led by myself. Through my research before distributing my

survey, my findings were startling, and renewed my interest and determination to becoming a

teacher.

According to Boe, Cook, & Sunderland, 2008, teacher turnover is defined as “major

changes in a teacher’s assignment from one school year (or within a year) to the next.” Several

studies (Grissmer & Kirby, 1997; Ingersoll, 2001; & Borman & Dowling, 2008) discuss the

varying situations that are catalysts for teacher turnover, including teachers leaving the

classroom for a minimum of one year, transferring to another school, or leaving the classroom

after one year and never returning. Teacher turnover can also describe when teachers move from

one classroom or subject areas to another, from one school to another, or out of the profession

altogether (Id-Deen, 2016).

The first question that most likely comes to mind when presented with these statistics and

numbers is why teachers are leaving. According to multiple studies (Loeb, Darling-Hammond, &
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Luczak, 2005; Quartz, 2003; & Smith & Smith, 2006) multiple reasons influence the decision for

a teacher to leave a school or district, including poor working conditions, low salary, and

perceived lack of safety. Furthermore, studies that consider the effects of teacher turnover on

student achievement reveal that it is most often harmful, especially in schools where there are

large populations of low performing and minority students (Guin, 2004; Ingersoll, & Smith,

2003; Ronfeldt, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2011). According to (Simon and Johnson, 2015;

Kraft et al., 2016; Sims, 2017) empirical studies consistently find the most important determinant

of teacher retention is the quality of working conditions in schools.

A high teacher-turnover rate also affects the positive and trusting relationships between

pupil and educator that are key to student success, and teachers being fulfilled in their work. In

fact, as stated by Id-Deen, (2016), there has been more research conducted recently with the

focus of examining relationships between students and teachers in the classroom. Studies (Nieto,

1994; Brown, 1999; Howard, 2001) conducted show that students who attended urban schools

revealed positive student-teacher relationships as a vital part of their success, and that black

elementary and middle school students preferred teachers who cared for them and wanted to

develop positive relationships with their teachers.

In schools that are experiencing a cycle in which poor working conditions lead to poor

retention, they end up undermining the support networks within schools, resulting in further

turnover, and so on. High turnover of this sort is undesirable because it damages pupil attainment

through the disruption it causes (Ronfeldt et al., 2012; Atteberry et al., 2016) and has a

disproportionate effect on disadvantaged pupils (Allen et al., 2017).

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 17

The Courage to Teach

“My story is a freedom song from within my soul. It is a guide to discovery, a vision of
how even the worst pain and heartaches can be channeled into human monuments, impenetrable
& everlasting.”
- Coretta Scott King

I believe in order to get an understanding of how to retain high-quality teachers, I would need

to seek out what exactly keeps good teachers engaged in their work to the point that they remain.

Teaching is not an easy career to undertake, and it also offers long hours, and many times

stagnant wages for beginning, and even veteran teachers. These factors alone must repel good

people from becoming great teachers. I wanted to get an understanding of what challenges

teachers, and undoubtedly I will face in the near future. When researching teacher retention, the

topic of closing the achievement gap comes up constantly in the research. It’s a clear and

definitive link between teacher retention and student success. The lack of high quality teachers

and teachers who remain in the same school or district affects low income and minority students

even harsher than their wealthier counterparts. This fact should be alarming for all of us.

In Chapter One, Palmer speaks about his own experiences: “After three decades of trying

to learn my craft, every class comes down to this: my students and I, face to face, engaged in the

ancient and exciting exchange called education. The techniques I have mastered do not

disappear, but neither do they suffice. Face to face with my students, only one resource is at my

immediate command: my identity, my selfhood, my sense of this “I” who teachers – without

which I have no sense of the “Thou” who learns (Palmer, 2017, p. 10). Palmer continues in

Chapter one with the premise that the book is built on: good teaching cannot be reduced to

technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” This is the
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multidimensionality that I believe teachers must tap into if they are to not only be successful

through their teaching and instruction, but also if they are to be empowered and fulfilled.

Teaching is not simply teaching back material and knowledge to students so that they can

take exams and pass them. Although that is a big part of the job, teaching the whole child is

much more of a daunting task, and not many teachers understand this task before they become

engaged in the work. According to Palmer, “the connections made by good teachers are held not

in their methods but in their hearts - meaning heart in its ancient sense, as the place where

intellect and emotion and spirit and will converge in the human self.” The courage to teach is the

courage to keep one’s heart open in those very moments when the heart is asked to hold more

than it is able so that teacher and students and subject can be woven into the fabric of community

that learning, and living, require.

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 19

Chapter 3 – Methods – Teacher Retention Survey

“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside

ourselves already.”

-J.K. Rowling

My goal with the equity audit was to conduct it through a conduit that would be

intentional, thoughtful, creative, and useful. There is a lot of research that has been done

concerning teacher retention, especially in the past decade, and I did not want to replicate

anything due to the fact that I wanted to come up with solutions that were specific to the needs of

Akron Public Schools. In order to effectively address the needs of the district, I created a profile

that would give me the demographics of the district, and thus allowing me to tailor my research

methods specifically for the district. The district itself is an urban school district, that enrolls

more than 21,000 students and employs over 3,000 teaching and on-teaching professionals.

Majority of the district, 46.1% is identified as black, 34.1% white, with the remaining 19.8%

being made up of Multi-Race, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, and America Indian students.

Through the research that I conducted, and by comparing the research with the profile of Akron

Public Schools, they were a perfect candidate to conduct an equity audit focusing on teacher

retention. There is a large population of low income and minority students who are enrolled in

Akron Public Schools, and the district admitted having been affected by a large number of

teacher departures in the last five years, which gave me my starting point.

I had a series of meetings with Karen Gegick, the Executive Director of Teaching and

Learning for Akron Public Schools, as well as Tod Wammes, the Labor Relations Manager for

Akron Public School’s Human Resources department, where we discussed what we would like to

see in an equity audit. In our first meeting, we decided that teacher retention would be a great
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 20

focus area, and that teacher retention would also give valuable information on student

achievement data that could not necessarily be found in test scores. We unanimously decided to

use an electronic survey for multiple reasons 1.) All of the teachers we needed to survey have

access to internet and a computer, 2.) It would be most time effective, 3.) We would be able to

track and analyze the data through Google.

We were also able to answer a lot of questions about the criteria we would focus on,

including schools, date range of teacher transfers or leaves (last two – five years), as well as what

types of questions should be in the survey. Our initial meeting was very informative, as it helped

me to better understand that school districts have many people to answer to, and there are a lot of

‘checks and balances’ to keep in mind when conducting such extensive and transformative

research that will have major implications for the district, it’s students, and the community.

These realizations made the process more complex, and that it would take much longer than I

originally planned.

During this period, Mrs. Gegick also helped me to organize meetings with two principals,

Ms. Mary Dean who is the principal of King Community Learning Center, and Ms. Jennifer

Moff, who is the principal at Seiberling Community Learning Center. Both are elementary

schools. The interviews were enlightening as I was able to get a first-hand look at what

Principals do on a day to day basis. One thing that stood out to me in both interviews was the

answers to the question “Where is most of your time spent as far as your building?” and both

principals said that most of their time is spent with students, and in the classrooms doing

informal checks. They mentioned the importance of making sure their presence is known, not

only for the students but for the teachers as well. Enabling everyone to see them active in the

building gives a sense of security and closeness that is needed in a school environment. I found
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 21

that very amazing, because I know there are some principals who may not choose to take that

route. Another question that I asked which was very important to me is why do they believe there

is such a high turnover rate in the teaching field, especially those working in schools with large

populations of minority students and students from low income families.

The answer that I received from Ms. Moff was interesting to me because she was able to

go into so much detail, and I could tell it was a topic that was close to her heart as an educator

and school leader. She responded with “I would say in my experience the low income is a much

more accurate factor than minority. With low income comes a lot of broken families, kids with

extra social/emotional needs that really – teachers get into the field because they love kids and

they want to help kids, and then you become a teacher and you want to save the world and you

come into a school with low socioeconomics, all of that other stuff comes into play. You have to

meet all of those needs before you can get to academics.”

Our second meeting was with Mr. Kenya Harrington Sr., and Keith Liechty, who offered

their expertise and extra input on the specific look of the survey. This meeting is also where we

decided the number of schools that we would deploy the survey to, and why. Although Akron

Public Schools has forty-five schools, we decided to distribute the survey to the ten schools that

had the highest rates of teachers leaving by either transferring to another school or another

district. We also decided that this method would give us a more direct understanding of why

teachers stay. It should also be noted that the respondents of the survey were not offered any

incentives, and they were also reassured that there were no risks associated with completing the

survey. We were able to ensure that by not requiring any identifying personal information, it was

a completely anonymous survey.

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 22

The survey was a mixed method design that included quantitative data as well as open

ended questions. We would be able to easily calculate the quantitative data questions, and the

open-ended questions would give us greater insight into what the teachers are feeling, wanting,

and needing. I then used grounded theory on the open-ended questions which helped me

organize the thoughts and ideas presented to find common themes and messages. The

quantitative data questions included: school location, length of service with the district, job title,

and grade level(s) taught, likelihood to recommend teaching as a profession to students, and

choosing reasons as to why teachers are leaving the profession. Our open-ended questions are as

follows:

1. What are some additional reasons that teachers may be leaving at such a high

rate?

2. If you feel that you were not adequately prepared for your role, please share why.

3. What are your experiences/thoughts regarding the employee morale and

motivation at your location or for the district?

4. What ways could APS aid in strengthening the meaningful connections that you

build with your students?

5. What motivates you to continue teaching in Akron Public Schools?

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 23

Chapter 4: Findings

Chart 1

Length of Service with APS

52.6

24.1

14.6

8.8

LESS THAN 2 YEARS 2 - 5 YEARS 6 - 10 YEARS MORE THAN 10 YEARS

Chart 2

Job Title

12%

Teacher
Other

88%
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 24

Chart 3

If you had a student about to graduate from

high school, how likely would you be to
encourage teaching as a profession?

35.8
34.3

16.1
13.9

VERY LIKELY LIKELY UNLIKELY VERY UNLIKELY

Question 1.) What are some additional reasons that teachers may be leaving at such a high

rate?

Many teachers cited money, lack of classroom management experiences, lack of trust as a

professional from the district and their administrators, and inconsistent or non-support from

parents and administrators.

Question 2.) If you feel that you were not adequately prepared for your role, please share why.

Not being adequately prepared to deal with behavior and discipline challenges was a

theme that was repeated over and over by the teachers for this question. One response said

“Behavior management should be a class. This should include role plays, consequences, and

inclusion from various special education units.” Another useful group of responses state that

college preparedness did not account for a lot of the situations that they may be put in while in

the field, including: parents, discipline, dealing with poorly trained principals and administrators.
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 25

Question 3.) What are your experiences/thoughts regarding the employee morale and

motivation at your location or for the district?

The information gathered from question three was very reflective on the pronounced

differences in the different buildings. It’s understandable and even expected that such a large

school district will have different and specialized cultures within different schools. Some

responses were positive, praising the leadership and stating that the morale was high, and the

teachers and staff felt respected within the building, but district wide was not the same story.

Other responses noted that distributing a survey at the end of the school year while they are very

tired will give a difference of opinions that we may not have gotten during the beginning of the

school year. This question made it evident the difference that a perceived good principal makes

for the whole building.

Question 4.) What ways could APS aid in strengthening the meaningful connections that you

build with your students?

Again, the responses with question four were very much related, and included the

respondents noting the importance and need for the district to offer professional development

from professionals still active in the classroom, more parental involvement, less testing, smaller

class sizes, and more autonomy and power in the hands of the teachers.

Question 5.) What motivates you to continue teaching in Akron Public Schools?

The responses for question five overwhelmingly echoed the same sentiment: the love for

students.
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 26

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Action Plan

Following the distribution of the survey, I was excited to learn that we had a very high

success rate with the responses that we received. It exceeded the expectations of the district

leadership who were very critical of the survey, and who required me to change the questions

two times. The district praised the survey for the open-ended questions and for having data

presented to them that they were able to analyze further. The next step, Mrs. Gegick told me, was

to create a district wide exit survey for teachers leaving, and a district wide equity audit focusing

on teacher retention.

The surveys supported the information in the research that I conducted, especially

regarding the link to student achievement and that of teacher retention. In a district that is being

plagued by high turnover rates in their teachers, the effects are showing in the annual state report

cards from Akron Public Schools. We learned a ton of information as to what teachers are

yearning for, and what they would like to see gone. I recommend three action steps that Akron

Public Schools can take in order to create a healthier, more effective environment for our

educators and an environment that promotes student learning and achievement. These three steps

include the establishment of focus groups, promoting better parent-school relationships, and

lastly, creating a teacher residency program that will promote the recruitment and training of

highly qualified teachers.

To begin with, the establishment of multiple focus groups consisting of teachers, parents,

guardians, and administrators would be an excellent extension of the equity audit. There is only

so much information that you one gain through a survey, but through focus groups one would be

able to have the potential groups comprised of diverse individuals interact with one another and

give lengthier opinions and statements.

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 27

In addition to focus groups, the creation of wellness and self-care programs for staff

would be beneficial in increasing morale and decreasing stress levels and creating professional

development programs that promote greater amounts of self-efficacy. Giacometti-Meyers (2005),

as cited in Pedota (2015) asserts that anxiety, frustration, and stress, are among the strongest

factors determining whether an individual stays or leaves a teaching position. To eliminate these

feelings, during the first years of teaching it is critical for individuals to develop confidence in

their personal teaching ability and self-efficacy. Teacher self-efficacy can be viewed as a

teacher’s belief in his or her capabilities to positively affect students’ learning and success, even

among those students who may be difficult or unmotivated (Denzine et al. 2005; Tschannen-

Moran and Hoy 2001). There was an overwhelming amount of responses in the survey that noted

teachers oftentimes experience high stress levels and that follows them into the classroom.

Ensuring that our teachers are well taken care of will ensure they are giving their best to our

students and incorporating families and communities into the schools will build stronger bonds

with students, teachers, staff, and their families.

According to The Inclusive Schools Network (2015), they mention responsibility as

being key to effective school-parent partnerships. Neither the school nor the parent should blame

the other for what’s not working but instead they should claim responsibility for school success.

The goal is to create parent-friendly schools and school-friendly homes. This includes creating

an environment that is welcoming of all students and valuing their differences. For school-

friendly homes, we’re looking at homes that reinforce education that help with homework, which

make sure that they reinforce at home the importance of school. Staying connected with open

communication between the school, teachers, and families is integral.

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 28

Lastly, I believe the investment into teacher preparation would be the extra boost that

Akron Public Schools needs. Looking at the responses from the staff, professional development

was astonishingly requested throughout multiple questions. One of the most successful and

innovative methods that will promote the preparation of teachers is through the creation and

establishment of residency program that would help to recruit, train, and retain talented teachers.

Using the San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR) would be a great start for the district in

implementing this incredible undertaking. SFTR is a consortium that includes the San Francisco

Unified School District, the United Educators of San Francisco, and two area colleges, the

University of San Francisco School of Education and the Stanford Teacher Education Program.

As stated in Investing Wisely in Teacher Preparation, Dublin explains that SFTR pairs graduate

students (“residents”) from both universities with mentors (called “cooperating teachers”) who

are classroom teachers in San Francisco. After completing the program, SFTR graduates are

guaranteed teaching positions in San Francisco public schools. They are provided continued

coaching during their first two years on the job as well. Since SFTR’s inception in 2010, they

have graduated nearly 175 educators, with 80% still teaching in the city.

Recently, research has highlighted the promise of teacher residencies: they retain teachers

for more than the three to five years that new teachers tend to stay in the classroom, they recruit a

greater proportion of teachers of color, and the handful of programs that have been studied have

shown a positive impact on student achievement (Dublin, 2017). Furthermore, research has

repeatedly shown that teachers acquire skills quickly during the first three to five years of their

career (Wiswall, 2013; Papay and Kraft, 2015; Henry et al., 2012). Early career attrition from the

teaching profession therefore requires inexperienced teachers to be replaced with new

inexperienced teachers, which holds down the average level of experience across the school
TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 29

system. Training the replacement teachers is also a costly activity for the taxpayer (Sims &

Allen, 2018). With the creation of a teacher residency program, the waste of taxpayer money

would also be cut, and that money could potentially be redirected for other purposes such as

computer and tablet programs, such as the 1:World program that was created by Akron Public

Schools, which provides each student with their own Chromebook.

TEACHERS CHANGE LIVES 30

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