Tackling Teacher Turnover in Child Care: Understanding Causes and Consequences, Identifying Solutions

Childhood Education, Summer 2006 by Hale-Jinks, Claudia, Knopf, Herman, Kemple, Kristen

While the children are asleep at naptime, three teachers in the 2-year-old classroom take the opportunity to plan how the rest of their day will go. Utilizing a suggestion made by her director, Melanie asks who will assume which of the three roles during the diaper change/snack time transition. It is decided that Melanie will lead snack time as the other teachers do the diaper changes. The teachers know that the children grow restless about five minutes into snack time, and that diaper changes should be finished by this time. Thus, one teacher will come to assist with the snack activities while the other disinfects the mats.

In the first example, Beth was likely to endure repercussions from the biting incident. For instance, her director may be anxious to know how this incident could have happened. Perhaps Beth knows that the parents will be upset with her about their child getting hurt at the center. By contrast, Melanie and the teachers in the second scenario used collaborative teamwork to plan this transition in their daily routine. With support from their administration, they have overcome the difficulty of transitioning from naptime to snack time. Thus, they minimized the possible negative outcomes and are likely to endure less stress. Collaborating with other colleagues can reduce job stress for caregivers, thereby lowering turnover rates (Curbow et al., 2001). Thus, it is crucial for administrators to guide and coach their staff to work together to problem solve and plan for the children for whom they provide care.

Lack of Adequate Training. A substantial body of literature indicates that a teacher's educational level is related to the provision of high-quality child care and education for young children (Berk, 1985; Dunn, 1993; Helburn, 1995; Honig & Hirallal, 1998; Marshall et al., 2001; Ruopp, Travers, Glantz, & Coelen, 1979; Whitebook, Howes, & Phillips, 1990). These studies specifically and strongly indicate that to support high-quality child care, a bachelor's degree and specialized early childhood education training at the college level are required (see, e.g., Blau, 2000; Howes, 1997; Howes, Phillips, & Whitebook, 1992; Phillips, Mekos, Scarr, McCartnery, & Abbott-Shim, 2000; Phillipsen, Burchinal, Howes, & Cryer, 1997; Whitebook, 2001).

The vast majority of child care teachers, however, have very limited education. A study by the Center for the Child Care Workforce (2002) found that only 33 percent of child care teachers and 12 percent of assistants held a bachelor's degree or higher in 1995. Apparently, education begets further education. Bridges and Carlat (2003) found that teachers who had more education were more likely to take part in additional training and were more likely to be retained in their child care positions than teachers with less education.

Early childhood caregivers and educators hold a multifaceted responsibility to provide quality care, nurturing, and education for a diverse population of young children. In order to deliver high-quality care, caregivers must achieve a standard of professionalism, in which they are truly committed to the task of teaching and continue to reflect on and learn from their daily teaching experiences. In order to achieve and further such professionalism, caregivers should be knowledgeable about research-based best practices. In addition, their administrators need to guide and support them in the implementation of these practices (Carter & Curtis, 1998).