Benefits of character education can be two-fold
Good teachers, the key to effective schools, are leaving their classrooms in droves.
The average teacher loss rate among Wisconsin school districts was higher in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years — when it peaked at 15 percent — than at any time since 1996.
Nine districts in the state have lost more than 20 percent of their teachers each year on average over a recent five-year span.
Many of those teachers sought out other schools, and competition is healthy. But it also prompts a key question for districts struggling to retain their best educators: How, especially when money is short, can districts find and keep top staff?
One intriguing possibility: character education, the practice of incorporating ethical values and moral formation into schools.
We conducted two phases of research: a quantitative analysis of teacher loss before and after the adoption of character education programs in Wisconsin schools and districts, and follow-up interviews with teachers and administrators.
Our quantitative analysis yielded results that varied from school to school. From the interviews, it became clear that key factors in successful teacher retention at schools of character include a principal or superintendent who acts as a champion for the project, buy-in from parents and the community, an incremental mindset, and commitment to adopting the character culture at all levels of staff. We learned that a successfully implemented character program can reap benefits not only by retaining teachers but also by attracting high-quality teachers in the hiring process.
In interviews with current and former public school teachers as part of a broader project, we learned that teachers who left the profession early often felt burned out by poor student behavior and lack of support from school administrators. Successful character education programs address these challenges.
Wyatt Eichholz is the Policy and Legislative Associate of the Badger Institute.
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