BY DR. JENNIFER GARRETT

For a number of years the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has been working closely with districts to better understand the reasons behind teacher departures. In May 2019, CERRA began an effort to identify the various methods districts are using to gather information about these departures. This report summarizes these findings, and outlines plans to continue exploring this topic during the 2020-21 school year. 

Readers can download the report below.​

BY TODD SCHOLL

CERRA congratulates the five finalists for 2021 SC Teacher of the Year. These five teachers are distinguished as "Honor Roll Teachers." One of them will serve a one-year residency with us at CERRA during the 2020-21 school year.

The Finalists

• Ashley Bennett, a seventh grade mathematics teacher at Woodruff Middle School
  (Spartanburg Four)

• Sarah Gams, a tenth through twelfth grade English teacher at Spring Hill High School
  (Lexington-Richland Five)
  
  
• Shawn Norris, a physical education teacher at Satchel Ford Elementary School
  (Richland One)
  
  
• Tanya Peckham, a first grade teacher at Wilder Elementary School
  (Sumter)
  
  
• Rick Whitmore, a ninth through twelfth grade Spanish teacher at York Comprehensive High School
  ​(York One)

These five teachers will play an instrumental role in developing teacher leadership throughout the state over the next year. We look forward to working with them and thank them for being outstanding ambassadors of the teaching profession.

Rock Hill, SC - The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has released its 2019-20 South Carolina (SC) Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report. The main purpose of this survey is to collect data on SC public school teachers entering the profession, those leaving their classrooms, and the number of vacant positions at the beginning of each school year. Approximately 6,650 teachers (in FTEs) left their position during or at the end of the 2018-19 school year. This is a 9% decrease compared to the number of teachers who left during or at the end of the 2017-18 school year. A significant decline in the number of retirements explains the majority of this reduction.
 
Thirty-six percent of all teachers who left in 2018-19 had five or fewer years of experience in a SC public school classroom, and 13% had only one year (or less) of SC teaching experience. The percentages reported last year were 35% and 13%, respectively. A closer look at first-year teachers revealed some improvement in classroom retention. Of the first-year teachers hired for the 2018-19 school year, 28% did not return to the same position in 2019-20. This percentage is down from 34% last year.
 
The proportion of newly hired teachers who are recent graduates of an in-state teacher preparation program remained steady, accounting for 23% of all new hires in 2019-20. The number of SC students who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and teacher certification eligibility during 2018-19 is up by 79 graduates from the previous academic year. This is the first annual increase since 2013-14.
 
Districts reported 555.5 teaching positions in SC public school classrooms that were still vacant at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. This number represents an 11% decrease compared to vacancies reported at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year. Although the number is smaller, these vacancies are in addition to the 6,709 vacancies already filled by newly hired teachers prior to the beginning of the current school year. Most vacant positions, regardless of when they are filled in the school year, are caused by teacher departures.  
 
CERRA has begun working with districts to better understand reasons for teacher departures. In many cases, teachers do not provide a reason for leaving, or the district may not collect the information. Teachers often state “personal/family” reasons for leaving, which may be accurate at times, but not in all situations. It is likely that teachers can be less than candid with their reasons for leaving, especially if they are related to any type of job dissatisfaction.
 
The SC Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report can be accessed on the CERRA website at https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html.​

The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement (CERRA) is seeking an exemplary educator for a 10-month, part-time position on the CERRA staff as a Pre-Collegiate Program Facilitator for region two of the state. This region includes the following school districts: Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg (1, 2), Barnwell (19, 29, 45, 80), Calhoun, Edgefield, Greenwood (50, 51, 52), Laurens (55, 56), McCormick, Orangeburg, and Saluda. The educator selected for this position will carry out various pre-collegiate program activities sponsored by CERRA.
 
This announcement is an open invitation to members of the CERRA network to consider applying for this position. Please keep in mind that only applicants who reside in the region outlined by the districts listed above will be considered, and preference will be given to applicants who have been heavily involved with CERRA programs. Selection will be based on judgments about the educator’s commitment, initiative, enthusiasm, interpersonal, organizational, and public relations skills. This position is a part-time position with twenty-nine (29) hours of work per week during the academic school year (August through May). The position will require day travel within the region and moderate travel outside the region, including overnight stays when warranted. Travel costs will be reimbursed by CERRA under the guidelines established by the State of South Carolina.
 
Attached is an outline of the responsibilities associated with the Pre-Collegiate Program Facilitator position. In addition to direct involvement with the ProTeam and Teacher Cadet sites, Pre-Collegiate Program Facilitators make site visits to district level administrators who lead and support pre-collegiate efforts for districts and College Partners. Increased emphasis is placed on districts with specific needs, such as those participating in the rural recruitment initiative.
 
No application form is required. Interested educators should submit a letter of interest and a rèsumè to Marcella Wine-Snyder no later than August 15, 2019. Those selected for the next phase of the application process will be contacted for interviews, which will take place at the CERRA office in Rock Hill. Interviews will be scheduled shortly thereafter, with an anticipated start date of September 1, 2019.
 
If you have questions or need further information, we encourage you to talk to one of the current Program Facilitators to learn more. You may reach us (turnerj@winthrop.edu, winesnyderm@cerra.org), and the Pre-Collegiate Program Facilitators, Rona Neely (rona@cerra.org), Arthur Pinckney (pinckneya@cerra.org), Theodore Jackson (theodore@cerra.org), or Kelly Browder (kelly@cerra.org) via email. Phone numbers for each of us are also listed on our Web site (www.cerra.org).
 
Thank you for the many contributions you make to the teaching profession and CERRA’s programs. We look forward to hearing from you by August 15, 2019.

​​​Please submit your letter of interest and rèsumè via electronic submission or hard copy, no later than August 15, 2019 to:

Rock Hill – The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has released its South Carolina (SC) Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report. At the beginning of the 2018-19 school year, districts reported more teachers leaving, more vacancies, and more teachers hired to fill those vacancies compared to last year. Approximately 7,300 teachers did not return to their positions for the 2018-19 school year; this is an increase of nearly 10%. Twenty-seven percent of these teachers reportedly went to teach in another SC public school district, leaving more than 5,300 teachers who are no longer teaching in any SC public school.
 
Thirty-five percent of the teachers who did not return to the same position in 2018-19 had five or fewer years of experience in a SC public school classroom. This percentage is slightly lower than the one reported last year (38%), most likely due to an increase in the number of retiring teachers with more than five years of experience. Furthermore, 13% who left had no more than one year of teaching experience in the state; 12% fell into this category last year.
 
Retired teachers represented 26% of all departures compared to 20% last year. Because of this increase and the fact that retirees have more years of classroom experience than non-retired teachers, they were taken out of consideration to establish more accurate departure rates. After excluding retirees, the rates increased: 48% of teachers who left their positions had five or fewer years of experience in a SC public school classroom, and 17% had no more than one year.
 
When first-year teachers were examined independently, it was determined that 34% of the first-year teachers hired for 2017-18 did not return to the same position in 2018-19; 25% are no longer teaching in any SC public school. These percentages are higher than those from last year, which were 30% and 22%, respectively.
 
The number of new hires who graduated from an in-state teacher preparation program increased for the first time since 2013-14, accounting for 24% of all new hires. The actual number of SC students completing a teacher education program, however, continues to decrease each year. Specifically, the number of completions has dropped by 32% since the 2012-13 academic year. As a result of a smaller teacher pipeline, districts are relying on other recruitment sources. For example, districts are hiring more teachers from other countries. This year, they hired nearly 400 international teachers; in 2013, roughly 100 were hired.
 
Additionally, districts reported 621 vacant teaching positions in SC public school classrooms. This number represents a 13% increase compared to vacancies reported at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. In addition to these vacancies are the 7,600 openings that were caused primarily by departures and filled with newly hired teachers prior to the start of the 2018-19 school year.
 
The SC Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report can be accessed on the CERRA website at https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html. 

ROCK HILL - The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) recently released its South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report for the 2017-18 school year. The report concluded that more public school teachers are leaving their classrooms, resulting in more vacancies and a need for more teachers to fill those vacancies. South Carolina’s colleges and universities also are producing fewer teachers. With more teachers leaving their positions each year and fewer entering the profession, teacher retention is an important consideration for the state.
 
CERRA also has released a study on the retention of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). The state’s teacher turnover rates were compared to turnover rates of South Carolina NBCTs over a five-year period. The most recent data available are from the 2016-17 school year. Specifically, these data represent the rates of teachers who were teaching in a SC public school district in 2015-16, but not teaching in any SC public school district in 2016-17. The SC teacher turnover rate for the 2016-17 school year was 7.7%, yet only 1.9% for all NBCTs in the state.
 
National Board Certification (NBC) is a voluntary, advanced certification process for educators. At a minimum, teachers pay close to $2000 to undergo NBC. The process consists of four components, each designed to evaluate a different aspect of a teacher’s practice. Currently the state pays an annual supplement to new NBCTs for the five years of the national certificate. A proviso passed last legislative session effectively ends the supplement program for candidates who apply after July 1, 2018. This deadline leaves many SC educators unable to benefit from the program.
 
As part of the retention study, CERRA surveyed members of the SC National Board Network to gain anecdotal evidence related to the impact of NBC on teacher instruction and retention. Members, all of whom are NBCTs in the state, were asked if they believed that the NBC process affected their planning, instruction, and/or assessment practices. All survey respondents credited the process with enabling them to reflect on their practice and better assess the different needs of their students. Such reflection and differentiated instruction often have a positive impact on student learning and growth and can lead to an improvement in the teacher’s overall effectiveness. Teachers also reported that the supplement positively impacted their decision to stay in the classroom.
 
According to data released by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), South Carolina remains one of the nation’s leading states for the total number of NBCTs after 91 educators representing 24 school districts earned NBC in December 2017. In addition to these new NBCTs, 490 teachers renewed their certificates in 2017.

Teachers interested in applying for the NBC process can access further information on the CERRA website at nationalboardsc.com.

​The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) has released its South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report for the 2017-18 school year. As has been the trend in recent years, more public school teachers are leaving their positions, causing more vacancies and the need for more teachers to fill those vacancies. Approximately 6,700 teachers left their positions during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year. While more than one-quarter of these teachers reportedly went to teach in another SC public school district, about 4,900 teachers are no longer teaching in any SC public school.
 
Teachers leaving early in their careers is a challenge faced by many SC districts. Of the teachers who left during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year, excluding those who went to teach in another SC district, 35% had five or fewer years of experience and 12% had only one year or less of experience. A small improvement is revealed when these percentages are compared to those reported last year, which were 37% and 13%, respectively. One other notable finding relates to first-year teachers hired for the 2016-17 school year; 22% left their positions during or at the end of the 2016-17 school year and are no longer teaching in any SC public school district.
 
The study also concluded that districts are hiring fewer teachers from in-state teacher preparation programs. Since 2012-13, the number of hires coming from this particular source has declined by 25%. This trend can be explained by the multi-year decrease in SC students graduating with a Bachelor’s degree eligible for teacher certification. Because SC colleges and universities are not producing enough teachers to fill current vacancies, school districts are hiring more teachers from other states and countries and from alternative certification programs.
 
At the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, districts reported 550 vacant teaching positions in SC public school classrooms. This number represents a 16% increase compared to vacancies reported at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. In addition to these vacancies are the 7,300 vacancies and new positions filled prior to the start of the 2017-18 school year.
 
Of the 28 SC school districts eligible to participate in the state’s Rural Recruitment Initiative during the 2016-17 school year, FY17 Proviso 1A.64, fourteen districts reported improved retention rates. Now in its second full year of implementation, the Initiative can be expected to produce even more positive results as the participating school districts continue their focused recruitment and retention efforts.
 
The South Carolina Annual Educator Supply and Demand Report can be accessed on the CERRA website at https://www.cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html.