There’s a moment that happens near the end of every school year that doesn’t get talked about enough. It’s the one where a new teacher, who is nervous and still figuring it all out, makes it to June.
That doesn’t happen by accident.
A lot has been said lately about the teacher shortage and the retention crisis, and yes, those conversations are necessary. According to the Learning Policy Institute’s most recent analysis, at least 411,500 teaching positions nationally are either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments. That’s roughly 1 in 8 of all teaching positions in the country. And that number has ticked up every year since they started tracking it. What the data can’t always capture is the human side of that equation: the administrators who notice, who check in, who make it their business to make new teachers feel like they actually belong somewhere. So before we all scatter for summer, this blog is for them.
Courses That Matter
Each year, a number of our new hires complete NEI’s Teaching the Exceptional Child in the Regular Classroom, and we want to say something about what that means. The course is mandated by the Maine Department of Education for initial certification and is available for re-certification. It’s an overview of special education, characteristics of individuals with disabilities, IEPs, functional behavior assessment, practical teaching strategies, and special education law and process and it’s a lot to take on, especially as a new teacher still finding your footing.
Before they’ve even sorted out their routines and figured out who needs a seating change by October, new educators are navigating the full weight of inclusive classroom work. Asking new teachers to dig into that work, and supporting them in doing it, says something real about a school’s priorities.
Researchers who study early career teachers have found that first-year educators face an enormous range of challenges all at once: establishing their professional identity, managing workload, navigating relationships with colleagues and administrators, and building a sense of self-efficacy that feels stable enough to stand on. The schools that invest in structured professional development early aren’t just helping those teachers get better at the job. They’re sending a signal: this is a place that takes your growth seriously. And according to a 2025 survey from the Center for American Progress focused specifically on early career teachers, that kind of investment, particularly in the first years, makes a measurable difference in whether educators stay.
The Florida Association of School Administrators put it plainly in a recent piece on teacher retention: schools with intentionally cultivated cultures, where teachers are seen, heard, and valued, retain staff at significantly higher rates. Culture, as they note, isn’t pizza parties and dress-down Fridays. It’s relational trust. It’s professional respect. It’s shared ownership of what the school is trying to do.
The Exceptional Child course is one way to help build that. It gives new educators a framework, a vocabulary, and a community for some of the most complex work they’ll do. To the administrators who encouraged enrollment, covered the cost, or simply made time in an already full year to say this is worth doing: thank you.
The same principle applies beyond supporting new teachers as they navigate special education. Creating a school where educators want to stay requires intentional leadership at every level. That’s the focus of EDPU 518: Leadership in Action: Creating Cultures of Success and Connection with Dr. Kay York. Designed for administrators, teacher leaders, and classroom teachers, the course explores what motivates people, how positive school and classroom climates are created, and the leadership practices that help individuals and organizations thrive. If culture is built through relational trust, professional respect, and shared purpose (as retention research suggests) then leadership is the mechanism that makes those things possible. Whether an educator is leading a district initiative, mentoring a colleague, or shaping the climate of a single classroom, the ability to inspire others and foster connection matters. Investing in leadership development is ultimately an investment in the kind of school culture where both educators and students can succeed.
Transitioning Into Summer
June is a strange month. The energy shifts, the schedule loosens, and suddenly there’s air where the urgency used to be. For administrators especially, the transition out of the school year is less a finish line than a relay handoff… close out this year, set up the next one, somewhere in there, maybe sleep.
A few things worth holding onto as you move into the break:
Let the debrief happen. The end-of-year debrief with new teachers doesn’t have to be formal, it just has to happen. What worked, what didn’t, what they wish they’d known in September. Schools That Lead points out that new teachers who don’t receive actionable feedback can quickly lose their initial sense of connection and summer is actually a natural moment to close the loop before the next year begins.
Acknowledge the year out loud. You handled the IEP meeting well. The way you redirected that situation in March, that was good teaching. People remember when their work is named. They remember even more when it comes from the person running the building.
Rest is not optional. For you or for them. RAND’s 2024 State of the American Teacher survey found that teachers report working an average of 53 hours per week, which is nearly 10 more than comparable working adults, and only 36 percent said their base pay was adequate. Summer is one of the few structural moments the profession actually offers for real recovery.
What to Read This Summer
Summer is the time of year you get to read on your own terms. Here are a few worth making room for:
Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss is the one we’d put at the top of the pile. The authors make the case that great leadership isn’t about boosting your own status, it’s about how effectively you build others up. For administrators heading into a new year, that’s exactly the right mindset to carry into September.
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek is worth it for anyone in education who’s caught between short-term metrics and long-term vision, which we realize is most of you. Sinek argues that the most effective leaders aren’t focused on winning, but on legacy, sustainability, and service. It reframes what success in a school actually looks like.
The Principal 50 by Baruti K. Kafele is a different kind of read: less narrative, more reflective. Veteran principal Kafele poses 50 essential questions every school leader should ask themselves, going beyond strategy to the heart of who you are as a leader. Good for the long drive or the porch.
One More Thing
If you’re looking for ways to support your staff’s professional growth going into next year, or looking for your own next step, NEI’s summer semester runs July 6 through August 16. Fully online, asynchronous, built for the way educators actually live.
To every administrator who made space for a new teacher to grow this year: you did something that matters. Enjoy your summer.