Utah Virtual Academy credits teacher-led model with higher retention and student gains

Utah Virtual Academy says a teacher-run school improvement system pushed teacher retention into the high 90s and helped improve student outcomes at the online public charter school. Leaders shared the model at the Compass Fall Convening in Salt Lake City and said it can work in charter schools, online or in person.

Why it matters: - Utah Virtual Academy says teacher-led school improvement has become a retention tool and an academic lever at a time when many schools struggle to keep staff. - The model also appears to support student outcomes, including graduation and reading gains, at a school serving a high share of economically disadvantaged students and students with disabilities. - Leaders say the approach can be replicated beyond Utah Virtual Academy, including in online and brick-and-mortar charter schools.

What happened: - Utah Virtual Academy raised teacher retention from the 60 percent range to the high 90s by shifting school improvement work to teachers. - Executive Director Meghan Merideth, Elementary Principal Lacey Robinson and Middle School Principal Lori Phillips presented the model to Utah charter school leaders at the Compass Fall Convening at the University of Utah. - The school began the work in 2017 while its high school was in Utah’s turnaround program and continued after the school exited the program in 2020.

The details: - Utah’s turnaround program serves schools that rank in the bottom 3 percent statewide for two consecutive years. - Schools in turnaround work with an outside provider on a three-year improvement plan. - UTVA’s teacher-led system includes spring votes on priorities, teacher involvement in writing the plan and co-led monitoring meetings. - Each UTVA school follows a short list of shared rules, including a school improvement team with teacher members, measurable goals and a one-page plan that every staff member can read. - Each principal controls the rest of the school’s improvement structure. - The model replaces meetings teachers already hold, and leaders who take part receive a stipend. - Robinson said teachers now ask to join the work, and Phillips said each school priority gets its own teacher-led committee. - Phillips stays out of those committee meetings so teachers can speak openly. - UTVA says teachers own the goals, not administrators. - In 2018, the high school goal belonged to the principal and focused on raising graduation from 38% to 65%. - The high school’s 2026 cohort graduated at 88%. - This year, mentors and a counselor own a goal to raise parent attendance at college and career meetings from 76% to 86%. - UTVA reports third-grade reading gains for students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students compared with state comparisons. - Two early learning teachers brought 100% of their students to proficiency last year. - UTVA serves students across Utah, with more than half of students classified as economically disadvantaged and about a quarter receiving special education services.

Between the lines: - The model reflects a shift away from top-down school improvement and toward shared ownership, which can improve buy-in and make change stick after outside intervention ends. - Merideth said research shows many schools slide backward after they leave turnaround, which helps explain why UTVA built a permanent internal system. - The emphasis on short, readable plans and teacher-led committees suggests the school is trying to make improvement work part of normal operations rather than an extra initiative. - The retention gains also hint that teacher autonomy, rather than added mandates, may be part of the reason staff stayed.

What's next: - UTVA says the model is already being used across its schools and can be adapted by other charter schools. - The school will continue using teacher-led committees and measurable goals to manage improvement. - UTVA’s current focus includes increasing parent attendance at college and career meetings.

The bottom line: - Utah Virtual Academy is pitching teacher ownership as both a staff-retention strategy and a school-improvement engine, with results it says held up after turnaround support ended.