A Statistic’s Five Years: A Story of Teacher Attrition

Abstract

The author is one of the almost 50% of beginning U.S. public school teachers who leave the profession within 5 years (Ingersol, 2003; Scherff, 2008). The first year she left teaching, 2012-2013, she became part of the 7% who exited the profession that year (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Teacher educators use attrition statistics often without knowing the stories behind the numbers. Rebecca is a statistic, and this is her story in five poems, which span 5 years teaching in public schools. She uses poetry to explore her statistical meaning, following the footsteps of others who use poetry and narrative to explore their own stories (Limes-Taylor, 2014; Pelias, 2011; Spry, 2011). She also writes this for those teachers, like herself, who loved their students, but could no longer remain within the K-12 system.