Teachers who are seeking more opportunities for advancement and professional growth can benefit from working alongside researchers to solve problems at their schools.

The question of how to attract and retain effective teachers in K-12 classrooms has become increasingly salient as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a persistent problem of teacher attrition. A January 2021 RAND study showed that 23% of teachers indicated a desire to leave teaching at the end of the 2020-21 school year (Steiner & Woo, 2021). This is in comparison to the prepandemic rate of 8% leaving annually between the 2007-09 and 2011-13 school years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015). A recent survey of members of the National Education Association (NEA) found that 55% of its members were considering leaving or retiring from the profession earlier than planned because of the pandemic (GBAO, 2022).

Both the RAND and NEA surveys show that the top reasons for leaving included burnout and stress (GBAO, 2022; Steiner & Woo, 2021), and responses to the NEA survey also included lack of respect from parents and the public and a lack of planning or unstructured time as contributors to the decision (GBAO, 2022). Pre-pandemic research indicated that teachers were dissatisfied with the lack of career advancement pathways, lack of autonomy, low pay, challenging work conditions, accountability measures, and lack of support from school leadership (Carver-Thomas & Darling Hammond, 2017).Research on the attrition of high-performing teachers in the District of Columbia Public Schools showed that opportunities to take on leadership roles, switch to a new career, or improve their work-life balance all contributed to their decision to leave (Pennington & Brand, 2018).

RPPs can provide a pathway for teachers to advance in the profession without leaving the classroom.

The loss of our most qualified teachers should be a concern because these teachers are an important influence on student achievement (Hanushek, 1992; Sanders & Horn, 1998). It is also a matter of equity; studies have demonstrated that students of color from urban and economically disadvantaged backgrounds tend to be taught by teachers with fewer qualifications (Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002).

While mid-career teachers tend to leave at a lower rate than new and late-career teachers, resulting in a U-shaped attrition pattern (Ingersoll, 2001), their departures also demand attention. Oft-cited recommendations for teacher retention include the expansion of teacher residency and teacher mentoring and induction programs; however, both recommendations depend on experienced teachers who can serve as master teachers or as mentors (Carver-Thomas & Darling Hammond, 2017; Koch, 2018). For these programs to succeed, education systems need to retain effective and experienced teachers.

Why research-practice partnerships?

Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are one potential solution for retaining highly qualified teachers who are dissatisfied with the lack of advancement within the teaching profession. RPPs have evolved as an approach to address some long-standing gaps between education research and practice. Instead of relying on outside expertise to address educational challenges, RPPs recognize the knowledge that practitioners offer and allow them to cocreate and execute studies alongside researchers (Coburn, Penuel, & Farrell, 2021). RPPs offer practical solutions to on-the-ground educational challenges, such as the creation of instructional materials that improve learning outcomes (Booth et al. 2015), improvement in teaching practices (DeBarger et al., 2017), and better-informed changes in district policies and decisions (Farrell, Coburn, & Chong, 2018).

Moreover, participation in an RPP can contribute to improvements in teachers’ sense of agency. A recent study of teachers’ participation in one approach to RPPs — critical participatory action research (CPAR) — showed that participants felt empowered by gaining research skills and being part of a supportive team. Shared decision making and feelings of being heard by others at school or on the CPAR team bolstered teachers’ feelings of agency, purpose, and connection (Xin & Brion-Meisels, 2022).

A 2012 TNTP report recommended that leaders looking to retain their highest-performing teachers should be attentive to teacher workloads and provide career advancement opportunities. RPPs can provide a pathway for teachers to advance in the profession without leaving the classroom. But, to avoid increasing teacher workload, RPP work should not be an addition to a full-time teaching schedule. Instead, teachers could accept a hybrid role of part-time classroom teacher and part-time teacher-researcher.

Such pathways to career advancement that allow teachers to remain in the classroom at least some of the time already exist in some districts. A compilation of case studies by the National Network of State Teachers of the Year showed that districts offering avenues for career advancement and modified work schedules to accommodate leadership responsibilities saw an increase in teacher candidate applications (Natale et al, 2016). High-performing education systems, such as those found in Singapore; Finland; and Ontario, Canada, have low attrition rates of 3-4% (Carver-Thomas & Darling Hammond, 2017). These same systems offer multiple career advancement pathways as well as opportunities for teachers to be active participants in the production of research (Jensen, 2012). They not only attract teacher candidates in the top of their graduating classes, but also retain highly effective teachers (Tucker, 2019).

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Teacher Voice: Aubrey

District teacher of the year and graduate of a selective university

What can help retain high-performing teachers?

If high-performing teachers have zero support within their school, they don’t feel a sense of challenge, especially maybe if they’ve already reached their ceiling. They’re looking around for different opportunities to expand . . . . Teachers [need to] be allowed to stretch and flex their design practices. If they are not incentivized to do so, they have to come back [from professional learning opportunities] to a classroom that forces them to teach in a very rigid way. What is the point of going out and doing all these things when we can’t go back and use it in the classroom? When we are told to teach with certain curricula . . . a program we’ve not chosen . . . teacher agency is really undervalued and needs to be highlighted.

Note: Comments are from a May 2022 video conference interview.

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Infrastructure of an RPP advancement pathway

Although RPPs in education are found throughout the United States, establishing them as a career advancement pathway would require some shifts in K-12 and higher education. Fortunately, examples exist that we can learn from. One successful large-scale network of research-practice collaborations is the Education Endowment Foundation’s Research Schools Network in the United Kingdom (Edovald & Nevill, 2021). U.S. states could establish similar networks among schools and universities.

Using a cohort-based approach, RPP networks could bring together high-performing teachers and universities to collaborate on educational improvement efforts. Incoming teacher cohorts could be provided with research skills training and become teacher-researchers. These teacher-researchers would then be able to help align research at the university level with practice in K-12 schools because they are able to speak the language of both sectors. This brokering role is necessary to strengthen and maintain RPPs (Wentworth et al., 2021).

The teacher-researchers can also help facilitate RPP projects that serve as professional learning for interested teacher colleagues. Studies have suggested that involvement in participatory action research helps improve teachers’ professional practices (Miedijensky & Sasson, 2022; Wright, Carvalho, & Fejzo, 2022). Teachers want professional learning that (1) is teacher-led, (2) offers interaction and is pertinent to their students, (3) is practical for classroom needs, and (4) has continuity (Matherson & Windle, 2017). Well-constructed RPP-based learning facilitated by teacher-researchers can meet these criteria.

Any large-scale addition to the teacher career path infrastructure, such as this one, raises questions about funding and human capital. Regarding financing, in the United States, foundations and public and private funders — such as the U.S. Department of Education and the William T. Grant Foundation — currently support RPPs. This type of funding often requires that the direction and topic of research be aligned with the funders’ objectives (Farrell, Penuel, & Coburn, 2021). On the other hand, if RPPs are offered as professional learning, some local education agencies may use professional learning funding already available in their budgets.

Another potential source of funding was introduced in Congress this past year. The Teachers LEAD Act (2022) would provide grant funding for teacher leadership programs for “eligible entities,” which include “a partnership between a local educational agency or educational service agency and . . . a State educational agency in the same State as the local educational agency or educational service agency [or] an institution of higher education” (H.R. 7122, 2022; S.3881, 2022). If it passes, it will allow teachers to remain in the classroom while engaging in leadership activities that include:

[f]acilitating collaborative, evidence-, research-, and practice-based, and sustained professional learning with peers, including mentorship and instruction leadership, that lead to improvements in teaching efficacy, professional outcomes, and taking actions to improve student outcomes, teacher outcomes, or professional learning, informed by such data. (H.R. 7122, 2022; S.3881, 2022)

Districts also will need to consider how the creation of hybrid positions for teachers will affect their overall workforce, because additional teachers may be needed to take over some of the hybrid teachers’ workloads. While this may be a challenge in the initial stages, the creation of advancement pathways has helped districts attract teacher applicants (Natale et al., 2016), so these new positions might be filled more easily than they otherwise would.

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Teacher Voice: Jenny

Educator in a research-practice partnership (RPP) and district coach

How would you describe your experience participating in an RPP?

A true collaboration, a partnership, feeling really valued and heard right from the beginning in leading the direction of the curriculum framework. The partnership was so amazing . . . you had teacher voice at the table and then you had the support of content experts. . . . It was both a thought partnership and support for the classroom. Teachers with 15+ years of teaching said this was one of the best curricula they’ve ever had.

It wasn’t like [the teachers] were asked for feedback and then you didn’t know where it went . . .  you could really see where [the content experts] heard [the teachers] and [then] the [curricular] change happened . . .  That transparency, that clarity was really helpful in [building] the buy-in, the trust from teachers, and it was continually nurtured. One teacher said he felt very affirmed because you have the university and researchers [on board with the work]. Also [teachers felt] very valued for the expertise that they bring, and people walked away thinking differently about [research recommendations]. So it’s a balance of sharing your own expertise but also being able to learn.

Note: Comments are from an April 2022 phone interview.

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Worth the challenge

Teacher retention is a complex issue that has only been made more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As difficult as it might be to make some of the big shifts that are needed to keep teachers satisfied, allowing current trends of attrition to continue would be a costly mistake. On average, every new teacher hired in urban districts costs more than $20,000 when recruitment, hiring, and training are considered (Learning Policy Institute, 2017).

Using RPPs to improve job satisfaction is just one possibility for boosting teacher retention. Additional action would be needed to address other factors, such as working conditions, accountability measures, and support by school leaders (Carver-Thomas & Darling Hammond, 2017). It is imperative that the voices of teachers are heard in this current scramble to uphold what remains and to strengthen what has been weakened. The voices of teachers included in this article show how RPPs can be a powerful way for teachers to use their expertise and experience to make the improvements they and their students need.

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Teacher Voice: Laura

Fulbright fellow and graduate of a selective university

What can help retain high-performing teachers?

I think having more opportunities to be involved in meaningful professional development and research built into the confines of the job and the school day could be really powerful. It feels like [professional growth] is not central to the job, which is ironic because we are in the field of education. I also want to be continually learning and educating myself.

What types of career advancement pathways can help? 

Providing opportunities for teachers to be involved in design that impacts the environments where they are teaching would be really powerful. There’s no pathway provided for that within your job as a teacher. It’s like something I need to take on “in addition,” like on my weekends or during family time. Any sort of recognized pathway within my district for teachers, pathways like that for teachers to be engaged in other elements of their field beyond direct instruction, would be appealing. I’ve taken [them] on independently but [they’re] not recognized as professional development hours in my district.

It was quite difficult to arrange a leave to do the Fulbright program. It felt like I got this research opportunity, but it was made difficult for me to do it while keeping my job intact. This is something tremendously beneficial for me as a teacher and for my school [that I] engage in this project, [but it] feels like there is no room for that.

Note: Comments are from an April 2022 video conference interview.

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Note: The author thanks the dedicated educators who shared their thoughts for this article and those who provided feedback, especially Carrie Conaway and Nicholas Balisciano.

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This article appears in the September 2022 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 1, pp. 28-11.