“Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.” ~ Robert M. Hutchins
The ongoing teacher shortage in the United States has made teacher retention a priority for every school district. While there are ways to increase retention among teachers who have been with a school district for years, one of the best ways to improve retention is to implement a system of new teacher onboarding and professional development.
At Alludo, we understand the importance of teacher onboarding as a tool to help new teachers feel welcomed and supported. The substitute teacher onboarding system we created for the Yucaipa Calimesa JUSD eventually turned into an onramp for new teacher hiring. We’ve included many topics that may be useful in onboarding in our professional development catalog. Here’s what you need to know about how an effective onboarding process can support new teacher retention.
Effective teacher onboarding should provide new teachers with the support and training they need to get their feet on them and become part of the school community. It should be broken down into the basics needed to get new teachers up to speed plus some advanced training to help teachers reach their full potential.
Your basic onboarding checklist should include the information necessary to welcome new teachers and make them feel at home:
Once a new teacher’s basic needs have been met, onboarding should continue with additional training and support:
Another metric you can use in your new teacher onboarding is to incorporate the four Cs of new employee onboarding, something that’s commonly used by human resources professionals:
The more comprehensive your new hire is onboarding, the easier it will be for new teachers to acclimate–and the less likely they’ll be to leave their jobs.
One of the questions we hear about onboarding has to do with prioritizing the various elements to make sure that new teachers have the support and resources they need to become valuable members of the school community.
The truth is that there is no one single part of an onboarding program that’s more important than the rest. All of the elements we have mentioned are important. School districts can use the four Cs to provide new hires with everything they need to acclimate to their jobs.
While everything is important, one of the best ways to optimize your new teacher onboarding is to make sure that it does the following things:
Everything about your strategic onboarding process should be designed to welcome new teachers to your district, provide them with necessary information and resources, and support them as they become part of your community.
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of onboarding for teacher retention because teachers leave their jobs when they don’t feel supported. Successful onboarding provides teachers with a good foundation that includes everything from basic resources to ongoing professional development to help them grow and improve.
Teachaway’s 2022 International Education Recruitment Report found that 41% of teaching candidates would quit their jobs if they didn’t feel they were onboarded or trained properly. In other words, successful onboarding lays the groundwork for a long and fulfilling career for teachers and the lack of it may leave teachers feeling adrift and ready to look for something better.
Here are some of the ways that an effective onboarding process supports teacher retention and district employee engagement.
A proper onboarding creates a welcoming and positive environment for incoming teachers. The key elements here are resources and ongoing support. Providing teachers with basic resources and information minimizes confusion and makes them feel valued.
On a related note, it’s essential to check in with teachers to ask if they need anything that you haven’t provided. Each teacher is unique and some may need additional support in their new roles.
When you welcome new teachers to your district, you’re welcoming new members to your community. It’s essential to establish healthy relationships with them from the beginning.
In addition to speaking words of welcome, you should also provide incoming teachers with information about your school district’s values, mission, and culture. You can keep communication open by encouraging new employees to reach out with questions or ideas, keeping it professional, and personalizing messages wherever possible.
Starting a new job always comes with a bit of stress because it involves many changes at the same time. You can help teachers transition into their jobs by doing the following:
A successful onboarding process makes it easy for new teachers to understand what’s expected of them and start their first days in the classroom with as much confidence as possible.
It’s natural for new teachers to wonder what their long-term prospects are and what it will be like to stay in your district for years. One way you can foster optimism is using your onboarding system to let new teachers know about professional development and growth opportunities.
When you have the right onboarding plan, teachers will feel excited about staying in their new jobs and becoming better teachers with your help. That translates to less turnover and higher job satisfaction and employee retention.
Teacher onboarding is a priority at Alludo because we know how much it means to school districts and how big a difference it can make in teacher retention. Our platform and content catalog make it easy to onboard new teachers and provide them with relevant professional development topics to further their progress.
Districts like Yucaipa Calimesa JUSD have used Alludo’s platform for onboarding new substitute teachers and over time, it developed into an onramp for new teacher hiring, as well. We can provide personalized and standardized onboarding in an asynchronous format that makes it convenient for new teachers to get the information and support they need.
Putting a structured onboarding system in place for new teachers is one of the most effective ways to minimize teacher turnover and improve your retention rates. Not only does improving teacher retention save money, it also provides students with the consistency they need in order to learn.
Are you ready to create an onboarding system for new teachers in your district? Alludo has the platform and guidance you need. Click here to get your free trial of Madagascar, our professional learning platform.