Partnerships for the Future: Collaboration between Governments and Higher Education Institutions

Approximately 20% or 400 teachers leave the public school system on Guam every year. This attrition rate has been attributed to a host of interrelated local issues. Frequently, many of these teachers are recruited from off-island for 2-year contracts. The Guam Public School System (GPSS) spent an av...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors San Nicolas, Gregg C, Avilla, Salvador
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.12.1993
Subjects
Economic Climate
Elementary Secondary Education
Government School Relationship
Guam
Higher Education
Institutional Cooperation
Public Schools
Teacher Persistence
Teacher Recruitment
Teacher Shortage
Guam
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Summary:Approximately 20% or 400 teachers leave the public school system on Guam every year. This attrition rate has been attributed to a host of interrelated local issues. Frequently, many of these teachers are recruited from off-island for 2-year contracts. The Guam Public School System (GPSS) spent an average of nearly $2 million per year on recruitment alone yet teacher retention remains a dilemma. In 1991, the Twenty First Guam Legislature established the Guam Teacher Corps Scholarship (GTC) program to address teacher recruitment and retention. GTC expanded the Government's then existing 2-year Teacher Training Scholarship program and extended student participation to high school seniors on a limited basis. In the fall semester of 1992, 60 recruits at the University of Guam (UOG) were selected for awards. By the end of 1993, over 250 recipients were actively participating in the program with a waiting list of 40 more eligible students. Demographic information revealed that students were generally older, had extensive work experience, and had families to support. Innovative recruitment and retention programs have been developed and appear to be working. The success of the program indicated that collaborative partnerships between government agencies and higher education institutions are the future hope for teacher recruitment and promoting careers in education. (Contains 13 references.) (Author)