Many of us are familiar with the old saying that half of all new teachers are gone from the profession within the first five years.
Fortunately, that number is a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.
The Education Endowment Foundation in Great Britain recently came out with a new study finding that:
Almost one in three teachers leave within their first five years of teaching, rising to 43% within
ten.
That report got me wondering about the numbers here in the United States.
The most recent study I could find was ten years old, and it estimated that 44% of teachers leave within the first five years.
My guess would be that today’s number is at least that percentage and is likely more, given post-pandemic stress and additional cultural/political pressures.
Perhaps districts and schools might want to consider upping their game around supporting newbies? That is something they can control.
