Pender County - Improving Teacher Retention Through a Tiered Model of Support

A crisis is befalling public schools in North Carolina. The number of teachers entering the profession has steadily decreased while teachers leaving before retirement age has increased. Pender County Schools has seen a decrease in the years of experience of their teaching force. This inquiry aims to address the high attrition rate of teachers (especially beginning teachers) in Pender County Schools by establishing a support structure that references a tiered level of support for teachers. Much of the current research regarding teacher retention reveals a sharp decline over the past ten years despite licensure area, years of service, and teacher or school demographic data (Madigan & Kim, 2021; Kaiser & Thompson, 2021; Chang et al., 2023). Paramount to principal leadership is establishing a positive culture and high expectations through leadership practices that promote a shared vision and ownership of teachers and other stakeholders (Elliot et al., 2017; Tonic, 2021; Zavelevesky & Lishchinsky, 2020).

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