A Mixed Methods Evaluation of Virtual Teacher Collaboration to Address Teacher Attrition in Charter Schools

Charter schools across the country experience teacher attrition rates as much as twice the teacher attrition rates of traditional public schools (Stuit & Smith, 2012). To overcome high teacher attrition rates, some schools implement structured mentoring programs and leverage professional learning communities to support new teachers’ effectiveness. Teachers that have high levels of self-efficacy tend to experience high levels of job satisfaction and are more likely to remain in their teaching assignment (Burley, Hall, Villeme, & Brockmeier, 1991; Glickman & Tamashiro, 1982). To support first and second-year teacher development, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and to positively influence teachers’ intention to remain in their charter school teaching assignment, a North Texas tuition-free public charter school network implemented both virtual professional learning communities and virtual office hours. After eight virtual roundtable sessions, a subsample of first and second-year secondary teachers completed a survey, and a small group participated in semi-structured interviews. Survey respondents and interviewees that participated in the virtual roundtables evaluation indicated that the sessions included the sharing of instructional strategies, curriculum design opportunities, and little support with workload management. Survey respondents and interviewees opinions differed regarding what types of activities they found to be beneficial during the virtual sessions. There was no conclusive link between teacher participation in the virtual roundtables in supporting the development of their self-efficacy, improving their job satisfaction, and their intention to remain in the profession. The findings suggest that the charter network should work toward providing well-facilitated virtual sessions and develop a comprehensive program of support for early career teachers