Teacher Retention in a Teacher Resiliency-Building Rural School

Regarding status differences, the key to reducing the status differences barrier is that teacher seniority does not reign supreme over assignment of classes or availability of leadership opportunities. "All teachers are viewed as equals," according to the principal. What this perception translates into for the teachers is that any one has the potential to lead or offer expertise, depending upon the issue.

Resiliency-Building and Teacher Retention

Earlier in this report, we suggested that an ideal recruitment and retention strategy for rural schools would be used to emphasize the benefits derived from genuine personal relationships and a high degree of involvement in the decision-making process. Rosenholtz (1989) provided more specificity to these benefits by summarizing the literature and identifying ten essential components of a recruitment and retention plan. It is important to examine the findings from this case study of Nurtureville to assess the extent to which the concept of a teacher resiliency building school (Henderson & Milstein, 2003) embraces Rosenholtz's (1989) essential components related to retention in a coherent fashion.

Caring and Support

Under the dimension of caring and support, the teacher resiliency-building culture clearly embraces four of Rosenholtz's essential components. The new teachers enthusiastically expressed support for their teaching assignment from several perspectives. First, they felt that their assignments did not reflect a disproportionate number of children that present social and/or academic challenges. secondly, the new teachers were most appreciative of the support they received from their colleagues regarding best practices. One new teacher stated, "I never feel overwhelmed because my colleagues have been over the same road and they help me avoid the pitfalls." Third, the leadership style of the administration could be characterized as approachable, accountable, caring, and non-defensive. As one senior teacher stated, "I've never known our new people to be shy about asking questions of the principal."

High Expectations

There was a sign in the teachers lounge to encourage teachers to: (a) Stick to goals; (b) Accept new challenges and (c) Keep trying. This sign exemplified the spirit of high expectations that pervades the school. What is significant is that this sign was placed there by the teachers-not the administration.

The new teachers were very clear in articulating Nurtureville Elementary's vision for learners. New teacher orientation and staff meetings throughout the year stress the importance of this vision. Those teachers who have been at the school more than five years have indicated that this vision and the accompanying goals have always been articulated and are not a result of the high stakes accountability mandates. The general perception has been that this "eye on prize" focus has been sustained because the vision and goals were not crafted in isolation of faculty, staff, and parental input. Teachers are frequently given feedback from peers and the administration about their practice. The aim of the Nurtureville Elementary teachers is to constantly seek strategies that embrace the learning styles and needs of all the children. This quest requires-even demands-that, the teachers engage in feedback on both previous and current instructional strategies. While observing an impromptu meeting of 3 teachers, the researchers witnessed the teachers reviewing the results of a previously planned unit. When queried about this informal meeting, one teacher replied, "Feedback is an ongoing process and cannot wait for regular meeting times."