WestEd News
Addressing the Talent Problem — Recruiting and Retaining Effective Educators for All Schools: Special Panel Discussion
Teachers and visionary school leaders who root themselves in their education communities can have a powerful impact on student learning, yet many states and districts report that they lose more than 50 percent of teachers in their first two to three years in the classroom. Staff turnover at these levels can drastically impede educational progress, especially in the nation’s highest needs schools.
In a special panel discussion sponsored by WestEd and the American Institutes for Research (AIR), education practitioners and experts will showcase effective talent retention strategies linked to rapid school improvement, as well as overview strategies that federal policymakers can authorize and fund under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
The discussion will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, 2:00 – 3:30 PM (EST), at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, DC.
Panelists will include:
- Steve Larson, Director, Educator and School Excellence Division, Arizona Department of Education
- Doug Clauschee, Associate Superintendent, Chinle Unified School District (Arizona)
- Dr. Chris Kates, Director of Leadership and Innovation, Indiana Department of Education
- Dr. Teni Helmberger, Director of School Programs, Kokomo School Corporation (Indiana)
- Dr. Monique Chism, Vice President for Policy, Practice, and Systems Change, AIR
- Dana Chambers, Deputy Director of the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders, AIR
- Mary Peterson, Senior Program Associate, Policy Center, WestEd
Panelists will address the following topics:
- The critical challenges states and districts are facing with retention, and the direct connection between retention and student outcomes
- Actionable strategies that federal policymakers can authorize and fund under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
- Lessons learned from educators who successfully led talent management initiatives, and who scaled efforts at the state, district and school level
- Strategies to attract, prepare, and retain talented educators, informed by data and continuous improvement principles
Follow the conversation on Twitter with @WestEd using the hashtag #EducatorRetention.
For general questions, please contact Augustus Mays, Director of Government Relations, at amays@WestEd.org.
Posted on October 1, 2019