Leadership communities for teacher retention

The Knowles Teacher Initiative gives STEM teachers a supportive learning community that can help them stay in the profession.

At a Glance

The Knowles Teacher Initiative builds communities of early-career STEM teacher leaders to encourage them to stay in the profession.
Participants in the Teaching Fellows program engage in collaborative inquiry about questions and problems they’ve encountered in their teaching.
Self-selected and predetermined learning communities enable participants to build supportive relationships with colleagues.
Formal and informal mentoring opportunities help teachers reflect and see possibilities for growth.
Fellows who complete the program become Senior Fellows, empowered to lead others and drive change.

Teacher turnover remains a persistent challenge, especially in STEM fields where fewer graduates choose teaching as their first career (Sparks, 2025), making replacement of departing teachers especially challenging. The Knowles Teacher Initiative — a nonprofit that supports high school math and science teachers — focuses on ensuring that once teachers enter the profession, they are supported to grow and stay.

Through our multiyear Teaching Fellowship for early career teachers and our Senior Fellows program focused on leadership, we’ve supported over 600 STEM teachers. We’ve reached more than 2,000 additional educators through online and in-person professional learning. Nationally, our efforts have shown promising results: By the completion of the Teaching Fellowship, 85% of Knowles early career Teaching Fellows remain in the classroom after five years. Our retention rates are consistent across racial groups, and 36% of our fellows identify as people of color.

We prioritize building teacher leader communities by supporting the evolving needs of early-career STEM educators.

These promising outcomes demonstrate the power of teacher leadership. At Knowles, retention is about more than just keeping teachers in the classroom. It is also about supporting them to work collaboratively with others to develop a shared purpose and vision aimed at improving learning for all students. We prioritize building teacher leader communities by supporting the evolving needs of early-career STEM educators. We offer opportunities for teachers to generate and share knowledge about teaching and learning, multiple learning communities, diverse mentors who model sustainable teaching, and structures that build agency and leadership capacity. Together, these elements create professional environments where teachers feel connected, empowered, and equipped to lead from the classroom — and to stay.

Teachers stay where they can learn

One of the most powerful ways we support teacher retention is by helping teachers learn in community through collaborative inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2015). We bring educators together to systematically study their practice, generate knowledge, and use what they learn to enact meaningful change within their unique contexts. This kind of collaborative inquiry reduces isolation, builds professional capacity and confidence, and positively impacts teacher satisfaction and, ultimately, retention. The multiple viewpoints teachers bring to the process enable them to examine their practice from different angles so they can uncover gaps, assumptions, biases, and blind spots they might not otherwise see.

At Knowles, a collaborative inquiry cycle consists of four stages:

Identifying a meaningful question. Educators reflect together on dilemmas and curiosities to surface a question that truly matters and is worth studying.
Collecting relevant data. Educators help each other identify the most valuable and relevant data, given the enormous amount they observe and generate daily.
Analyzing data collectively. The group works together to analyze and make sense of the data, noticing details, patterns, and nuances someone close to the work might miss.
Determining and acting on implications. The group collaborates to interpret what the data means for practice and discusses possible next steps, including additional data collection, if needed.

To illustrate the power of collaborative inquiry to transform relationships and practice, consider Jade’s experience (all names are pseudonyms).

Jade, a fifth-year Teaching Fellow beginning her second year of teaching at a new school, was well-versed in the norms and tools of collaborative inquiry. She started the inquiry cycle deliberating between two areas of focus:

Supporting a student club that gave students a safe space to process school and classroom experiences.
Designing and implementing a new Algebra 1 curriculum with two other teachers.

Jade reflected on her stress, sharing, “I am currently trying to keep myself above water, while also supporting the other two Algebra 1 teachers. This was largely my idea.” She also noted that previous conversations within the Algebra 1 team had been largely superficial, focused on social and personal matters rather than teaching and learning. Implementing the new curriculum would require a significant shift in their professional interactions.

To help Jade determine which dilemma to pursue, her inquiry group used a structured protocol. They posed the following questions:

Which focus might challenge you more professionally?
Which focus are you more passionate about?
What are your ideal outcomes for each focus?
What structures exist to support the work?
What are your relationships with colleagues like?

This conversation helped her select the second inquiry focus, leading to her question: “How can I support my fellow Algebra 1 teachers as we create a more student-centered curriculum?”

The group then helped Jade brainstorm data she could collect, including her post-meeting reflections, meeting agendas, partial transcripts of conversations, and email exchanges.

Over the course of the year, Jade and her inquiry group engaged in three rounds of data analysis. Each round involved examining site-based data to gain insights into the Algebra 1 team’s goals, available intellectual and material resources, implicit and explicit norms shaping collegial interactions, teacher roles and responsibilities, and stakeholder influence on the team’s work.

After each round of analysis, the group discussed next steps Jade could take to support her team in creating and implementing a more student-centered curriculum. Sometimes the next steps focused on collecting additional data; other times, the group helped Jade design tools, such as a protocol to guide her team’s conversations and keep the focus on the curriculum and student learning.

As part of their fellowship experience, Teaching Fellows reflect on their inquiry journey. Jade’s story highlights how collaborative inquiry both improved her teaching practices and student outcomes and built her confidence and motivation:

The not-so-simple conclusion here is that by introducing a protocol with named norms, my PLC (professional learning community) was able to have a more focused conversation about our curriculum, including assessments, notes, activities, and routines…This conclusion/knowledge claim was not so easy for me to discern on my own. I didn’t see the knowledge I generated from this experience. My inquiry group so thoughtfully informed me of all of the ways they learned from me over the past year and beyond. The vulnerability I felt to know that I was a facilitator in some bit of reform was so immense that it caused a chasm in the bulletin board of negative self-talk phrases in my head. This experience, and others like this, will forever remind me that change is change, knowledge is knowledge, and the work I put in every day is making a difference. It just might take the support of incredible people to remind you.

Jade acknowledged she wouldn’t have recognized the knowledge she generated without her group’s collective wisdom and support. Through collaboration, she reframed her sense of self, strengthened her belief in her practices, and experienced the kind of connection that makes teaching more sustainable.

Teachers stay when in community

This story of collaborative teacher inquiry highlights another important aspect of our work: the intentional design and facilitation of learning communities. As one teacher shared:

I can say, hands down, that I would have left education long ago if it weren’t for the Knowles Teacher Initiative. The support and opportunities to connect with other educators provide me with the perspective and resources I need to foster the grit required to stay in teaching.

Our learning communities — including inquiry groups — are intentionally structured to be nurturing, inclusive, affinity-based, and dynamic. Central to sustaining these spaces is our vision for equitable learning communities: spaces where no identity marker or sociopolitical affiliation determines the value of one’s ideas or contributions. In these communities, members are expected to contribute to one another’s learning, while attending to voices that are missing. When a perspective is absent, the group actively considers how to surface and include those insights (Perry & Lin, 2023).

Knowles offers both self-selected and predetermined learning communities. The self-selected groups form around shared affinities such as content areas, personal identities, or geographic location. Teaching or Senior Fellows often initiate these groups. These groups allow teachers to seek out spaces most aligned with their goals and needs. Because participation in each self-selected group is flexible, teachers can try out groups, opt in or out, and find community in authentic and meaningful ways. One such self-selected group was started by a Teaching Fellow to exchange resources and offer support for chemistry teaching and teachers. Knowles staff facilitate the development and growth of these groups, offering connections, resources, and support.

In many schools, teachers miss out on opportunities to be in the room where collaboration happens — they may not even know the room exists.

The predetermined groups are identified and monitored by Knowles staff to support specific community learning goals, assess how they are functioning, and identify opportunities for deeper engagement. Staff also facilitate structured visioning exercises that help group members reflect on the kind of community they want to build together. Examples of predetermined groups include the Knowles inquiry groups where fellows collaborate over the course of a school year around a common inquiry question, share data, and explore implications for practice using protocols designed by Knowles staff. In both types of communities, shared norms govern how teachers engage, ensuring that all members contribute and are supported. Staff encourage fellows to see each other as resources for learning, cultivating a mindset of collaboration and mutual growth.

In many schools, teachers miss out on opportunities to be in the room where collaboration happens — they may not even know the room exists. At Knowles, staff work intentionally to ensure all groups are visible and publicized. This visibility prevents knowledge about a group’s existence from becoming an indicator of higher status and reinforces a culture where every educator can engage as a valued colleague. In our experience, learning communities that are public, inclusive, focused on professional learning, and offer flexible membership contribute to teacher retention.

Teachers stay where they are mentored

Another key aspect of our community that supports teacher retention is the mentoring fellows receive. Research shows that having a mentor who teaches the same content, provides support in curriculum selection and adaptation, and guides the mentee in reflective practice and implementing diverse instructional approaches contributes to teacher retention (Maready, Cheng, & Bunch, 2021). Our mentoring model reflects this approach.

Knowles offers formal and informal mentorship opportunities. Our formal structures include:

Big Buddies: Fellows one year ahead of mentees offer empathy, perspective, and the simple but powerful message: “You can make it to next year.”
Inquiry Coaches: Senior Fellows, typically 6 to 10 years into teaching, model a learner’s stance (Allen & Blythe, 2015) and support teachers in reflecting on and studying their practice.
Program Officers for Teacher Development: Former teachers, now on staff, design and lead professional learning and provide career support to participants.
Teacher Leader Mentors: Experienced classroom teachers (10+ years) outside Knowles bring a wealth of knowledge, practical wisdom, and lived examples of what long-term sustainability and leadership can look like.

We select mentors who recognize the complexity of teaching and bring a deep commitment to continued learning; honesty about the realities of the profession; and a spirit of hope, possibility, and joy. They model sustainability, centering both students and content, while offering practical pathways for growth.

Fellows connect with mentors in multiple ways — sometimes through shared identity, sometimes shared pedagogical interests, and sometimes shared personal experiences. Each connection reflects a fellow’s lived experiences or challenges and expands their thinking about what is possible.

We recognize that some district leaders might wonder whether these strategies work only for our fellowship, which offers a kind of utopia where teachers receive extra support.

We’ve built a culture where fellows are empowered to seek out mentors based on their needs and aspirations. Having mentors of different identities creates more opportunities to build trust and have meaningful conversations about teaching. For example, our third- and fourth-year fellows have connected deeply with Brady — a white, gay, suburban, high school math teacher; parent of young children; and educator — who constantly helped fellows explore new approaches in his role as a Teacher Leader Mentor.

A first-year fellow bonded with Claudia, a Latina mentor, over their shared identity and candid conversations about how to manage students leaving class. What started as a casual chat turned into a 30-minute conversation over dinner about teaching, identity, and care. Claudia listened closely, asked thoughtful questions, shared her own struggles, and offered both practical advice and encouragement. The fellow left feeling seen, supported, and connected to someone who had “been there” — and who was still in it, thriving.

Mentorship at Knowles isn’t just about receiving support — it’s about seeing a vision of what sustainability and possibility in teaching can be.

Teachers stay where they exercise agency and choice

After the multiyear Teaching Fellowship, participants can engage in Knowles Senior Fellows programming, which supports ongoing leadership development. This program gives educators choice in how they continue growing as leaders — an element that research identifies as critical (York-Barr & Duke, 2004).

Senior Fellows’ work is guided by four core goals:

Support educators’ professional learning: Senior Fellows design, implement, and participate in professional learning experiences for fellow educators.
Foster a community and network of teacher leaders: They cultivate and strengthen teacher networks to collectively leverage their expertise.
Elevate teacher voice and knowledge: They share knowledge, resources, and stories to inform and inspire educational change.
Drive change in education: They identify needs and lead efforts to improve education in their local contexts and broader networks.

Teachers can only impact change if they are supported to stay. Through meaningful collaboration and connection, Knowles Teaching and Senior Fellows drive change within classrooms, across schools, and throughout the educational landscape.

We recognize that some district leaders might wonder whether these strategies work only for our fellowship, which offers a kind of utopia where teachers receive extra support. From our perspective, the most powerful resources we rely on already exist in schools and districts: committed teachers and teacher leaders. Giving these committed teachers opportunities to systematically study their practice and generate knowledge for the profession; to initiate, join, and strengthen learning communities; to mentor and be mentored; and to set and attain leadership goals is how you create the conditions for them to stay and lead from the classroom.

References

Allen, D. & Blythe, T. (2015). Facilitating for learning: Tools for teacher groups of all kinds. Teachers College Press.

Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S.L. (2015). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. Teachers College Press.

Maready, B., Cheng, Q., & Bunch, D. (2021). Exploring mentoring practices contributing to new teacher retention: An analysis of the beginning teacher longitudinal study. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 19 (2), 88-99.

Perry, A.D. & Lin, J. (2023). From co-developing norms to providing them: A journey toward more equitable community building. In S.R. Adams & A. Breidenstein (Eds.), Exploring meaningful and sustainable intentional learning communities for P-20 educators (pp. 50-70). IGI Global.

Sparks, S.D. (2025, March 17). Teacher shortages are improving—with two big exceptions. Education Week.

York-Barr, J. & Duke, K. (2004). What do we know about teacher leadership? Findings from two decades of scholarship. Review of Educational Research, 74 (3), 255-316.

This article appears in the Summer 2026 issue of Kappan, Vol. 107, No. 7-8.