MILWAUKEE — As school superintendents across Wisconsin lament how hard it is to retain good teachers, the Badger Institute asks an intriguing question: Does character education make a school an attractive workplace for teaching talent?
Character education — the practice of incorporating ethical values and moral formation into schools — has been tried in some Wisconsin public schools. The Badger Institute used data from the Department of Public Instruction to analyze teacher retention and loss at those schools before, during and after the implementation of character education programs.
This quantitative analysis yielded mixed results. However, a qualitative analysis — interviews with key participants — suggests that a successfully implemented character program not only can help keep teachers but also can attract high-quality hires.
As one principal in a school with a long-standing character education program put it, “I think people wanted to be here. It was a recruitment tool for us.”
The report, “Character education and teacher retention,” is available at www.BadgerInstitute.org online and in printable form. For media availability, contact Wyatt Eichholz at [email protected] or (414) 702-1236.
For more on the Badger Institute’s work measuring and explaining Wisconsin’s teacher turnover trends, see our policy briefs here, hereand here.
The Badger Institute is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit source since 1987 of the information and reporting needed to engage and energize Wisconsinites in discussion and timely action on key public policy issues critical to growth, prosperity and free markets. See all our work at www.BadgerInstitute.org
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