Many reasons for leaving Some teacher turnover is inevitable. How Chicago's bid to keep newcomers has fared. An inside look at schools with high and low turnover. In an effort to reduce attrition, many districts are doing it, and some states require it.
Research says it can work.
Chicago's mentoring program, launched as a pilot project in 1997, included over 200 schools last year and is now poised to go citywide. So far, the effort has drawn mixed reviews from teachers and uneven support from principals. Newly hired teachers are paired with a mentor at their school, and receive 30 hours of training on everything from record keeping to building rapport with co-workers. The program is a joint effort of the School Board, the Chicago Teachers Union and the University of Illinois at Chicago. For one, she was bewildered by shifting class schedules that accompanied each round of standardized testing.