The schoolhouse can serve as a place of inspiration, peace, joy, and fellowship for students and staff alike, yet certain factors cause these beauties to be compromised. In classrooms across the greater Dallas area, a negative trend among the next generation of students is causing teachers to lose motivation for a job they want to love. The lack of engagement and work ethic that students have has led to teachers putting an unreasonable amount of pressure on themselves to bridge the gap between declining test scores and poor student engagement. The pandemic played a part in stumping the progression of students in certain key areas such as math, reading, and science but teachers are still fighting for the success of their students while holding onto their own sense of hope.
According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 24% of Texas eighth graders scored at or above the proficient level in math—proving the issue is bigger than Dallas alone. As students become more nonchalant towards their education, classroom dynamics between teachers and students are negatively affected. Teachers now feel as though they are disciplinarians as opposed to educators—a shift that leaves little to no room for meaningful connection and effective learning.
“When my kids struggle, I personally take it to heart. Am I missing something, how can I be better? I’ve learned to not put all the pressure on myself but I do sometimes question my purpose in teaching, DFW high school teacher Kynnedy Brown said.
The constant pressure and strain on teachers to ensure students are passing standardized tests affect the atmosphere of the classroom by replacing the joy and creativity of teaching with a sole focus on data driven outcomes. Can teachers marry data driven outcomes with joy and creativity? Sure. The problem is deeper than the education system and students. The weight of preparing students to perform well on standardized tests while managing behavioral issues without support from administration or parents is felt and causing teacher retention to decline.
“Student lack of motivation is definitely affecting teacher retention. I think it’s a two-fold situation. Students learn from teachers they can connect with and because teachers are not connecting these days it leads to a lack of motivation to some degree,” Dallas Independent School District middle school teacher Priscilla Benjamin stated.
Teacher retention has recently become a priority for Dallas ISD in response to a challenging teacher shortage crisis. The district emphasizes the “Three Cs”—culture, climate, and compensation. Harboring an environment where educators feel valued is paramount and Dallas ISD deserves credit. However, it does take a village to educate a child throughout their academic career and some parents have been cited dropping the ball.
“There are some very motivated teachers, and students are still unmotivated because a lot it comes from home. We have unmotivated parents who instill that in their child which leads to poor student achievement,” Benjamin said.
An educator admittedly can only do so much and once the feeling of time being wasted creeps into their head, a cycle of instability within the workforce becomes more prevalent. The effects of a high teacher turnover rate disrupts the learning experiences of students and does not give them the education that they deserve.
“Teachers are negatively affected by poor student motivation because they feel like they are wasting their time and not being effective. Sometimes you won’t be able to see the fruits of your labor, but you have to continue to water and plant seeds hoping one day something you said or taught will be used by the kid,” North Lake Early College High School counselor Dr. Angie Baker said.
Educators are heroes and undeniable assets to their local communities. Students and educators have a relationship where both parties depend on each other to be successful. Success should not be measured on numbers alone but how each student is willing to learn and growing their engagement levels. Addressing the crisis is not an overnight fix but investing more in motivated educators and providing meaningful resources for students will be a step in the right direction to shift the teacher retention rate decline and lack student motivation.
Baker's Dozen 
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