About one in six teachers in some of the country's largest public school districts are out of the classroom at least 18 days, or more than 10 percent of the time, for illness, personal reasons and professional development, according to a report out Tuesday that urges districts to make teacher attendance a higher priority.I hate being out of my class. Preparing for, and recovering from, a day of absence is much more work than actually being there for the day!
Even teachers in line with the average of 11 days out may be hurting their students' progress, the National Council on Teacher Quality said.
"Given the time and attention spent on school programs, new curriculum and strategies to strengthen teacher quality," the report's authors wrote, "we may be overlooking one of the most basic, solvable and cost effective reasons why schools may fail to make education progress."
The Washington-based think tank examined data provided by 40 large school districts for the 2012-13 school year and found that, on average, teachers were in the classroom 94 percent of the 186-day school year. About 71 percent of the time taken was because of illness or personal leave, with the rest for school business...
The report also found no measurable relationship between teacher absence and the poverty levels of a school's students, nor any difference in absentee rates among districts with policies meant to encourage attendance, such as paying teachers for unused sick time, and districts without those incentives.
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
Teacher Absences
Except for when I got hurt skiing a few years ago, when I missed the last 7 weeks of school, I miss about 3 days of school per year. Others aren't that diligent:
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6 comments:
I think you phrased that backwards but yes. Much easier to be in the room.
I have corrected the phrasing, thanks.
You're welcome. And it should be noted -- it's especially true for math, (and I would presume science ) teachers, as the likelihood that your sub is even remotely familiar with your subject ...
I absolutely hated missing class and if there was any way I could drag myself in to school I did. (I'd joke to other teachers that if you were sick it is your duty to be here anyway... and infect as many of the little bastards as you could.)
If I had a generic sub it was a wasted day - push that play button! But my real fear was that they would get someone that thought they could actually teach chemistry. I'd miss one day and then spend the next three undoing the damage.
Most of the older teachers were like me and rarely missed class. The new teachers were just the opposite. By the end of the year they'd burned every sick day, professional leave day and personal leave day they had.
My daughter teaches in a public school system. She's been absent one day this year for a personal reason. She's out 2-3 days each month for required meetings and "professional development."
This is amusing. I once went to apply for a job as substitute coordinator for our school district - a work-from-home position that I would have really liked to have gotten. The job interview was going well - until they found out I had a math degree. Then everything went completely off the rails as they were more in need of substitute teachers than someone to schedule them. The panel that was doing the interview began offering assistance to pick up the education credits to obtain certification. I consulted a friend who had subbed and she talked me out of it. I was kind of surprised to learn about her negative experiences, since her husband was a school administrator. As I remember it, she felt like she had to walk on eggshells not to upset the teacher either by doing too little or too much!
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