The Keys to Retaining General Studies Faculty at Jewish Day Schools

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good, Inc.

There is little disagreement over the fact that having a stable group of talented and committed teachers can make or break a school’s quality and reputation.Therefore, teacher retention is an extremely high priority for the Heads and Principals of Jewish day schools and day schools in general . There is also hard evidence from Benchmarking for Good research conducted with 1400 Jewish day school parents that the quality of General Studies academics is one of their top school choice criteria. 

How Successful are Jewish Day Schools At Retaining General Studies Teachers? 

The answer is decidely mixed! Career retention rates for General Studies faculty in Jewish day schools range from a low of 34.6% to  a high of 78.0%, while the average number of years General Studies teachers spend at their schools ranges from a low of 3.4 years to a high of 13.6 years.

The graph above shows how 22 Jewish day schools perform on both factors. The vertical access indicates the percentage of General Studies  teachers’ careers they have spent at their current school while the horizontal access indicates their average number of years at their school. 

High performing schools average over 65% career-wide retention of General Sfudies faculty. 

Key Findings: Factors Correlating with High Tenure Among General Studies Teachers

Based on Benchmarking for Good analysis of the career paths and preferences of 600 General Studies teachers, we found 7 statistically significant positive correlations between years spent at the current school and various satisfaction factors. Here are the key results:

🔥 Strongest Correlations (Statistically Significant)

1. Mission Alignment (r=0.126, p≤0.01)

   • Teachers with longer tenure feel more aligned with the school's mission

   • This is the strongest predictor of tenure length

2. School Recommendation (r=0.111, p≤0.01)

   • Veteran teachers are more likely to recommend the school to families

   • Indicates higher organizational commitment

3. School Pride (r=0.108, p≤0.01)

   • Longer tenure correlates with greater pride in being a staff member

   • Suggests emotional investment grows over time

4. Job Satisfaction (r=0.095, p≤0.05)

   • Overall job satisfaction increases with years at the school

5. Work Tools Satisfaction (r=0.086, p≤0.05)

   • Veteran teachers are more satisfied with their tools and resources

6. Colleague Collaboration (r=0.086, p≤0.05)

   • Longer tenure correlates with better collaborative relationships

7. Staff-Student Interactions (r=0.082, p≤0.05)

   • Teachers with more years report better staff-student relationships

Key Implications

For Retention Strategy:

• Mission alignment is the strongest factor - investing in cultural fit and values alignment may improve retention

• Collaborative culture matters - fostering collegial relationships appears to support longer tenure

• Resource investment correlates with tenure - adequate tools and support may encourage staying

For Leadership:

• Veteran teachers (11+ years) represent 25.8% of staff and show highest satisfaction

• The positive correlation suggests that experience with the school environment leads to greater appreciation

• Long-term teachers become better ambassadors and are more likely to recommend the school

  
  

Bottom Line and How to Strengthen Your School's Performance

Teachers who stay longer at the school tend to develop stronger emotional and professional connections, suggesting that retention efforts should focus on cultural alignment, collaborative relationships, and adequate resource provision.

If your school would like to participate in no cost Benchmarking for Good Staff Climate research program that will give it the information it needs to be a destination of choice for General Studies faculty members please complete this brief grant interest form or contact Dr. Harry Bloom at harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org

#GeneralStudiesTeachers  #Jewish day schools   #Day Schools   #FacultyRetention

Keys to Retaining Educational Administrators

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good, Inc.

Educational administrators are the backbone of day schools. Thus, attracting and retaining high quality administrators is one of the top priorities of Heads of School. Competition is fierce for quality administrators and they are not reticent to change schools when opportunities present themselves. Of the 109 educational administrators working in the 15 denominationally and geographically diverse Jewish day schools we studied over the past year, 2/3 of the administrators had changed their school employer at least once during the course of their careers.

But, despite the importance of keeping the educational administrators happy, the majority of the schools were struggling with this very basic job,

Correlation Analysis: What Drives Job Satisfaction?

Based on comprehensive analysis of both individual responses (n=109) and school-level data (n=15), here are the attributes that correlate most strongly with job satisfaction:

STRONGEST PREDICTORS* of STRONG JOB SATISFACTION AMONG EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATORS

1. Work Environment (r = 0.874 school-level, r = 0.701 individual-level)

STRONGEST predictor of job satisfaction

• Includes: positive/collegial atmosphere, supportive supervision, respectful interactions

• Schools with excellent work environments have highly satisfied administrators

2. Career Growth Opportunities (r = 0.790 school-level, r = 0.611 individual-level)

SECOND strongest predictor

• Includes: professional development access, advancement possibilities, skill building

• Strong correlation at both individual and organizational levels

MODERATE PREDICTOR

3. Salary Competitiveness (r = 0.648 school-level, r = 0.396 individual-level)

• Moderately important but not the top factor

• While salary matters, environment and growth opportunities matter MORE

• Individual variation suggests some administrators prioritize other factors

WEAKEST PREDICTOR

4. Work-Life Balance (r = 0.167 school-level, r = 0.411 individual-level)

• Weakest correlation with job satisfaction

• Highly variable across schools and individuals

• Suggests personal preferences vary widely

*Note: In a social science setting “r” values of 0.5 and over are considered significant

KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

If you are intent on increasing Job Satisfaction among your educational administrators to help ensure strong retention and strong hiring, adopt these priorities and measure how well you are achieving them via periodic research!

1. PRIORITY 1: Improve work environment and organizational culture

2. PRIORITY 2: Invest in career growth and professional development programs

3. PRIORITY 3: Address salary competitiveness strategically

   
   

REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES

• High job satisfaction schools consistently have strong work environments (67-70% very satisfied)

• Low job satisfaction schools have poor work environments (0-25% very satisfied)

• Career growth shows similar patterns across high and low performing schools

  
  

BOTTOM LINE: Creating a positive, supportive work environment with growth opportunities is far more predictive of administrator job satisfaction than salary alone. Schools should invest in culture and professional development first, then address compensation competitiveness.

RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS

To explore how your school can conduct the research that ensures highly satisfied educational administrators in the drivers of satisfaction please contact Dr. Harry Bloom at harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org and take a few minutes to complete a Grant Interest Form so your school can he considered for one of our NO COST research grants.

#Education #Recruitment #Retention #WorkEnvironment

Benchmarking for Good Launches New AI-Enabled Research Grants for Day Schools

By Dr. Harry Bloom, Founder and President, Benchmarking for Good, Inc.

Benchmarking for Good is proud to announce a new cycle of innovative AI-enabled, no cost research grants for qualifying faith based day schools. Several of our grant opportunities will involve the application of innovative AI-informed analytical techniques that will help participating schools design customized school improvement processes. The benefits will include the ability to design more focused and impactful initiatives to enhance employee, parent, and student satisfaction and advocacy. 

Grant Opportunities for Fall/Winter 2025/6

Qualified and approved grantees can potentially qualify for one or more of the following opportunities:

1. Pathway to Become a Faculty Employer of Choice: Grant services include a faculty compensation benchmarking study relative to peer day schools plus a staff climate survey.

2. Pathway to Become a Parent Destination of Choice: Grantees will secure research data about (1) parents' school choice priorities, (2) parents’ perceptions of their school's performance, (3) peer school comparative performance data, plus (4) access to advanced statistical analysis of the data that helps identify their school's critical pathway to performance improvement.

3. Pathway to Become a Student Destination of Choice: Grantees with high school students will secure research data about (1) students' perceptions about their school's performance on key programmatic and environmental factors, (2) peer school comparative performance data, plus (3) access to advanced statistical analysis of the data that identifies their school's critical pathway to performance improvement.

4. Becoming a Board Destination of Choice: Grantees will learn how their school’s Board performs relative to proven governance best practice and the Boards of peer schools, enabling them to engage in focused performance improvement.  

Next Steps

School leaders with an interest in being considered for any or all of the above grant opportunities are asked to complete this grant interest form. The form does not obligate either the school or Benchmarking for Good but will ensure their school is eligible to apply for the limited grant opportunities.

If you have any questions about this exciting opportunity please contact Dr. Harry Bloom at harrybloom@benchmarkingforgood.org

#School performance #school improvement #Board governance #AIenabled research