'The stress is high': Teachers discuss retention, student engagement at TAMU-CC conference

Every year, about a tenth of Texas teachers leave the profession. Among them are many teachers who after a year or two in the classroom decide the field isn't for them.

On Friday, several dozen young Coastal Bend teachers gathered at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's new teacher conference aimed at addressing attrition and supporting recent College of Education and Human Development graduates.

Desney Torres, a fifth grade teacher at Smith Elementary School, and Samantha Rodriguez, a fourth grade teacher at Moore Elementary School, are recent graduates. Both attended the conference, eager to learn more about topics such as supporting students with dyslexia and trauma-informed teaching.

In some ways, teaching has been what they expected — they've had the opportunity to connect with students and help them grow.

Both said they plan to stay in teaching. They enjoyed school as children and are proud that they can play a role in helping their students grow and develop.

But they say they've also seen the difficulties of the profession.

Most of their university education occurred before the pandemic, meaning that the classroom situations they were prepared for don't meet reality.

"I feel like it was a little harder to get into it — getting into teaching and then not having the knowledge of what to do with your kids who are still behind," Rodriguez said.

During the pandemic, many children lost valuable learning time. Now, a lot of classroom time is focused on testing to assess and address learning loss and the gaps still left to make up.

"The kids are so far behind, they're constantly testing," Torres said. "The stress is high."

"For teachers and students," Rodriguez added.

"It's good data, for sure, but you can tell the kids are getting tired," Torres said.

It isn't just new teachers who are facing these challenges.

"I work with veteran teachers in my grade level, and they're struggling as well," Torres said. "They've been teaching for years, but the behaviors, the curriculum, the testing — everything we're doing is so new because of COVID."

Teacher retention

According to the Texas Education Agency, 11.57% of teachers in Texas didn't return for the 2021-22 school year. Since the 2007-08 school year, rates have fluctuated between 8.59% and 10.58%.

A 2021 survey by the Charles Butt Foundation of 919 Texas teachers found that 68% seriously considered leaving the profession, up from 58% in 2020.

In March, Gov. Greg Abbott directed the agency to create a teacher vacancy task force.

In the Coastal Bend, school districts eyed solutions to attract and retain teachers. Alice ISD is raising wages for the upcoming school year. Other districts are still finalizing budget plans, but last year, Corpus Christi ISD approved raises and stipends that went into effect this year.

The challenges of the pandemic are compounding the problem, but teacher retention is not a new challenge.

Ten percent of U.S. teachers who began teaching in the 2007-08 school year were not teaching the following year. By 2011-12, 17% were no longer teaching, according to a National Center for Education Statistics study.

A&M-Corpus Christi assistant professor Tracy Harper organized the conference. Her alma mater, Abilene Christian University, had a similar conference. While working on a doctorate at Baylor University, Harper launched a new teacher institute. When applying to work at A&M-Corpus Christi, Harper explained her hopes of starting one here.

"My research and my passion is in supporting early-career teachers, and I want to do anything that the university possibly can to make sure that we're helping them to feel successful, to know that we still support them and to keep them in the field," Harper said.

Breakout sessions focused on subjects that new teachers often struggle with, Harper said, such as strategies for increasing classroom engagement and tools for differentiating support for all learners.

"We want to do anything we can," Harper said. "They've spent four years investing in a degree from TAMU-CC, so we want to do everything we can to make that investment worthwhile."

Margaret Lara, a Corpus Christi ISD educator, was the conference's keynote speaker.

"What will you do differently to engage, inspire or simply pique your students' curiosity?" Lara said. "What if you started by allowing your students to really get to know you? Set aside time to really show students your human side."

Lara told attendees about her first year teaching kindergarten and how she didn't realize that she'd failed to form a connection with one of her students until the last day of school, when she was shocked to learn he played the harmonica.

"This has stayed with me," Lara said. "After that, I always thought about that. I thought, what am I going to do different?"

She encouraged one-on-one conversations early in the school year. Lara also encouraged attendees to say yes to every opportunity that comes their way, explaining the value of attending conferences and bonding and learning from colleagues.

Torres and Rodriguez were particularly interested in a session on trauma-informed care, they said as they waited for the session to begin. They said the pandemic was traumatic for some students, and others in their classes have lost loved ones and experienced other traumatic events.

At the start of the presentation, speaker Adrienne Backer, an assistant professor at the university, began by acknowledging the recent school shooting in Uvalde.

"Every time we hear about a tragedy like this, it's really anxiety-provoking and scary and sad," Backer said. "It's also discouraging. I just want to give you all props, because you're really brave for deciding to be in education and schools."

Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com. You can support local journalism with a subscription to the Caller-Times. 

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Teachers discuss retention, student engagement at TAMU-CC conference