Alarming Educator Statistics:
✔️ DC has the highest teacher turnover rate in the country, with 25-30 % of educators leaving their schools each year, far above even the national urban average of between 16-19 %.
✔️IN OUR 2022-2023 CITY-WIDE EDUCATOR SURVEY, OVER 40 % OF EDUCATORS SAY THEY ARE LIKELY TO LEAVE THEIR SCHOOL THIS YEAR OR WITHIN THE NEXT 1-2 YEARS AND ONLY 27 % SAY THEY ARE LIKELY TO STAY FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS!
✔️In EmpowerEd’s 2021 city-wide teacher survey, 83 % of educators said morale had worsened from previous years.
✔️ Nationally, 79% of surveyed teachers reported dissatisfaction with their work conditions (Hart Research).
✔️ Nearly 1:4 teachers said they were likely to leave their jobs by the end of the 2020–2021 school year, with Black teachers most likely to leave (RAND).
The Effectiveness of EmpowerEd’s Educator Wellness Approach:
✔️ Over 15 DCPS and Public Charter schools served through educator wellness and teacher leadership development programs, EmpowerED was one of five grantees chosen for the OSSE educator wellness grant which has enabled two-year deep partnerships with five DC schools to improve educator wellness, morale and retention.
✔️ 1,500 DC educators who we’ve surveyed on themes about educator wellness and flexible scheduling, helping us to establish the actual needs of DC educators in this COVID period
✔️”My school’s investment in this work has the potential to positive transform their school & improve teacher morale and retention”
✔️100 % OF PARTICIPANTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN EMPOWERED’S 5 SCHOOL “THRIVING SCHOOLS” COHORT, SAID THAT THE SERIES WAS A VALUABLE USE OF THEIR TIME!
✔️ 100 % OF PARTICIPANTS IN OUR “THRIVING SCHOOLS” COHORT SAID THEY BELIEVE THEIR PARTICIPATION IN THE COHORT WILL IMPROVE MORALE AND RETENTION AT THEIR SCHOOL.
✔️80 % OF PARTICIPANTS IN OUR “THRIVING SCHOOLS” COHORT SAID THAT THEIR SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP WITH EMPOWERED ON SHARED LEADERSHIP AND POSITIVE ADULT CULTURE MAKES THEM MORE LIKELY TO STAY AT THEIR SCHOOL
✔️ OVER 65 DC EDUCATORS WE ARE TRAINING ON OUR SCHOOL-BASED EDUCATOR WELLNESS TEAMS WHO ARE COMMITTED TO LEADING ONGOING, SUSTAINABLE CHANGE IN THEIR SCHOOL COMMUNITIES
✔️ MORE THAN 17 SCHOOLS WHO HAVE RECENTLY INITIATED CONVERSATION ABOUT EDUCATOR WELLNESS PROGRAMMING, SIGNIFYING THE SYSTEMIC NEED FOR OUR PERSONAL WELLNESS AND SYSTEMS CHANGE EDUCATOR WELLNESS WORK
TESTIMONIALS FOR EMPOWERED’S EDUCATOR WELLNESS WORK:
🔷 "EMPOWERED'S EDUCATOR WELLNESS WORKSHOP WAS EVEN MORE HELPFUL THAN I WAS IMAGINING! THEY SHARED REALLY IMPACTFUL SELF-CARE TECHNIQUES TO HELP EDUCATORS, LEAD US THROUGH GREAT TEAM-BUILDING EXERCISES, AND EVEN GUIDED US TO MAP OUT ALL THE AMAZING EXPERTISE OF OUR STAFF WHICH WE WILL USE FOR FUTURE STAFF-LED PD. AT THE END OF THE SESSION, THEY SURVEYED STAFF ON THEIR WELLNESS NEEDS AND HELPED US WRITE THE BASIS OF AN EDUCATOR WELLNESS PLAN FOR BURROUGHS. WE'LL USE THE EMPOWERED WELLNESS RESOURCES TO HELP US GROW AS A STRONGER STAFF AND SCHOOL. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS WORKSHOP TO OTHER SCHOOLS WHO WANT TO SHOW THEIR TEACHERS HOW MUCH THEY ARE VALUED."
- PRINCIPAL JENKINS, PRINCIPAL
JOHN BURROUGHS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
🔷 "AT A SCHOOL LIKE MONUMENT ACADEMY, WELLNESS IS DEEPLY IMPORTANT TO US BUT SOMETIMES OUR DEDICATION TO OUR STUDENTS LEAVES EDUCATORS NEEDING EXTRA SUPPORT. OUR COLLABORATION WITH EMPOWERED HAS HELPED US TO KEEP AN IMPORTANT FOCUS ON EDUCATOR WELL-BEING OVER THIS PAST SCHOOL YEAR. THEY'VE HELPED US WITH IMPORTANT SURVEYING OF OUR STAFF, WRITING A DETAILED EDUCATOR WELLNESS PLAN AND SUPPORTING US WITH MONTHLY MEETINGS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ACHIEVING OUR EDUCATOR WELLNESS GOALS. OUR SESSIONS WITH THEM BOTH FEEL VERY THERAPEUTIC BUT ALSO PRODUCTIVE. I'VE NOTICED THE POSITIVE EFFECT OF OUR EDUCATOR WELLNESS TEAM AND I LOOK FORWARD TO BUILDING ON THE WORK WE'VE DONE WITH EMPOWERED FOR YEARS TO COME."MONUMENT ACADEMY PCS
- DANIELLE NELSON, WELLNESS COORDINATOR