Teachers report feeling “burned out” more than any other profession -- even health care. Some districts are using federal pandemic relief money to try to help teacher morale.
Hinckley-Big Rock is a small school district in DeKalb County. They’re using those federal funds to foot the bill for their teachers to earn a master’s degree.
“We’ve got to do some things to help our teachers feel valued," said Dr. Jessica Sonntag, the superintendent at Hinckley-Big Rock, "when they're really working a lot more than they've ever had to. The intensity is just so much greater.”
At the onset of COVID, the district partnered with education company BloomBoardso teachers could earn “micro-credentials” -- short, graduate-level lessons on an array of classroom topics. But recently, BloomBoard teamed up with universities to offer a full master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction.
So far, 11 Hinckley-Big Rock teachers are in the process of earning their degree. That’s nearly 20% of their teaching staff.
“I do think that has helped retain some of our teachers," Sonntag said. "And we're actually having some of our paraprofessionals go through a micro-credentialing process to earn their licensure for being a teacher as well.”
Sonntag says teachers can earn the degree at their own pace.
So far, Sonntag says, the return on the investment in the classroom has been so strong they’ll keep funding it even when federal COVID funds expire.
Teachers who earn the degree are asked to stay at Hinckley-Big Rock for three years. Sonntag says she thinks the degree opportunity -- and associated pay bumps -- have helped retain good teachers during the past few stressful years.
