Source: eJewish Philanthropy
Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz responds to a number of previous posts about teacher retention on the eJewish Philanthropy blog. He cites findings from an evaluation of the Pardes Educators Alumni Support Project (PEASP) he conducted with Stephen Markowitz which point to the fact that teachers, like other Jewish communal professionals, have different kinds of challenges at different points in their careers, which require different kinds of support at different points in one’s career trajectory.
The author writes:
"In brief, the report shows, as Lewis argues, that workplace is critical to retaining personnel. However, it is only the dominant factor in determining retention during the initial years in which a teacher first enters the classroom. We also learn that the place of an effective teachers’ network, of which PEASP is an example, while certainly important, can only serve to complete and complement the workplace experience and not replace it…
From the PEASP research, we learn that the primary role of an educators’ network, for both the novice and veteran teacher is to preserve the feeling of membership in a supportive and visionary community. Within that general charge, the mission needs to play out differently vis-a-vis novice teachers and those who are past the three year commitment made to teach in a Jewish day school."
Read the full post at eJewish Philanthropy.
See the research paper: Promoting Retention of Pardes Educator Program Alumni.