Empowering Technology: How an LMS Transforms Professional Development and Improves Teacher Retention

At this very moment, a teacher is resigning. And another, and another.

According to volumes of articles, research and statistics, burnout is responsible for the droves of K-12 educators across North America who have had enough and are leaving the profession for good. Thanks to both recent and ongoing challenges like funding cuts, overwhelming workloads and dismal compensation, fewer people than ever are entering the field, and of the brave souls who do, 44% will leave within their first five years.

District leaders and school administrators need to do everything in their power to entice teachers to stay. That means helping them battle burnout and reignite their passion for education once more. And all that needs to happen on a dime.

Experienced teachers aren’t easily replaceable. Finding qualified teachers is becoming a feat in itself. With 43% of teacher job postings going unfilled, there’s a good chance most vacancies will remain that way. The cost of attracting, hiring and onboarding a new teacher can run anywhere between $10,000 to $20,000, and given that 10% of new hires won’t last beyond their first year, it can be hard to justify the spend.

The math is simple: You need to keep the teachers you’ve got, and help any new additions get up to speed quickly and stay for the sake of the district, school, students and budget.

Teacher retention is the most pressing challenge facing the K-12 education sector today. So, what can you do? Start with professional development served up on an LMS platter.

Professional Development Opportunities Are a Must

Providing your teaching staff with a variety of high-quality professional development (PD) opportunities is the most immediate challenge your district or school needs to overcome to improve retention.

Teachers are in the business of teaching and learning. Keeping up on educational trends, innovations and strategies makes them better teachers. When they succeed, so do their students.

PD empowers teachers to:

• connect with and build community with fellow teachers
• refine pedagogical methods
• keep current on trends and best practices
• grow as professionals
• acquire new skill sets and strengths

The benefits of PD for new teaching staff can be tremendously valuable. Many new hires are fresh out of teachers college and could even be entering the professional work environment for the very first time. There’s a lot of onboarding to cover, from how to order classroom supplies to signing up for benefits to the school’s code of conduct. PD can help smooth this transition and help get new teaching staff up to speed without having to pull them from their classes to learn.

Mentorship programs, coaching and focused training sessions can provide newbies with the classroom management skills they require—and often lack—to help them survive that first year, setting them up to succeed long term.

And most important, PD can help battle teacher burnout, keeping both experienced and new teachers from walking out the door. Remember, PD is a necessity, not a “nice to have.”

District leaders and school administrators know this but may be struggling with how to deliver PD with budget constraints and limited resources to make it happen.

Traditional Challenges Associated With PD

Many districts and schools have neither the budget nor the bandwidth to plan and offer PD— mandatory or otherwise.

Let’s start with the money. It’s not cost-effective to rent a hall or conference room to host these learning sessions, not to mention the cost associated with bringing in guest educators. Then, you’ve got to get your educators there and back. It adds up fast.

Now, let’s say you’ve got a few dollars to spend and can swing the in-person PD. Do you have enough substitute teachers available to cover for the teachers who will be attending the PD sessions? Not likely.

Moving on to time: Do you have the time to organize all this on top of your other responsibilities? And will you have enough hours in the day to effectively track attendance and completion rates? What about teachers who miss out—do you have time to plan makeup sessions?

In short, no. But with an LMS, you do.

How an LMS Supports Teacher Retention

With an LMS like D2L Brightspace, the challenges associated with in-person PD are eliminated.

You can ensure high-quality PD is at your teaching staff’s fingertips, wherever and whenever they want it.

With it, they can:

• self-enroll to drive their own learning at their own pace, on their own schedules
• create and lean into a professional community
• access courses asynchronously or synchronously

And you’ll be able to deliver and track mandatory training and compliance courses for each and every one of your teaching staff, across your district, with ease.

You’ll also be able to:

• create your own professional learning and training courses
• leverage pre-built content from external PD providers
• work with D2L to customize and build content for your unique needs

Why Now Is the Time to Act

District leaders and school administrators have to act quickly to retain their teachers. Help them battle burnout with effective PD, break the cycle of teacher turnover and push back against unfilled positions.

The key to keeping teaching staff is to keep them happy. Give them the PD they want and need with a high-quality LMS like Brightspace.

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