Develop a Playbook for Increasing Retention Among Instructional Staff

Like many schools across the United States, the Ashton-Franklin Center School District has experienced increased employee turnover and movement, especially among instructional staff and extra-curricular coaches working in the Junior and Senior High School settings. A small school district with roughly 40 students per grade level, students often develop strong bonds with teachers, paraprofessionals (instructional aides/assistants) coaches, and experience disruption and loss with their departure. Furthermore, the scholarship on turnover and attrition of instructional staff has shown to have unwanted impacts on student learning experiences and achievement. Observations such as these has led the district to prioritize employee retention and initiate efforts to improve retention of these most valuable resources.
Gain an understanding of the current retention and attrition patterns among employee categories that are the focus of the project.
Describe current retention strategies, tactics, and programs at AFC and across peer districts.
Benchmark retention statistics and practices across peer districts.
Research and curate information from reliable sources (trade publications, scholarly articles, subject matter experts) on best and proven practices for increasing teacher and coach retention in the “post-COVID” school environment.
Create an interview questionnaire targeting former AFC employees and coaches and teachers within your own network to gain an understanding of factors that contribute to retention and attrition.
Conduct interviews with AFC retired and separated (voluntary) teachers and coaches.
Conduct interviews with current and/or retired teachers and coaches within the learner’s (students working on the current project) own social networks.
Develop an employee retention strategy and set of concrete tactics for implementation.
An employee retention strategy and playbook, including recommendations for evaluating the impacts of the strategy.