Charter schools' turnover lower here than elsewhere

After nine years at City High Charter School, Casey Teagarden can't imagine teaching anywhere else.

"Here I feel like in the classroom I have the freedom to do lots of different things that I wouldn't do at a typical school," she said. City Charter students have the same group of teachers from ninth to 12th grade. "Anywhere else, I would see the kids for 45 minutes a day for a year, then never see them again."

City Charter, Downtown, is one of 13 Western Pennsylvania charter schools where the teacher turnover rate is below the national average for charters. Fifteen area schools provided data.

Bob Furman, assistant professor of education and director of Duquesne University's school administration and supervision program, said the job market here helps charter schools retain teachers.

"We have such a large (supply) of teachers," he said. "It's not easy for a person if they're in a charter school to jump to a public school because the competition for jobs is astounding."

PA Cyber based in Midland, which educates 10,000 students statewide, consistently has had the lowest turnover rates since 2006-07. South Side-based Propel, which operates six charters in Allegheny County, and PA Distance Learning, based in Sewickley, were the only two schools with teacher turnover rates higher than the national average of 21 percent during the past three years.

"Most of us understand that our teachers have their resumes in their right desk drawers," said James Hoover, PA Distance Learning's CEO. "We also don't keep teachers who don't perform. Some of those numbers are people who we've chosen not to renew their (annual) contract."

Recruiting and keeping good teachers is a goal for any school district, because a revolving door creates a sense of imbalance in the classroom, Furman said.

Studies show several factors contribute to higher teacher turnover at charter schools, including dismissing underperforming teachers and hiring younger and part-time teachers.

Teachers work year-round at cyber-charters, often from a central office, which deters some teachers.

"A lot of teachers are charismatic. They like to be in front of a group, they like to be hands-on," said chemistry teacher Kerry Warofka, who has been with PA Distance Learning since it opened in 2006. "I think probably the biggest reason why people choose to leave is because it's not like they expect."

But conditions specific to charter schools also keep teachers around, Furman said.

Online, and On the Same Side - Digital Education - Education Week

With the world of online education exploding, a pair of Pennsylvania online education leaders called for the need for structure, guidance, and collaboration Wednesday morning here in Philadelphia at the final day of the annual ISTE conference .

With more data pointing to the normalization of K-12 online education, including some released here yesterday , the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School 's Nick Trombetta and Pennsylvania Digital Learning Network's James Barker insisted in a roundtable discussion that almost all school districts are beginning to take online learning as a serious option.

But with so many new content providers, vendors, and virtual schools jumping into the field, the duo said district leaders who are looking to give their students the best online options can be paralyzed by what's out there.

"When I walk into the [ISTE conference] exhibit hall, that's how I see Pennsylvania and what we're doing," said Trombetta, who founded the first of what are now 12 cyber charter schools in the state, as well as the National Network of Digital Schools . "It was overwhelming. Wow, there's all these options. But who's the best, and how do I use it?"

Barker, executive director of the state's digital learning network, insisted school systems should be flexible when searching for the best virtual solutions for students as part of a "new normal," a term he used to describe a student-centric version of learning he said he hopes becomes the standard. (The "new normal" has often been used to describe the post-recessionary budget picture in education, as well as other fields.)

"The reality is it's about finding that passion that exists within each and every child and letting that child pursue that passion," Barker said.

Barker noted any such pursuit required a student master the necessary academic skills in language and mathematics, but argued that allowing the student to be a director of his or her learning would facilitate learning those skills. That argument is a common war cry of many online learning advocates, while critics counter that successful participants in the 21st-century workforce must also master collaboration even when the common goal may differ from the individual's.

On a more practical note, Trombetta expressed pessimism that the increasing popularity of online learning—coupled with the emergence of common standards—would lead to a common teacher certification anytime soon. But if it ever happened, he said it would not only help current online teachers who serve students from several states, but also brick-and-mortar teachers who may face layoffs in their local districts while virtual schools in other locations are in need of instructors.

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Liberating learning, technology, politics, and the future of American education

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