From Enrollment to Employment: Retention Strategies That Work

Are you struggling to retain teacher candidates? Nationally, enrollment in and completion of teacher education programs has dropped drastically over the past 15 years. To meet workforce needs, a larger percentage of those enrolled must be retained. In our session, we will explore current issues in PETE/HETE that influence retention, examine evidence-based retention strategies, and discuss best practices. Participants will engage in conversation and collaborate with colleagues to address common questions in retaining PETE/HETE students: How can PETE/HETE programs increase the likelihood of program completion from the start, retain students to better contribute to the teacher workforce, and combat the teacher shortage using retention strategies? Occupational Socialization Theory will be used as a framework to examine how socialization may be leveraged to support candidates in progressing from enrollment in PETE/HETE programs to program completion and gainful employment as educators.