The Dirty Dozen, A Recipe for Disaster

The following factors can drive new teachers out of secondary schools and out of the teaching profession.

1. Teaching more than two preps.
2. Teaching mainly 9th grade courses in schools in which these are the most challenging courses to teach.
3. Teaching mainly entry-level courses (such as Spanish I, Introduction to Biology, and Algebra I).
4. Teaching in more than one classroom.
5. Teaching new courses with little or no developed curriculum.
6. Getting hired late (end of summer or after the school year starts).
7. Holding substandard credentials and/or not having majored in the subject that they are teaching.
8. Being provided with an inadequate supply of books for their students.
9. Having their classroom located away from the classrooms of other members of their department.
10. Being evaluated late in the school year.
11. Being asked to coach or run time-consuming clubs.
12. Not being represented on decision-making committees.

Source: Hazed, Educational Leadership, May 2005