Teacher Turnover Impact
Teacher Turnover Impact PDF
Donley, J., Detrich, R, Keyworth, R., & States, J. (2019). Teacher Turnover Impact. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/teacher-retention-turnover
Research has consistently demonstrated that classroom teachers have the strongest influence on students’ educational outcomes (Coleman et al., 1966; Hanushek & Rivken, 2006), including both short- and long-term academic (Chetty, Freidman, & Rockoff, 2014; Lee, 2018) and noncognitive outcomes such as motivation and self-efficacy (Jackson, 2018). Teachers become more effective as they accumulate years of teaching experience (Kini & Podolsky, 2016); when teachers leave a school, they take along their knowledge and expertise in instructional strategies, collaborative relationships with colleagues, professional development training, and understanding of students’ learning needs at the school, all of which may harm student learning and school operations and climate (Bryk, Sebring, Allensworth, Luppescu, & Easton, 2010; Ingersoll, 2001; Simon & Johnson, 2015).
Teacher turnover, defined as “change in teachers from one year to the next in a particular school setting” (Sorenson & Ladd, 2018, p. 1), has been a persistent problem often described as a revolving door in the teaching profession (Ingersoll, 2003). Turnover contributes to teacher shortages (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2019) and frequently leads to the inequitable distribution of high-quality teachers and poor student outcomes for those most in need of high-quality instruction (Goldhaber, Gross, & Player, 2011 Goldhaber, Krieg, Theobald, & Brown, 2015; Hanushek, Kain, & Rivken, 2004).
This report provides an overview of the research that documents how teacher turnover impacts students, teachers, and schools. Understanding turnover’s impact is essential for making the case for the policies and strategies needed to keep effective teachers in classrooms.
Adverse Consequences of Teacher Turnover
Teacher Shortages and Inequitable Access to High-Quality Teachers. While current teacher shortages are not occurring nationwide and, in fact, the teaching force overall has ballooned (Ingersoll, Merrill, Stuckey, & Collins, 2018) with only half of education graduates hired in a given year (Cowan, Goldhaber, Hayes, & Theobald, 2016; Dee & Goldhaber, 2017), significant shortages of certified teachers in certain areas are consistently documented. Shortages are often concentrated in schools educating high numbers of economically disadvantaged and minority students, in rural schools, and in special education as well as science, technology, engineering, and math [STEM] courses (Dee & Goldhaber, 2017). Sutcher et al. (2019) and others (e.g., Cowan et al., 2016; Ingersoll, 2001, 2003; Ingersoll & May, 2012; Ingersoll & Perda, 2010; Ingersoll et al., 2018) have argued that teacher turnover is a highly significant factor in producing these staffing shortages. Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond (2019) found that turnover rates were 50% greater in Title I than non-Title I schools, and 70% greater in schools serving higher percentages of students of color than those serving lower percentages. Research further demonstrates that math and science teachers are significantly more likely to leave high-minority, high-poverty, and Title I schools than their counterparts teaching math and science in other types of schools (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Ingersoll & May, 2012). These relatively high turnover rates in high-needs schools contribute to shortages in these schools in both urban and rural areas (Goldhaber et al., 2015; Player, 2015).
Shortages and turnover also often translate into schools needing to hire more alternatively certified teachers (those holding a teaching certificate or license earned outside of a traditional college preparation program), and fewer qualified and experienced teachers (Dee & Goldhaber, 2017). One study found that as many as 30% of math and science teachers in schools with large numbers of students of color were alternatively certified, compared with just 12% in schools with mostly White students (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017). Working conditions in these schools are often less than optimal (Cohen-Vogle & Smith, 2007), and alternatively certified teachers often have less preparation (e.g., less coursework and student teaching opportunities) and on-the-job support than traditionally certified teachers (Redding & Smith, 2016). Lack of access to a traditionally certified teacher may place students at a learning disadvantage (Kini & Podolsky, 2016), although the case for equating teaching effectiveness with conventional certification is far from settled (Dee & Goldhaber, 2017), with several studies finding no differences (Constantine et al., 2009) or even finding advantages in having an alternatively certified teacher (Clark et al., 2013). However, alternatively certified teachers are less likely to be retained than traditionally certified ones (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019; Redding & Smith, 2016). Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond (2019) found that, all other teacher characteristics being constant, alternatively certified teachers were 25% more likely to turn over than traditionally certified teachers. High rates of workplace churn can contribute to negative impacts on student achievement, as the research documented later in this report discusses.
The research literature on the impact of turnover on teacher quality is mixed, with studies showing both positive and negative impacts depending on the type of proxy measure for teacher quality used (Hendricks, 2016). Value-added measures (VAMs), which “aim to determine how much of a student’s academic progress from one year to the next is attributable to his or her teacher, as opposed to factors outside of the teacher’s control” (Center for Education Policy Research, 2011), have been used in some studies as proxy measures for teacher effectiveness. These studies have generally found that teachers who exited were less able than those who stayed (e.g., Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, Ronfeldt, & Wyckoff, 2010; Clotfelter, Glennie, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2008; Hanushek & Rivken, 2007; Hanushek, Rivkin, & Schiman, 2016), even in high-need schools (Hanushek & Rivken, 2010), suggesting that workforce composition in some cases may improve as a result of turnover. For example, Hanushek et al. (2016) found in a study of disadvantaged/lower-achieving Texas schools that teachers who exited were less effective than those who remained. However, Feng and Sass (2017) found that both top and bottom quartile teachers left their schools at higher rates than teachers rated average, and that the likelihood of teachers moving to other district schools decreased as the share of experienced and highly qualified teachers increased within a school. Furthermore, teachers in the study tended to move to schools where the average teacher quality was similar to their own, resulting in a “rich got richer” effect, and likely exacerbated achievement gaps between disadvantaged/minority and affluent/white students.
Hendricks (2016) highlighted several problems with using value-added measures as proxies for effectiveness within teacher retention research, including that they may confound the fixed element of teacher quality (ability) with unobservable school factors or evolving aspects of teacher productivity (experience) (i.e., teachers with more experience tend to have higher value-added measures). This may make it seem as though the best teachers are more likely to remain in schools when in reality it may simply signal that more experienced teachers are less likely to exit. Indeed, value-added research that holds teacher experience constant has shown that the best teachers are actually more likely to leave schools (Harris & Sass, 2011; Ladd & Sorenson, 2015).
Other studies using licensure scores (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2011; Hendricks, 2016), SAT scores (Goldhaber et al., 2011), or measures of college selectivity (Podgursky, Monroe, & Watson, 2004) as proxies for teaching ability have shown that the most able teachers are more likely to leave the profession or move to other schools, potentially lowering the instructional quality in schools. For example, Hendricks (2016) used certification scores as an ability proxy in tracking exit patterns of approximately 500,000 Texas teachers from 1996 to 2014. Low-ability teacher attrition was highest after the first year of teaching, but the pattern reversed after the first year, with attrition patterns highest among teachers of higher ability. This finding is consistent with other research showing higher turnover rates for the least effective early-career teachers (Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2008; Goldhaber et al., 2011). These findings suggest that encouraging low-performing early-career teachers to exit may be an effective strategy, as long as higher quality replacements are available (Hendricks, 2016). In studying the long-term impacts of teacher turnover on the composition of teachers in North Carolina middle schools, Sorensen and Ladd (2018) found that turnover from the 1990s to 2016 increased a school’s portion of teachers lacking full licensure and teachers with fewer years of experience, with the strongest effects found for economically disadvantaged schools. Such schools frequently have difficulty recruiting high-quality teachers (Dee & Goldhaber, 2017), and improvements to retention will likely require improved recruiting tools and practices (Wronowski, 2018).
Reduced Student Learning and Achievement. High turnover rates can serve as a barrier to the teacher collaboration that is essential for instructional improvement (Guin, 2004). Correlational research has demonstrated that schools with higher teacher turnover have lower student achievement (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2005; Guin, 2004). In a causal study of teacher turnover in New York City elementary schools, Ronfeldt, Loeb, and Wyckoff (2013) found that turnover reduced math and English Language Arts (ELA) performance in students whose teachers left as well as in students whose teachers stayed at the school. This impact was demonstrated across all kinds of schools, including high- and low-minority and high- and low-poverty schools; however, turnover was most detrimental to lower achieving schools and schools serving large populations of Black students. Hanushek et al. (2016) similarly found reduced student achievement as a result of teacher turnover in low-achieving but not higher achieving schools in Texas, despite the tendency for less effective teachers to leave low-achieving schools. The researchers further determined that replacement teachers were even less effective than those who left, due to loss of experience and frequent grade switching among staff, as well as the ineffectiveness of newly hired teachers and organizational disruptions. Sorenson and Ladd (2018) studied turnover in North Carolina middle schools and found that 3-year turnover rates adversely impacted students’ math and ELA performance; for example, a turnover increase of 100% led to significant performance reductions, particularly in math.
Turnover that occurs within the school year has recently been shown to be of particular concern for the disruption of student learning, accounting for approximately one quarter of all turnover (Redding & Henry, 2018). This type of turnover can result in classroom disruption, staff instability, and changes to teacher quality, all of which can combine to negatively impact student learning and achievement, particularly when it occurs after the first semester and closer to the end of the school year (Henry & Redding, in press). Schools with higher proportions of minority and economically disadvantaged students are more likely to experience within-year turnover (Redding & Henry, 2018), making a collaborative work environment difficult and resulting in insufficient resources to mentor the large numbers of new teachers who enter during the school year (Simon & Johnson, 2015).
Poorer School Organizational Functioning. High rates of teacher turnover can exact organizational costs that destabilize school communities (Simon & Johnson, 2015). For example, high turnover necessitates the hiring of large numbers of beginning teachers who typically are less effective than those with more experience (Grissom, 2011), resulting in negative student learning impacts. Turnover also can produce disruptions in instructional continuity, as schools must reconfigure teaching assignments annually (and sometimes during the school year) in response to ongoing staffing changes, resulting in less unified and less comprehensive instructional programs (Guin, 2004). Sustained collegial and trustful relationships among teachers, students, and families are also difficult in schools with high turnover, making it challenging to unify the school community around common goals and school improvement strategies (Simon & Johnson, 2015). The lack of strong collegial relationships among teachers can further translate into a reluctance to assume leadership roles or participate in professional learning communities, impeding teachers’ capacity to enhance instruction collaboratively over time (Simon & Johnson, 2015). In analyzing case study and staff climate survey data, Guin (2004) demonstrated that schools with high turnover faced significant organizational challenges including difficulties planning and implementing a coherent curriculum and maintaining positive relationships among teachers. Ronfeldt and colleagues’ (2013) found that the broader negative impact of turnover on student achievement in the classrooms of remaining teachers may have included harm to faculty relational trust and collegiality or the loss of institutional knowledge necessary to effectively support student learning.
Chronic staff instability through high rates of teacher turnover can result in a significant loss of social and human capital and create a barrier to school improvement (Holme, Jabbar, Germain, & Dinning, 2017). Principals in these situations are faced with weighty managerial burdens, as they are forced to continually focus on hiring and training new teachers rather than address systemic and sustained instructional improvements (Loeb, Horng, & Klasik, 2010). A cyclical effect can occur, as a lack of instructional support from school leaders creates even more teacher turnover (Allensworth, Ponisciak, & Mazzeo, 2009; Boyd, Grossman, Ing, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2011; Kraft, Marinell, & Yee, 2016).
Higher Financial Costs. Teacher turnover is quite costly, with more than $7 billion spent annually on separation, recruitment, hiring, and induction, and training—an amount that otherwise could be used for academic programs and services (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2014; Barnes, Crowe, & Schaefer, 2007; Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003; Sorenson & Ladd, 2018). Resources may be diverted from classrooms, leading to even larger gaps between disadvantaged and wealthier schools (Grissom, 2011). Lack of standardization, inconsistencies, and missing data make cross-district comparisons of turnover costs very challenging (Levy, Joy, Ellis, Jablonski, & Karelitz, 2012), but research has found that it is quite costly for districts and schools.
Teacher replacement costs range from $9,000 per teacher in rural districts to more than $20,000 per teacher in urban districts (Barnes et al., 2007). Another study found that district costs per year for teacher turnover ranged from $3.2 million to $5.6 million, with the higher costs in urban districts, which frequently have higher turnover rates (Synar & Maiden, 2012). A study conducted in 37 of 54 districts in Alaska found that districts cumulatively spent approximately $20 million each year to address high rates of turnover, particularly in rural areas (DeFeo, Tran, Hirshberg, Cope, & Cravez, 2017). Not easily calculated are the costs resulting from a loss in productivity when a more experienced teacher is replaced by a less experienced or less qualified one (Milanowski & Odden, 2007; Watlington, Shockley, Guglielmino, & Felsher, 2010). Milanowski and Odden found that the largest contributions to the costs of turnover were training, lost productivity, and salary savings when senior teachers departed and newer teachers were hired as replacements. Results further suggested that the costliest turnover occurred for experienced, but not highly senior teachers. The researchers concluded that the lost human capital and associated loss of productivity were the most important concerns for policymakers.
Potential Benefits of Teacher Turnover
It is important to note that not all teacher turnover is created equal (Grissom & Bartanen, 2019); in some cases, it may result in benefits for students, schools, and districts. For example, some within-year turnover is due to supportive parental and medical leave policies that make it possible for teachers to temporarily exit for family considerations and return to the school, thus defraying the costs of recruiting new teachers (Papay, Bacher-Hicks, Page, & Marinell, 2017). It is also possible that teacher exits due to extremely poor performance can benefit the composition of the teaching workforce and student learning, if low-performing teachers are replaced with more effective ones (Hanushek, 2009).
In a study of the District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) system, Adnot, Dee, Katz, and Wyckoff (2017) found that using a teacher evaluation and compensation system that moved ineffective teachers out of schools and provided financial and nonfinancial rewards to highly effective teachers who remained was beneficial both to the overall effectiveness of the teaching workforce and to student achievement. Cullen, Koedel, & Parsons (2016) found that a teacher evaluation system increased the exit rate for low-performing teachers, but the changes to workforce composition were not large enough to improve student achievement, a finding the authors attributed in part to the lack of a financial reward system for high-performing teachers like the one used in the DCPS system.
Research has demonstrated that more effective schools have higher turnover rates for low-performing teachers and higher retention rates of high-performing ones (Loeb, Béteille, & Kalogrides, 2012). More recently, this concept has been labeled strategic retention, to refer to the retention of effective teachers combined with the exit of ineffective ones (Grissom & Bartanen, 2019). Principal leadership is a key determinant of teacher retention (Grissom, 2011; Kraft et al., 2016; Ladd, 2011), and effective principals have lower overall average teacher turnover in their schools (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, Rockoff, & Wyckoff, 2008). Grissom and Bartanen (2019) found that effective principals, when equipped with accurate teacher evaluation information, engaged in selective retention of teachers in their schools by retaining effective ones and administratively removing or, more often, “counseling out” ineffective ones. The researchers also found that suburban schools were better able to engage in strategic retention than were urban and particularly rural schools, which had fewer applicants for open positions. The benefits of turnover through strategic retention in hard-to-staff schools, therefore, may necessitate the use of targeted incentives as described in the Adnot et al. (2017) study.
Summary and Conclusions
The failure to retain teachers has a generally negative impact on students and schools. Problems with teacher turnover contribute significantly to teacher shortages and result in the inequitable distribution of effective and qualified teachers across schools. Economically disadvantaged schools suffer high levels of turnover and are forced to hire larger numbers of alternatively certified teachers, who are more likely to turn over. While value-added research suggests that less effective teachers are more likely to depart schools (thus benefiting workforce quality), other research using teacher licensure scores as a proxy for teacher quality suggests that more effective teachers with more experience are more likely to turn over (thus lowering workforce quality).
Teacher turnover is also detrimental to student achievement and the adverse consequences may extend even to students of teachers who remain in schools. The impact of turnover may also include disruptions to school operations and teacher collegiality, the loss of institutional knowledge, and reluctance by teachers to engage in teacher leadership activities, all of which can serve as barriers to school improvement. Further, turnover is quite costly in terms of separation and hiring costs, as well as losses to educational productivity when schools lose more experienced teachers to less experienced ones.
Turnover can be positive when it improves the quality of the teacher workforce. Strategic retention of effective teachers combined with the departure of ineffective teachers, has the potential to maximize the benefits of turnover and improve workforce quality. However, hard-to-staff schools may also require incentives to both retain their best teachers and attract effective candidates to fill the slots vacated by less effective teachers.
Citations
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Simon, N. S., & Johnson, S. M. (2015). Teacher turnover in high-poverty schools: What we know and can do. Teachers College Record, 117(3), 1–36.
Sorensen, L. C., & Ladd, H. F. (2018). The hidden costs of teacher turnover. Working Paper No. 203-0918-1. Washington, DC: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER). Retrieved from https://caldercenter.org/publications/hidden-costs-teacher-turnover
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2019). Understanding teacher shortages: An analysis of teacher supply and demand in the United States. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 27(35), 1–39.
Synar, E., & Maiden, J. (2012). A comprehensive model for estimating the impact of teacher turnover. Journal of Education Finance, 38, 130–144.
Watlington, E., Shockley, R., Guglielmino, P., & Felsher, R. (2010). The cost of leaving: An analysis of the cost of teacher turnover. Journal of Education Finance, 36(1), 22–37.
Wronowski, M. L. (2018). Filling the void: A grounded theory approach to addressing teacher recruitment and retention in urban schools. Education and Urban Society, 50(6), 548–574.
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The Unavoidable: Tomorrow’s Teacher Compensation.
This research examines the issue of teacher compensation. The author finds that teachers earn significantly less than they could make working in other comparable fields.
Hanushek, E. A. (2020). The Unavoidable: Tomorrow’s Teacher Compensation. Stanford Hoover Education Success Initiative.
Academies KIPP 2013: Report Card (2013)
This report from KIPP provides a snap short of critical indicators from KIPP schools from across the United States.
Academies KIPP 2013: Report Card (2013) Retrieved from http://www.kipp.org/reportcard.
Funding disparities and the inequitable distribution of teachers: Evaluating sources and solutions.
This study examines how and why teacher quality is inequitably distributed, by reviewing research and examining data on school funding, salaries, and teacher qualifications from California and New York—two large states that face similar demographic diversity and educational challenges.
Adamson, F., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2012). Funding disparities and the inequitable distribution of teachers: Evaluating sources and solutions. education policy analysis archives, 20, 37.
Teacher turnover, teacher quality, and student achievement in DCPS
This study examines this question by evaluating the effects of teacher turnover on student achievement under IMPACT, the unique performance-assessment and incentive system in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).
Adnot, M., Dee, T., Katz, V., & Wyckoff, J. (2017). Teacher turnover, teacher quality, and student achievement in DCPS. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(1), 54–76.
The schools teachers leave: Teacher mobility in Chicago Public Schools.
In this report, we examine the degree to which teacher mobility is problematic in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and look at the factors associated with high mobility rates, including teachers’ background characteristics, school structure, students’ characteristics, and workplace conditions.
Allensworth, E., Ponisciak, S., & Mazzeo, C. (2009). The schools teachers leave: teacher mobility in Chicago public schools. Consortium on Chicago School Research.
Teacher Induction Programs: Trends and Opportunities
State-level policy support for teacher induction programs can help teachers realize their full potential, keep them in the profession, promote greater student learning, and save money. Higher education institutions and school districts must work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs.
American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). (2006). Teacher induction programs: Trends and opportunities. Policy Matters, 3(10), 1–4.
Mitigating teacher shortages: Financial incentives.
The first brief in this series, Teacher Shortages: What We Know, explores research on teacher shortages and highlights recent state task force findings. This report is one of five policy briefs examining strategies states are using to address shortages.
Aragon, S. (2016). Mitigating teacher shortages: Financial incentives. Retrieved from.
Fears of a mass exodus of retiring teachers during COVID-19 may have been overblown
One-third of teachers told Education Week in July they were somewhat or very likely to leave their job this year, compared with just 8% who leave the profession in a typical year. But while that survey might reflect teachers' feelings over the summer, a review of the retirement and staffing figures collected in some of the first states to resume classes this year suggests that fears of a mass exodus of retiring teachers may have been overblown.
Aspegren, E. (2020, October 8). Fears of a mass exodus of retiring teachers during COVID-19 may have been overblown. USA Today.
Teacher churning: Reassignment rates and implications for student achievement.
The authors use panel data from New York City to compare four ways in which teachers are new to assignment: new to teaching, new to district, new to school, or new to subject/grade.
Atteberry, A., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2017). Teacher churning: Reassignment rates and implications for student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(1), 3-30.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card: First Edition
The National Report Card is a critique of state school funding systems and the extent to which these systems ensure equality of educational opportunity for all children, regardless of background, family income, place of residence or school. The report makes the assumption that "fair" school funding is defined as "a state finance system that ensures equal educational opportunity by providing a sufficient level of funding distributed to districts within the state to account for additional needs generated by student poverty."
Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., & Farrie, D. (2010). Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card. Education Law Center.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card: Second Edition
The Second Edition of the National Report Card on public school funding, Is School Funding Fair?, shows that far too many states continue to deny public schools the essential resources they need to meet the needs of the nation's 53 million students and to boost academic achievement. The National Report Card rates the 50 states on the basis of four "fairness indicators" - funding level, funding distribution, state fiscal effort, and public school coverage. The Report provides the most in-depth analysis to date of state education finance systems and school funding fairness across the nation.
Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., & Farrie, D. (2012). Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card: Second Edition. Education Law Center.
Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card: Third Edition
The 3rd Edition of Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card details how the Great Recession and its aftermath have affected school funding in the states. The National Report Card (NRC) examines each state's level of commitment to equal educational opportunity, regardless of a student's background, family income, or where she or he attends school. Providing fair school funding -- at a sufficient level with additional funds to meet needs generated by poverty -- is crucial if all students are to be afforded the opportunity to learn and be successful.
Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., & Farrie, D. (2014). Is School Funding Fair? A National Report Card: Third Edition. Education Law Center.
The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study
This research reports on the cost of teacher turnover in five school districts. It reports the rate of turnover, the relationship between turnover and teacher and school characteristics, and the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, and training replacement teachers.
Barnes, G., Crowe, E., & Schaefer, B. (2007). The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: A Pilot Study. National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.
Creating coherence in the teacher shortage debate: What policy leaders should know and do
The Education Policy Center at American Institutes for Research (AIR) provides rigorous
research-and evidence-based perspectives on education issues spanning prekindergarten
to careers, including reports, briefs, legislative guides, and our InformED blog—all written by
AIR experts.
Behrstock-Sherratt, E. (2016). Creating Coherence in the Teacher Shortage Debate: What Policy Leaders Should Know and Do. Education Policy Center at American Institutes for Research.
From good to great: Exemplary teachers share perspectives on increasing teacher effectiveness across the career continuum.
The main body of the report takes readers through the four stages that this study used to define the teacher career continuum: Preservice, Novice, Career, and Teacher Leader stages.
Behrstock-Sherratt, E., Bassett, K., Olson, D., & Jacques, C. (2014). From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum. Center on Great Teachers and Leaders.
Stepping stones: Principal career paths and school outcomes
This study examines the detrimental impact of principal turnover, including lower teacher retention and lower student achievement. Particularly hard hit are high poverty schools, which often lose principals at a higher rate as they transition to lower poverty, higher student achievement schools.
Beteille, T., Kalogrides, D., & Loeb, S. (2012). Stepping stones: Principal career paths and school outcomes. Social Science Research, 41(4), 904-919.
Teacher turnover: Examining exit attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration
The purposes of this research were to quantify trends in three components of teacher turnover and to investigate claims of excessive teacher turnover as the predominant source of teacher shortages.
Boe, E. E., Cook, L. H., & Sunderland, R. J. (2008). Teacher turnover: Examining exit attrition, teaching area transfer, and school migration. Exceptional children, 75(1), 7-31.
Teacher attrition and retention: A meta-analytic and narrative review of the research
This comprehensive meta-analysis on teacher career trajectories, consisting of 34 studies of 63 attrition moderators, seeks to understand why teaching attrition occurs, or what factors moderate attrition outcomes.
Borman, G. D., & Dowling, N. M. (2008). Teacher attrition and retention: A meta-analytic and narrative review of the research. Review of educational research, 78(3), 367-409.
Alternative teacher certification: Does it work
Many U.S. school districts have difficulty hiring enough qualified teachers to replace those who retire, transfer to other districts, or leave the teaching profession. Some subjects are more difficult to staff and some schools have higher turnover than others, creating recruitment and hiring bottlenecks.
Bos, H., & Gerdeman, D. (2017). Alternative teacher certification: Does it work? Washington, DC: American Institutes of Research
Preparation and support for teachers in public schools: Reflections on the first year of teaching
This Statistics in Brief adds to existing research on early-career teachers by presenting findings on their preparation and supports from data from the 2011–12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). This brief, like past research, investigates several specific areas of preparation and types of support.
Bowsher, A., Sparks, D., & Hoyer, K. M. (2018). Preparation and Support for Teachers in Public Schools: Reflections on the First Year of Teaching. Stats in Brief. NCES 2018-143. National Center for Education Statistics.
Alternative certification in the long run: A decade of evidence on the effects of alternative certification in New York City
This paper assess the long-run implications of alternatively certified teachers.
Boyd, D., Dunlop, E., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Mahler, P., O’Brien, R., & Wyckoff, J. (2012). Alternative certification in the long run: A decade of evidence on the effects of alternative certification in New York City. In annual meeting of the American Education Finance and Policy Conference, Boston, MA.
Recruiting effective math teachers: Evidence from New York City
For well over a decade school districts across the United States have struggled to recruit and retain effective mathematics teachers. This article examines the qualifications, student achievement gains, and retention of Math Immersion teachers in New York City compared to New York City mathematics teachers who began their careers through other pathways.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Ronfeldt, M., & Wyckoff, J. (2012). Recruiting effective math teachers: evidence from New York City. American Educational Research Journal, 49(6), 1008-1047.
The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions
This article explores the relationship between school contextual factors and teacher retention decisions in New York City and finds that school administration by far has the greatest influence on teacher retention.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 48(2), 303-333.
Who Leaves? Teacher Attrition and Student Achievement
The goal of this paper is to estimate the extent to which there is differential attrition based on teachers' value-added to student achievement.
Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2008). Who leaves? Teacher attrition and student achievement. Working Paper No. 14022. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w14022
Explaining the short careers of high-achieving teachers in schools with low-performing students
This paper examines New York City elementary school teachers’ decisions to stay in the same school, transfer to another school in the district, transfer to another district, or leave teaching in New York state during the first five years of their careers.
Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2005). Explaining the short careers of high-achieving teachers in schools with low-performing students. American Economic Review, 95(2), 166-171.
The narrowing gap in New York City teacher qualifications and its implications for student achievement in high-poverty schools.
By estimating the effect of teacher attributes using a value-added model, the analyses in this paper predict that observable qualifications of teachers resulted in average improved achievement for students in the poorest decile of schools of .03 standard deviations.
Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Rockoff, J., & Wyckoff, J. (2008). The narrowing gap in New York City teacher qualifications and its implications for student achievement in high‐poverty schools. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management: The Journal of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, 27(4), 793-818.
The role of teacher quality in retention and hiring: Using applications-to-transfer to uncover preferences of teachers and schools.
This study uses applications-to-transfer data to examine separately which teachers apply for transfer and which get hired and, in so doing, differentiates teachers from school preferences.
Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Ronfeldt, M., & Wyckoff, J. (2010). The role of teacher quality in retention and hiring: Using applications-to-transfer to uncover preferences of teachers and schools. Working Paper No. 15966. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w15966.pdf
School leaders matter: Measuring the impact of effective principals.
This study provides new evidence on the importance of school leadership by estimating individual principals’ contributions to growth in student achievement.
Branch, G., Hanushek, E., & Rivkin, S. G. (2013). School leaders matter: measuring the impact of effective principals Education Next, 13.
A review of the research literature on teacher recruitment and retention
In the face of a growing school-age population, U.S. schools and school districts are struggling to maintain teaching standards while recruiting bright new teachers and retaining their most-effective ones. This literature review represents a comprehensive and critical examination of research published since 1980 on the topic of teacher recruitment and retention in the United States.
Brewer, D., Guarino, C. M., Santibanez, L., & Daley, G. A. (2004). A Review of the Research Literature on Teacher Recruitment and Retention (TR-164).
Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago
The authors of this illuminating book identify a comprehensive set of practices and conditions that were key factors for improvement, including school leadership, the professional capacity of the faculty and staff, and a student-centered learning climate.
Bryk, A. S., Sebring, P. B., Allensworth, E., Easton, J. Q., & Luppescu, S. (2010). Organizing schools for improvement: Lessons from Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
The effects of school facility quality on teacher retention in urban school districts
The attrition of both new and experienced teachers is a great challenge for schools and
school administrators throughout the United States, particularly in large urban districts.
Because of the importance of this issue, there is a large empirical literature that investigates
why teachers quit and how they might be better induced to stay.
Buckley, J., Schneider, M., & Shang, Y. (2004). The Effects of School Facility Quality on Teacher Retention in Urban School Districts. National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.
Teacher turnover: Why it matters and what we can do about it.
The analysis of nationally representative survey data from the 2012 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 2013 Teacher Follow-up Survey reveals that the severity of turnover varies markedly across the country
Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher turnover: Why it matters and what we can do about it. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
The trouble with teacher turnover: How teacher attrition affects students and schools
Using the most recent nationally representative data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Schools and Staffing Surveys, the authors detail which teachers are leaving, why, and which students are most impacted.
Carver-Thomas, D., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2019). The trouble with teacher turnover: How teacher attrition affects students and schools. education policy analysis archives, 27, 36.
University Council for Educational Administration: Quality Leadership Matters
Policy Brief 2018-1: Addressing the Importance and Scale of the U.S. Teacher Shortage
Castro, A., Quinn, D. J., Fuller, E., & Barnes, M. (2018). Quality leadership matters. University Council for Educational Administration. Policy Brief Series,(1), 1.
Value-added measures: How and why the strategic data project uses them to study teacher effectiveness
This brief explains how and why Strategic Data Project (SDP) uses value-added measures for our diagnostic work. We also explain how value-added measures relate to other measures of teacher effectiveness and the limitations of value-added measures.
Center for Education Policy Research. (2011). Value-added measures: How and why the strategic data project uses them to study teacher effectiveness. Retrieved from https://hwpi.harvard.edu/files/sdp/files/sdp-va-memo_0.pdf
Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood
This paper examines the issue of the efficacy of valued-added measures in evaluating the effectiveness of teachers and long term impact on student’s lives.
Chetty, R., Friedman, J. N., & Rockoff, J. E. (in press II). Measuring the impact of teachers II: Evaluating bias in teacher value-added estimates. American Economic Review.
The effectiveness of secondary math teachers from Teach for America and the Teaching Fellows Programs
The study separately compares the effectiveness of teachers from each program with the effectiveness of other teachers teaching the same subjects in the same schools.
Clark, M. A., Chiang, H. S., Silva, T., McConnell, S., Sonnenfeld, K., Erbe, A., & Puma, M. (2013). The effectiveness of secondary math teachers from Teach for America and the Teaching Fellows Programs (NCEE 2013-4015). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20134015
Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina
Using longitudinal data on teachers, we estimate hazard models that identify the impact of this differential pay by comparing turnover patterns before and after the program’s implementation, across eligible and ineligible categories of teachers, and across eligible and barely-ineligible schools.
Clotfelter, C. T., Glennie, E., Ladd, H. F., & Vigdor. J. L. (2008). Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina. Journal of Public Economics, 92(5), 1352–1370.
Teacher mobility, school segregation, and pay-based policies to level the playing field
Using information on teaching spells in North Carolina, the authors examine the potential for using salary differentials to overcome this pattern. They conclude that salary differentials are a far less effective tool for retaining teachers with strong pre‐service qualifications than for retaining other teachers in schools with high proportions of minority students.
Clotfelter, C. T., Ladd, H. F., Vigdor, J. L. (2011). Teacher mobility, school segregation, and pay-based policies to level the playing field. Education Finance and Policy, 6(3), 399-438.
High-Poverty Schools and the Distribution of Teachers and Principals
Although many factors combine to make a successful school, most people agree that quality teachers and school principals are among the most important requirements for success, especially when success is defined by the ability of the school to raise the achievement of its students. The central question for this study is how the quality of the teachers and principals in high-poverty schools in North Carolina compares to that in the schools serving more advantaged students.
Clotfelter, C., Ladd, H. F., Vigdor, J., & Wheeler, J. (2006). High-poverty schools and the distribution of teachers and principals. NCL Rev., 85, 1345.
Report to the North Carolina General Assembly: 2012-2013 Annual Report on Teachers Leaving the Profession G.S. 115C-12 (22)
This report to the North Carolina General Assembly provides detailed information on teacher retention in the state’s public schools for the period ending 2013.
Coby, W. et al., (2013). Report to the North Carolina General Assembly: 2012-2013 Annual Report on Teachers Leaving the Profession G.S. 115C-12 (22). North Carolina Department Of Public Instruction, Educator Effectiveness Division. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from https://eboard.eboardsolutions.com/meetings/TempFolder/Meetings/Attachment%201%20-%202012-13%20Teacher%20Turnover%20Report_19785ndyywn45kqzxm045lztxku45.pdf
Qualifications and assignments of alternatively certified teachers: Testing core assumptions.
By analyzing data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, the authors empirically test four of the core assumptions embedded in current arguments for expanding alternative teacher certification (AC):
Cohen-Vogel, L., & Smith, T. M. (2007). Qualifications and assignments of alternatively certified teachers: Testing core assumptions. American Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 732-753.
K–12 Teacher recruitment and retention policies in the Higher Education Act: In brief
One of the more difficult issues involves a debate between observers who are concerned about an overall teacher shortage, and others who see it largely as a distributional problem where some schools have a relative surplus of teachers while other schools struggle with a persistent, unmet demand for qualified teachers. Those in the former camp focus on policies that aim to improve the recruitment and retention in the teaching profession in general, while those in the latter camp focus on policies that target education funding to fill positions for certain hard-to-staff schools and/or subject areas.
Congressional Research Service. (2019). K–12 Teacher recruitment and retention policies in the Higher Education Act: In brief.
K-12 teacher recruitment and retention policies in the Higher Education Act: In brief
One of the more difficult issues involves a debate between observers who are concerned about an overall teacher shortage, and others who see it largely as a distributional problem where some schools have a relative surplus of teachers while other schools struggle with a persistent, unmet demand for qualified teachers.
Congressional Research Service. (2019, September 4). K-12 teacher recruitment and retention policies in the Higher Education Act: In brief.
An Evaluation of Teachers Trained Through Different Routes to Certification, Final Report
The study compares the effectiveness of different routes to teaching. It finds there is no significant difference in the effectiveness of teachers who were traditionally trained when compared to teachers who obtained training through alternative credential programs.
Constantine, J., D. Player, T. Silva, K. Hallgren, M. Grider, and J. Deke, 2009. An Evaluation of Teachers Trained Through Different Routes to Certification, Final Report (NCEE 2009- 4043). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.
Missing elements in the discussion of teacher shortages
Though policymakers are increasingly concerned about teacher shortages in U.S. public schools, the national discussion does not reflect historical patterns of the supply of and demand for newly minted teachers.
Cowan, J., Goldhaber, D., Hayes, K., & Theobald, R. (2016). Missing elements in the discussion of teacher shortages. Educational Researcher, 45(8), 460–462.
The compositional effect of rigorous teacher evaluation on workforce quality
In this paper, we study how providing improved information to principals about teacher effectiveness and encouraging them to use the information in personnel decisions affects the composition of teacher turnovers.
Cullen, J. B., Koedel, C., & Parsons, E. (2016). The compositional effect of rigorous teacher evaluation on workforce quality. Working Paper No. 22805. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w22805.pdf
Recruiting and retaining teachers: Turning around the race to the bottom in high-need schools
What is it that keeps some people in teaching and chases others out? What can be done to increase the power of the teaching profession to recruit and retain effective teachers and to create a stable, expert teaching force in all kinds of districts?
Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). Recruiting and retaining teachers: Turning around the race to the bottom in high-need schools. Journal of curriculum and instruction, 4(1), 16-32.
Wanted: A national teacher supply policy for education: The right way to meet the “highly qualified teacher” challenge
The authors study the mal-distribution of teachers and examine its causes then describe examples of both states and local school districts that have fashioned successful strategies for strengthening their teaching forces.
Darling-Hammond, L., and Sykes, G. (2003). Wanted: A national teacher supply policy for education: The right way to meet the “highly qualified teacher” challenge. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 11(33), 1–55.
Estimated public charter school enrollment,
This information is used to determine the current number of charter schools in each state and to estimate total charter school enrollment at the national level.
David, R., & Hesla, K. (2018). Estimated public charter school enrollment, 2017–2018. Washington, D.C.: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Retrieved from https://www.publiccharters.org/sites/default/files/documents/2018-03/FINAL%20Estimated%20Public%20Charter%20School%20Enrollment%252c%202017-18_0.pdf
Understanding and addressing teacher shortages in the United States.
While anecdotal accounts of substantial teacher shortages are increasingly common, we present evidence that such shortages are not a general phenomenon but rather are highly concentrated by subject and in schools where hiring and retaining teachers are chronic problems. We discuss several promising, complementary approaches for addressing teacher shortages.
Dee, T. S., & Goldhaber, D. (2017). Understanding and addressing teacher shortages in the United States. The Hamilton Project.
The cost of teacher turnover in Alaska
The costs associated with teacher turnover in Alaska are considerable, but have never been systematically calculated,1 and this study emerged from interests among Alaska education researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders to better understand these costs.
DeFeo, D. J., Tran, T., Hirshberg, D., Cope, D., & Cravez, P. (2017). The cost of teacher turnover in Alaska. Anchorage, AK: Center for Alaska Education Policy Research, University of Alaska Anchorage. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11122/7815/2017-CostTeacher.pdf?sequence=1
The price of misassignment: The role of teaching assignments in Teach for America teachers’ exit from low-income schools and the teaching profession.
This study is the first to examine these teachers’ retention nationwide, asking whether, when, and why they voluntarily transfer from their low-income placement schools or leave teaching altogether.
Donaldson, M. L., & Johnson, S. M. (2010). The price of misassignment: The role of teaching assignments in Teach for America teachers’ exit from low-income schools and the teaching profession. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32(2), 299-323.
Teacher Retention Analysis
This report analyzes the retention problem in the United States through documentation of recent teacher turnover data, and reviews the research on the factors that contribute to teachers’ decisions to remain in the
classroom.
Donley, J. (2019). Teacher Retention Analysis. Oakland, CA: Wing Institute. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V1YeiC6nzDooV0A1UIRQKt6dnOBMXICz/view?usp=sharing
Teacher Turnover Impact
This report provides an overview of the research that documents how teacher turnover impacts students, teachers, and schools. Understanding turnover’s impact is essential for making the case for the policies and strategies needed to keep effective teachers in classrooms.
Donley, J., Detrich, R, Keyworth, R., & States, J. (2019). Teacher Turnover Impact. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/teacher-retention-turnover
Teacher Retention Overview
This paper examines the impact of teacher turnover on education systems. Teacher turnover is quite costly, and primarily has negative consequences for school operations, staff collegiality, and student learning.
Teacher Retention Strategies
Research on teacher turnover has led to the identification of retention strategies to help advance the profession and improve the recruitment, preparation, and support of teachers. This report summarizes available research on these strategies and discusses potential barriers and research on their relative cost-effectiveness.
Donley, J., Detrich, R., States, J., & Keyworth, R. (2019). Teacher Retention Analysis Overview. Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute. https://www.winginstitute.org/teacher-retention-strategies
A call to teaching
"But I am addressing my remarks not just to those of you assembled today in this majestic Rotunda but to a generation of college students, professionals rethinking their careers, military veterans, retirees and others who may be thinking of becoming a teacher. Put plain and simple, this country needs an army of great, new teachers—and I can think of no better place to start recruiting them then in Thomas Jefferson's hallowed halls."
Duncan, A. (2009). A call to teaching. Secretary Arne Duncan’s remarks at the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Tapping The Potential: Retaining And Developing High-Quality New Teachers
This paper looks at methods to enable teachers to generalize skills taught in pre-service to use in the classroom.
Fallon, D. (2004). Tapping the potential: Retaining and developing high-quality new teachers.
Teacher quality and teacher mobility
Using matched student-teacher panel data from the state of Florida, the authors study the determinants of teacher job change and the impact of such mobility on the distribution of teacher quality.
Feng, L., & Sass, T. R. (2017). Teacher quality and teacher mobility. Education Finance and Policy, 12(3), 396–418.
An investigation of the effects of variations in mentor-based induction on the performance of students in California
Policy makers are concerned about reports of teacher shortages and the high rate of attrition among new teachers. Prior studies indicate that mentor-based induction can reduce the numbers of new teachers leaving schools or the profession
Fletcher, S., Strong, M., & Villar, A. (2008). An investigation of the effects of variations in mentor-based induction on the performance of students in California. Teachers college record, 110(10), 2271-2289.
The relationship between principal characteristics, principal turnover, teacher quality, and student achievement
The purpose of this study is to examine how the principal preparation programs of newly hired elementary school principals might influence school achievement. The study looks at differing elementary school principal preparation program approaches impact on build teams and the affect this has on student achievement.
Fuller, E. J., Young, M. D., & Baker, B. (2007). The relationship between principal characteristics, principal turnover, teacher quality, and student achievement. In annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL. Retrieved November 20, 2014 from http://www.ucea. org/storage/implications/ ImplicationsMar2008.pdf
The role of early career supports, continuous professional development, and learning communities in the teacher shortage
What we can do to support teachers: We must improve both the types and the usefulness of the professional supports offered and ensure that teachers have the resources needed to access those opportunities. Strengthening the system of supports includes increasing teachers' influence over their day-to-day work and developing cultures of learning.
García, E., & Weiss, E. (2019). The Role of Early Career Supports, Continuous Professional Development, and Learning Communities in the Teacher Shortage. The Fifth Report in 'The Perfect Storm in the Teacher Labor Market' Series. Economic Policy Institute.
The association between teaching students with disabilities and teacher turnover.
The authors fit multilevel logistic regression models to a large state administrative dataset in order to examine (1) if the percentage of SWDs a teacher instructs was associated with turnover, (2) if this association varied by student disability, and (3) how these associations were moderated by special education certification.
Gilmour, A. F., & Wehby, J. H. (2019). The Association Between Teaching Students with Disabilities and Teacher Turnover.
Impacts of comprehensive teacher induction: Results from the frst year of a randomized controlled study
The study examines whether comprehensive teacher induction programs lead to higher teacher retention rates and other positive teacher and student outcomes as compared to prevailing, generally less comprehensive approaches to supporting new teachers
Glazerman, S., Dolfin, S., Bleeker, M., Johnson, A., Isenberg, E., Lugo-Gil, J., ... & Ali, M. (2008). Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Results from the First Year of a Randomized Controlled Study. NCEE 2009-4034. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
Impacts of comprehensive teacher induction: Final results from a randomized controlled study
To evaluate the impact of comprehensive teacher induction relative to the usual induction support, the authors conducted a randomized experiment in a set of districts that were not already implementing comprehensive induction.
Glazerman, S., Isenberg, E., Dolfin, S., Bleeker, M., Johnson, A., Grider, M., & Jacobus, M. (2010). Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Final Results from a Randomized Controlled Study. NCEE 2010-4027. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
Transfer incentives for high- performing teachers: Final results from a multisite randomized experiment
In this final report, we present findings on the implementation and impacts of an intervention
that identified school districts' highest-performing teachers and then used monetary
incentives to encourage them to transfer into the lowest-achieving schools.
Glazerman, S., Protik, A., Teh, B. R., Bruch, J., & Max, J. (2013). Transfer Incentives for High-Performing Teachers: Final Results from a Multisite Randomized Experiment. NCEE 2014-4003. National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance.
Teacher career paths, teacher quality, and persistence in the classroom: Are public schools keeping their best?
In this paper we examine the mobility of early-career teachers of varying quality, measured using value-added estimates of teacher performance.
Goldhaber, D., Gross, B., & Player, D. (2011). Teacher career paths, teacher quality, and persistence in the classroom: Are public schools keeping their best?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 30(1), 57-87.
Refueling the STEM and special education teacher pipelines.
This article documents the mismatch between the supply and demand of STEM and special education teachers in Washington State, where almost 4,000 more STEM and special education teachers have left the profession than have been produced by in-state teacher training institutions over the past 25 years.
Goldhaber, D., Krieg, J., Theobald, R., & Brown, N. (2015). Refueling the STEM and special education teacher pipelines. Phi Delta Kappan, 97(4), 56-62.
Uneven Playing Field? Assessing the Teacher Quality Gap Between Advantaged and Disadvantaged Students
In this study, we present a comprehensive, descriptive analysis of the inequitable distribution of both input and output measures of teacher quality across various indicators of student disadvantage across all school districts in Washington State.
Goldhaber, D., Lavery, L., & Theobald, R. (2015). Uneven playing field? Assessing the teacher quality gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Educational researcher, 44(5), 293-307.
Public school teacher attrition and mobility in the first five years: Results from the first through fifth waves of the 2007-08 beginning teacher longitudinal study
This report provides nationally representative data on attrition and mobility of beginning teachers in public elementary and secondary schools.
Gray, L., & Taie, S. (2015). Public School Teacher Attrition and Mobility in the First Five Years: Results from the First through Fifth Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study. First Look. NCES 2015-337. National center for education statistics.
Can good principals keep teachers in disadvantaged schools? Linking principal effectiveness to teacher satisfaction and turnover in hard-to-staff environments.
This study hypothesizes that school working conditions help explain both teacher satisfaction and turnover. In particular, it focuses on the role of effective principals in retaining teachers, particularly in disadvantaged schools with the greatest staffing challenges.
Grissom, J. A. (2011). Can good principals keep teachers in disadvantaged schools? Linking principal effectiveness to teacher satisfaction and turnover in hard-to-staff environments. Teachers College Record, 113(11), 2552-2585.
Strategic retention: Principal effectiveness and teacher turnover in multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems
Using multiple measures of teacher and principal effectiveness, the authors document that indeed more effective principals see lower rates of teacher turnover, on average
Grissom, J. A., & Bartanen, B. (2019). Strategic retention: Principal effectiveness and teacher turnover in multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems. American Educational Research Journal, 56(2), 514–555.
Parallel patterns: Teacher attrition in charter vs. district schools
This report examines how teacher turnover in charter schools resembles and differs from teacher turnover in traditional public schools. They offer two perspectives on the issue.
Gross, B., & DeArmond, M. (2010). Parallel patterns: Teacher attrition in charter vs. district schools. Seattle, WA: Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington. Retrieved from http://www.crpe.org/sites/default/files/pub_ics_Attrition_Sep10_0.pdf
Teacher recruitment and retention: A review of the recent empirical literature.
This article critically reviews the recent empirical literature on teacher recruitment and retention published in the United States.
Guarino, C. M., Santibanez, L., & Daley, G. A. (2006). Teacher recruitment and retention: A review of the recent empirical literature. Review of educational research, 76(2), 173-208.
Chronic Teacher Turnover in Urban Elementary Schools
This study examines the characteristics of elementary schools that experience chronic teacher turnover and the impacts of turnover on a school’s working climate and ability to effectively function.
Guin, K. (2004). Chronic teacher turnover in urban elementary schools. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 12(42), 1–30.
Newly Hired Teacher Mobility in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools: An Application of Segmented Labor Market Theory
This study draws on segmented labor market theory to examine the dynamics of the teacher labor market in charters and TPS, focusing on newly hired teachers.
Gulosino, C., Ni, Y., & Rorrer, A. K. (2019). Newly Hired Teacher Mobility in Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools: An Application of Segmented Labor Market Theory. American Journal of Education, 125(4), 000-000.
Teacher Deselection.
This discussion provides a quantitative statement of one approach to achieving the governors’ (and the nation’s) goals – teacher deselection.
Hanushek, E. A. (2009). Teacher deselection. Creating a new teaching profession, 168, 172-173.
Teacher Quality
This chapter of Handbook of The Economics of Education reviews research on teacher labor markets, the importance of teacher quality in the determination of student achievement, and the extent to which specific observable characteristics often related to hiring decisions and salary explain the variation in the quality of instruction.
Hanushek, E. A., & Rivkin, S. G. (2006). Teacher quality. In E. A. Hanushek & F. Welch (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education, vol. 2 (pp. 1051–1078). Amsterdam, Netherlands: North Holland.
Pay, working conditions, and teacher quality.
Eric Hanushek and Steven Rivkin examine how salary and working conditions affect the quality of instruction in the classroom.
Hanushek, E. A., & Rivkin, S. G. (2007). Pay, working conditions, and teacher quality. The Future of Children, 17(1), 69–86. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ795875.pdf
Constrained job matching: Does teacher job search harm disadvantaged urban schools?
This paper provides direct evidence about the impacts of school job matching on productivity and student achievement.
Hanushek, E. A., & Rivkin, S. G. (2010). Constrained job matching: Does teacher job search harm disadvantaged urban schools? Working Paper No. 15816. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved from https://www.nber.org/papers/w15816.pdf
The Value of Smarter Teachers: International Evidence on Teacher Cognitive Skills and Student Performance
This new research addresses a number of critical questions: Are a teacher’s cognitive skills a good predictor of teacher quality? This study examines the student achievement of 36 developed countries in the context of teacher cognitive skills. This study finds substantial differences in teacher cognitive skills across countries that are strongly related to student performance.
Hanushek, E. A., Piopiunik, M., & Wiederhold, S. (2014). The value of smarter teachers: International evidence on teacher cognitive skills and student performance (No. w20727). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Dynamic effects of teacher turnover on the quality of instruction
This paper examines the combined effects of overall turnover and the quality distribution of teacher transitions for a large, urban district in Texas with special emphasis on nonrandom sorting of students into classrooms, endogenous teacher exits, and grade-switching.
Hanushek, E. A., Rivkin, S. G., & Schiman, J. C. (2016). Dynamic effects of teacher turnover on the quality of instruction. Economics of Education Review, 55, 132–148.
Why public schools lose teachers
This paper examines the issue of teacher attrition and the factors that motivate teachers leaving schools. The results indicate that teacher mobility is much more strongly related to characteristics of the student population (race and lower socioeconomic status) and achievement. The study finds salary plays a much smaller role in these decisions.
Hanushek, E., Kain, J., & Rivkin, S. (2004). Why public schools lose teachers. Journal of Human Resources, 39(2), 326-354.
Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement
The authors study the effects of various types of education and training on the ability of teachers to promote student achievement.
Harris, D. N., & Sass, T. R. (2011). Teacher training, teacher quality and student achievement. Journal of Public Economics, 95(7–8), 798-812.
Career Changers in the Classroom: A National Portrait
This volume is the third report in a series on the potential, promise, experience, and needs of career changers who are teaching in America’s classrooms today. It is based on a survey of a cross-section of such individuals conducted by Hart Research Associates in 2009.
Hart Research Associates (2010). Career changers in the classroom: A national portrait. Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.woodrow. org/images/pdf/policy/CareerChangersClassroom_0210.pdf
Differential teacher attrition: Do high-ability teachers exit at higher rates?
This work presents new evidence on the nature of differential teacher attrition in Texas and attempts to reconcile these conflicting results.
Hendricks, M. D. (2016). Differential teacher attrition: Do high-ability teachers exit at higher rates? Working paper. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2824586
The consequences of leaving school early: The effects of within-year and end-of-year teacher turnover.
Using unique administrative data from North Carolina that allow us to separate classroom teacher turnover during the school year from end-of -year turnover, this research find students who lose their teacher during the school year have significantly lower test score gains than those students when their teachers stay.
Henry, G. T., & Redding, C. (2018). The consequences of leaving school early: The effects of within-year and end-of-year teacher turnover. Education Finance and Policy, 1-52.
Education reparation: an examination of Black teacher retention
The purpose of this study was to examine the workplace factors that positively and negatively impact Black K12 teacher retention. This study utilized a mixed-method approach to examine the qualitative and quantitative data.
Hollinside, M. M. (2017). Education reparation: an examination of Black teacher retention (Doctoral dissertation).
Rethinking teacher turnover: Longitudinal measures of instability in schools
In this essay, we present a typology of teacher turnover measures, including both measures used in existing teacher turnover literature as well as new measures that we have developed.
Holme, J. J., Jabbar, H., Germain, E., & Dinning, J. (2017. Rethinking teacher turnover: Longitudinal measures of instability in schools. Educational Researcher, 47(1), 62–75.
Principal’s time use and school effectiveness.
This paper examines the relationship between the time principals spent on different types of activities and school outcomes including student achievement, teacher and parent assessments of the school, and teacher satisfaction.
Horng, E. L., Klasik, D., & Loeb, S. (2010). Principal's time use and school effectiveness. American journal of education, 116(4), 491-523.
Can a district-level teacher salary incentive policy improve teacher recruitment and retention
In this policy brief Heather Hough and Susanna Loeb examine the effect of the Quality Teacher and Education Act of 2008 (QTEA) on teacher recruitment, retention, and overall teacher quality in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). They provide evidence that a salary increase can improve a school district’s attractiveness within their local teacher labor market and increase both the size and quality of the teacher applicant pool.
Hough, H. J., & Loeb, S. (2013). Can a District-Level Teacher Salary Incentive Policy Improve Teacher Recruitment and Retention? Policy Brief 13-4. Policy Analysis for California Education, PACE.
Teacher recruitment ROI: What’s yours?
Competition for teachers is fierce and expensive. In fact, many schools and organizations pay thousands of dollars each year to third party talent sourcing sites such as Linkedin, Indeed, and Glassdoor to help them find quality candidates. And sometimes this search can feel more ‘luck of the draw’ than strategic.
Howard, J., & Tam, W. (2019, September 18). Teacher recruitment ROI: What’s yours?
Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis
This paper investigates organizational characteristics and conditions in schools that drive staffing problems and teacher turnover.
Ingersoll, R. (2001). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38(3), 499-534.
Is there really a teacher shortage?
This report summarizes a series of analyses that have investigated the possibility that there are other factors—tied to the organizational characteristics and conditions of schools—that are behind school staffing problems.
Ingersoll, R. (2003). Is there really a teacher shortage? Philadelphia, PA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania.
Why Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers
This is taken from the testimony of Richard Ingersoll in front the Pennsylvania legislature on the issues of school turnover.
Ingersoll, R. M. (2013). Why Schools Have Difficulty Staffing Their Classrooms with Qualified Teachers. Retrieved October 3, 2014
A quarter century of changes in the elementary and secondary teaching force: From 1987 to 2012
This report utilizes the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) to examine changes in the elementary and secondary teaching force in the United States over the quarter century from 1987–88 to 2011–12.
Ingersoll, R. M. (2017). A Quarter Century of Changes in the Elementary and Secondary Teaching Force: From 1987 to 2012-Statistical Analysis Report.
The magnitude, destinations, and determinants of mathematics and science teacher turnover
This study examines the magnitude, destinations, and determinants of the departures of mathematics and science teachers from public schools.
Ingersoll, R. M., & May, H. (2012). The magnitude, destinations, and determinants of mathematics and science teacher turnover. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 34(4), 435-464.
The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: A critical review of the research
This review critically examines 15 empirical studies, conducted since the mid1980s, on the effects of support, guidance, and orientation programs—collectively known as induction—for beginning teachers.
Ingersoll, R. M., & Strong, M. (2011). The impact of induction and mentoring programs for beginning teachers: A critical review of the research. Review of educational research, 81(2), 201-233.
Seven trends: The transformation of the teaching force—updated October 2018
This report summarizes the results of an exploratory research project that investigated what trends and changes have, or have not, occurred in the teaching force over the past three decades.
Ingersoll, R. M., Merrill, E., Stuckey, D., & Collins, G. (2018). Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force–Updated October 2018.
Minority teacher recruitment, employment, and retention: 1987 to 2013.
This brief summarizes the results from a study of the recruitment, employment, and retention of minority k-12 teachers. The study examines the extent and sources of the minority teacher shortage—the low proportion of minority teachers in comparison to the increasing numbers of minority students in the school system.
Ingersoll, R., & May, H. (2016). Minority teacher recruitment, employment and retention: 1987 to 2013. Learning Policy Institute, Stanford, CA.
Is the supply of mathematics and science teachers sufficient?
This study seeks to empirically ground the debate over mathematics/science teacher shortages, and evaluate the extent to which there is, or is not, a sufficient supply of teachers in these fields.
Ingersoll, R., & Perda, D. A. (2010). Is the supply of mathematics and science teachers sufficient? American Educational Research Journal, 43(3), 563–594.
What do test scores miss? The importance of teacher effects on non-test score outcomes
Teachers affect a variety of student outcomes through their influence on both cognitive and noncognitive skills. The author proxy for students’ noncognitive skill using non–test score behaviors. These behaviors include absences, suspensions, course grades, and grade repetition in ninth grade.
Jackson, C. K. (2018). What do test scores miss? The importance of teacher effects on non-test score outcomes. Journal of Political Economy, 126(5), 2072–2107.
The Irreplaceables: Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools
To identify and better understand the experience of these teachers, the authors started by studying 90,000 teachers across four large, geographically diverse urban school districts
Jacob, A., Vidyarthi, E., & Carroll, K. (2012). The Irreplaceables: Understanding the Real Retention Crisis in America's Urban Schools. TNTP.
Pursuing a “sense of success”: New teachers explain their career decisions.
This article reports on a longitudinal study designed to explore these questions. In 1999, researchers from The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers selected and interviewed a diverse group of 50 new teachers in the Massachusetts public schools.
Johnson, S. M., & Birkeland, S. E. (2003). Pursuing a “sense of success”: New teachers explain their career decisions. American Educational Research Journal, 40(3), 581-617.
Who stays in teaching and why: A review of the literature on teacher retention
The Literature Review considers research that provides insight into problems of teacher shortage and turnover, offers a comprehensive explanation for why some able teachers leave the classroom prematurely, and suggests current strategies for increasing retention rates.
Johnson, S. M., Berg, J. H., & Donaldson, M. L. (2005). Who stays in teaching and why?: A review of the literature on teacher retention. Project on the Next Generation of Teachers, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement.
the authors build on this body of work by further examining how working conditions predict both teachers‘ job satisfaction and their career plans.
Johnson, S. M., Kraft, M. A., & Papay, J. P. (2012). How context matters in high-need schools: The effects of teachers’ working conditions on their professional satisfaction and their students’ achievement. Teachers College Record, 114(10), 1-39.
What does certification tell us about teacher effectiveness? Evidence from New York City
The authors use six years of data on student test performance to evaluate the effectiveness of certified, uncertified, and alternatively certified teachers in the New York City public schools. This study also evaluates turnover among teachers with different certification status and the impact on student achievement of hiring teachers with predictably high turnover
Kane, T. J., Rockoff, J. E., & Staiger, D. O. (2008). What does certification tell us about teacher effectiveness? Evidence from New York City. Economics of Education review, 27(6), 615-631.
Teacher retention: Evidence to inform policy
This policy brief summarizes the available evidence on the policy relevant factors that affect teacher turnover.
Katz, V. (2018). Teacher retention: Evidence to inform policy. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia.
Does teaching experience increase teacher effectiveness? A review of the research
The goal of this paper is to provide researchers and policymakers with a comprehensive and timely review of this body of work.
Kini, T., & Podolsky, A. (2016). Does teaching experience increase teacher effectiveness? A review of the research. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Teaching_Experience_Report_June_2016.pdf
Teacher layoffs, teacher quality, and student achievement: Evidence from a discretionary layoff policy.
This study present some of first evidence on the implementation and subsequent effect of discretionary layoff policies, by studying the 18th largest public school district in the nation, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).
Kraft, M. A. (2013). Teacher Layoffs, Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: The Implementation and Consequences of a Discretionary Reduction-in-Force Policy. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness.
School organizational contexts, teacher turnover, and student achievement: Evidence from panel data
This study is among the first to address the empirical limitations of prior studies on organizational contexts by leveraging one of the largest survey administration efforts ever conducted in the United States outside of the decennial population census.
Kraft, M. A., Marinell, W. H., & Shen-Wei Yee, D. (2016). School organizational contexts, teacher turnover, and student achievement: Evidence from panel data. American Educational Research Journal, 53(5), 1411-1449.
Teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions: How predictive of planned and actual teacher movement?
This quantitative study examines the relationship between teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions and their intended and actual departures from schools.
Ladd, H. F. (2011). Teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions: How predictive of planned and actual teacher movement?. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(2), 235-261.
Pulling back the curtain: Revealing the cumulative importance of high-performing,
This study examines the relationship between two dominant measures of teacher quality, teacher qualification and teacher effectiveness (measured by value-added modeling), in terms of their influence on students’ short-term academic growth and long-term educational success (measured by bachelor’s degree attainment).
Lee, S. W. (2018). Pulling back the curtain: Revealing the cumulative importance of high-performing, highly qualified teachers on students’ educational outcome. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 40(3), 359–381.
Estimating teacher turnover costs: A case study.
This study created a model and methodology to document turnover costs for the middle and high schools in the Boston Public Schools to test the degree to which it could detect differences in costs for teachers of science, and to explore the feasibility of its implementation by school personnel
Levy, A. J., Joy, L., Ellis, P., Jablonski, E., & Karelitz, T. M. (2012). Estimating teacher turnover costs: A case study. Journal of Education Finance, 38(2), 102–129.
How teaching conditions predict teacher turnover in California schools.
Using California teacher survey data linked to district data on salaries and staffing patterns, this study examines a range of school conditions as well as demographic factors and finds that high levels of school turnover are strongly affected by poor working conditions and low salaries, as well as by student characteristics.
Loeb, S., & Luczak, L. D. H. (2013). How Teaching Conditions Predict: Teacher Turnover in California Schools. In Rendering School Resources More Effective (pp. 48-99). Routledge.
Effective schools: Teacher hiring, assignment, development, and retention
In this paper, the authors use value-added methods to examine the relationship between a school’s effectiveness and the recruitment, assignment, development and retention of its teachers.
Loeb, S., Béteille, T., & Kalogrides, D. (2012). Effective schools: Teacher hiring, assignment, development, and retention. Education Finance and Policy, 7(3), 269–304.
Principal Preferences and the Uneven Distribution of Principals Across Schools
The authors use longitudinal data from one large school district to investigate the distribution of principals across schools. They find that schools serving many low-income, non-White, and low-achieving students have principals who have less experience and less education and who attended less selective colleges. This distribution of principals is partially driven by the initial match of first-time principals to schools, and it is exacerbated by systematic attrition and transfer away from these schools.
Loeb, S., Kalogrides, D., & Horng, E. L. (2010). Principal preferences and the uneven distribution of principals across schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32(2), 205-229.
Why teachers leave—or don’t: A look at the numbers
Deciding to leave any job can be hard, but for teachers, exiting the classroom can be downright heartbreaking. Teaching, in it's essence, is about relationships- understanding students needs, fostering their passions, figuring out what makes them tick.
Loewus, L. (2021, May 4). Why teachers leave—or don’t: A look at the numbers. Education Week
Who stays and who leaves? Findings from a three-part study of teacher turnover in NYC middle schools
This research summary focuses on aspects of the study’s results that are likely to be most useful for policymakers and school leaders as they strive to maintain and manage an effective teacher workforce.
Marinell, W. H., & Coca, V. M. (2013). " Who Stays and Who Leaves?" Findings from a Three-Part Study of Teacher Turnover in NYC Middle Schools. Online Submission.
The supply of and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers
This article provides an analysis of factors influencing the supply of and demand for special education teachers
McLeskey, J., Tyler, N. C., & Saunders Flippin, S. (2004). The supply of and demand for special education teachers: A review of research regarding the chronic shortage of special education teachers. The Journal of Special Education, 38(1), 5-21.
A new approach to the cost of teacher turnover.
This research seeks to provide policy makers with some hard information on the costs of teacher turnover. The goal is to develop an average dollar cost per vacancy, which could also be converted to a percent of payroll, in order to compare to the rules of thumb mentioned
above.
Milanowski, A. T., & Odden, A. R. (2007). A new approach to the cost of teacher turnover. Working Paper 13. Seattle, WA: Center on Reinventing Public Education, University of Washington.
Principal Turnover, Student Achievement and Teacher Retention
This study uses twelve years of administrative data from North Carolina to examine the impact of school principals on school quality. The study finds that principal departures are followed by a decrease in a school’s performance.
Miller, A. (2009). Principal turnover, student achievement and teacher retention. Unpublished manuscript, Princeton University.
Recruiting and Retaining High-Quality Teachers in Rural Areas
In examining recruitment and retention of teachers in rural areas, David Monk begins by noting the numerous possible characteristics of rural communities—small size, sparse settlement, distance from population concentrations, and an economic reliance on agricultural industries that are increasingly using seasonal and immigrant workers to minimize labor costs.
Monk, D. H. (2007). Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers in rural areas. Future of Children, 17(1), 155–174.
Do charter schools alleviate the negative effect of teacher
Using data on charter and public school districts in Texas, the authors test the hypothesis that the labor practices in charter schools, in particular, their ability to easily dismiss poorly performing teachers, diminishes the negative effect of teacher turnover on student achievement and graduation rates in comparison to public schools.
Naslund, K., & Ponomariov, B. (2019). Do charter schools alleviate the negative effect of teacher turnover? Management in Education, 33(1), 11–20.
Creating Sustainable Teacher Career Pathways: A 21st Century Imperative
The authors offer a new vision of teacher career pathways for the 21st century that holds promise for recruiting and retaining excellent teachers who further student learning. They showcase recent initiatives at the local, state, and national level that promote teacher role differentiation and create different models of teacher staffing and teacher career continuums.
Natale, C. F., Bassett, K., Gaddis, L., & McKnight, K. (2013). Creating sustainable teacher career pathways. 2013-07-05)[2016-02-19]. http://researchnetwork. pearson, com/wp-content/uploads/CSTCP-21 CI-pk-final-WEB. pdf.
Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world
This book examines seven jurisdictions that have worked to develop comprehensive teaching policy systems: Singapore and Finland, the states of New South Wales and Victoria in Australia, the provinces of Alberta and Ontario in Canada, and the province of Shanghai in China.
National Center on Education and the Economy. (2016). Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://ncee.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/RecruitmentPolicyBrief.pdf
Teacher turnover in organizational context: Staffing stability in Los Angeles charter, magnet, and regular public schools
Prior research on teacher turnover focused mostly on whether or not and who leaves. This research builds on and extends prior studies by investigating not only whether and who but also when a teacher leaves. The phenomenon of this study emphasizes the dynamic nature of teacher exit.
Newton, X., Rivero, R., Fuller, B., & Dauter, L. (2018). Teacher turnover in organizational context: Staffing stability in Los Angeles charter, magnet, and regular public schools. Teachers College Record, 120(3), 1–36.
Why are private-school teachers paid less than public-school teachers?
One explanation: The working conditions are better in private schools, so instructors are willing to take a salary cut.
Orlin, B. (2013, October 24). Why are private-school teachers paid less than public-school teachers? The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/why-are-private-school-teachers-paid-less-than-public-school-teachers/280829/
The challenge of teacher retention in urban schools: Evidence in variation from a cross-site analysis
Applying consistent data practices and analytical techniques to administrative data sets from 16 urban districts, the authors document substantial cross-district variation in teacher retention rates. They also explore the influence of temporary leaves of absence and cross-district, within-state movement on retention estimates.
Papay, J. P., Bacher-Hicks, A., Page, L. A., & Marinell, W. H. (2017). The challenge of teacher retention in urban schools: Evidence in variation from a cross-site analysis. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 434–448.
The effect of a new teacher induction program on the new teachers reported teacher goals for excellence, mobility and retention rates
Over the past twenty years there has been a decline in the number of minority teachers entering and remaining in the teaching profession. While the overall teacher shortage is worrisome for educators and administrators, the shortage of minority teachers is one of grave concern. A lack of minority educators inside our buildings is just one consequence of minority teacher shortage.
Perry, B., & Hayes, K. (2011). The Effect of a New Teacher Induction Program on New Teachers Reported Teacher Goals for Excellence, Mobility, and Retention Rates. International journal of educational leadership preparation, 6(1), n1.
The supply and demand for rural teachers.
The purpose of this paper is to summarize what we know about the current state of rural teacher labor markets by contrasting them with the same data from urban, suburban, and large and small town settings.
Player, D. (2015). The supply and demand for rural teachers. Rural Opportunities Consortium of Idaho. Retrieved from http://www.rociidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/ROCI_2015_RuralTeachers_FINAL.pdf
Teacher compensation systems in the United States K–12 public school system.
This paper provides a review of the current teacher compensation system and examines the structure of teacher compensation in the U.S. K-12 public education system.
Podgursky, M., & Springer, M. (2011). Teacher compensation systems in the United States K-12 public school system. National Tax Journal, 64(1), 165.
The academic quality of public school teachers: an analysis of entry and exit behavior
The authors investigate how the labor market decisions of recent college graduates, new teachers, and employers affect the academic quality of the teaching workforce in public schools.
Podgursky, M., Monroe, R., & Watson, D. (2004). The academic quality of public school teachers: An analysis of entry and exit behavior. Economics of Education Review, 23(5), 507–518.
Solving the Teacher Shortage: How to Attract and Retain Excellent Educators
This report reviews an extensive body of research on teacher recruitment and retention, and identifies five major factors that influence a teacher’s decision to enter, remain in, or leave the teaching profession, generally, and high-need schools, specifically.
Podolsky, A., Kini, T., Bishop, J., & Darling-Hammond, L. (2016). Solving the teacher shortage: How to attract and retain excellent educators. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.
Career paths of beginning school teachers: Results for the first through fifth waves of the 2007–08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study
This report examines the career paths of beginning public school teachers and how these career paths vary by characteristics during the teachers' first year of teaching and most recent year of teaching.
Raue, K., & Gray, L. (2015). Career Paths of Beginning Public School Teachers: Results from the First through Fifth Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study. Stats in Brief. NCES 2015-196. National Center for Education Statistics.
A teacher like me: A review of the effect of student-teacher racial/ethnic matching on teacher perceptions of students and student academic and behavioral outcomes
Underlying this research is the belief that the cultural fit between students and teachers has the potential to improve a child’s academic and nonacademic performance in school.
Redding, C. (2019). A Teacher Like Me: A Review of the Effect of Student–Teacher Racial/Ethnic Matching on Teacher Perceptions of Students and Student Academic and Behavioral Outcomes. Review of Educational Research, 0034654319853545.
New evidence on the frequency of teacher turnover: Accounting for within-year turnover.
Teacher turnover occurs during and at the end of the school year, although documentation of within-year turnover currently rests on anecdotal evidence.
Redding, C., & Henry, G. T. (2018). New evidence on the frequency of teacher turnover: Accounting for within-year turnover. Educational Researcher, 47(9), 577-593.
Leaving school early: An examination of novice teachers’ within- and end-of-year turnover
This research use data from North Carolina to measure teacher turnover monthly throughout the entire year and conduct an analysis of their persistence to examine the differences in early career teacher turnover.
Redding, C., & Henry, G. T. (2019). Leaving school early: An examination of novice teachers’ within-and end-of-year turnover. American Educational Research Journal, 56(1), 204-236.
Easy in, easy out: Are alternatively certified teachers turning over at increased rates?
The authors report on descriptive evidence of growing differences in the characteristics of alternatively and traditionally certified teachers and the schools in which they teach.
Redding, C., & Smith, T. M. (2016). Easy in, easy out: Are alternatively certified teachers turning over at increased rates?. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 1086-1125.
School administrators’ direct and indirect influences on middle school math teachers’ turnover.
Administrator support has been identified as a key factor in deterring teacher turnover. Yet, the specific ways school principals directly or indirectly influence teacher retention remain underexamined. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Redding, C., Booker, L. N., Smith, T. M., & Desimone, L. M. (2019). School administrators’ direct and indirect influences on middle school math teachers’ turnover. Journal of Educational Administration.
Teachers, schools, and academic achievement.
This paper disentangles the impact of schools and teachers in influencing achievement with special attention given to the potential problems of omitted or mismeasured variables and of student and school selection.
Rivkin, S. G., Hanushek, E. A., & Kain, J. F. (2005). Teachers, schools, and academic achievement. Econometrica, 73(2), 417-458.
Stay or go? Turnover in CMO, EMO and regular charter schools.
We examine whether working conditions in different types of charter schools lead to different levels of teacher turnover.
Roch, C. H., & Sai, N. (2018). Stay or go? Turnover in CMO, EMO and regular charter schools. The Social Science Journal, 55(3), 232-244.
Review of research on the impact of beginning teacher induction on teacher quality and retention.
The objective in this review was to summarize and critique empirical research on the impact of beginning teacher induction on teacher retention and teacher quality (particularly studies in which teacher effectiveness was evaluated by using student achievement measures).
Rogers, M., Lopez, A., Lash, A., Schaffner, M., Shields, P., & Wagner, M. (2004). Review of research on the impact of beginning teacher induction on teacher quality and retention.
How teacher turnover harms student achievement
This study used a version of value added modeling to evaluate the impact of teacher turnover has on student achievement.
Ronfeldt, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). How Teacher Turnover Harms Student Achievement. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series, No. 17176. doi:10.3386/w17176
Teacher recruitment and retention: A critical review of international evidence of most promising interventions
A raft of initiatives and reforms have been introduced in many countries to attract and recruit school teachers, many of which do not have a clear evidence base, so their effectiveness remains unclear. Prior research has been largely correlational in design. This paper describes a rigorous and comprehensive review of international evidence, synthesizing the findings of some of the strongest empirical work so far.
See, B. H., Morris, R., Gorard, S., Kokotsaki, D., & Abdi, S. (2020). Teacher recruitment and retention: A critical review of international evidence of most promising interventions. Education Sciences, 10(10), 262.
Teacher Turnover in High-Poverty Schools: What We Know and Can Do
This paper reviews evidence from six recent studies, which collectively suggest that teachers who leave high-poverty schools are not fleeing their students, but rather the poor working conditions that make it difficult for them to teach and their students to learn. They include school leadership, collegial relationships, and elements of school culture.
Simon, N. S., & Johnson, S. M. (2013). Teacher turnover in high-poverty schools: What we know and can do. Teachers College Record, 117, 1-36
What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover?
This study examines whether such programs - collectively known as induction - have a positive effect on the retention of beginning teachers.
Smith, T. M., & Ingersoll, R. M. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover?. American educational research journal, 41(3), 681-714.
The Hidden Cost of Teacher Turnover
This study asks how schools respond to spells of high teacher turnover, and assesses organizational and human capital losses in terms of the changing composition of the teacher pool.
Sorensen, L. C., & Ladd, H. F. (2018). The hidden costs of teacher turnover. Working Paper No. 203-0918-1. Washington, DC: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER). Retrieved from https://caldercenter.org/publications/hidden-costs-teacher-turnover
Explaining the gap in charter and traditional public school teacher turnover rates
This study uses national survey data to examine why charter school teachers are more likely to turnover than their traditional public school counterparts.
Stuit, D. A., & Smith, T. M. (2012). Explaining the gap in charter and traditional public school teacher turnover rates. Economics of Education Review, 31(2), 268-279.
A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US
Recent media reports of teacher shortages across the country are confirmed by the analysis of several national datasets reported in this brief. Shortages are particularly severe in special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions. Shortages are projected to grow based on declines in teacher education enrollments, coupled with student enrollment growth, efforts to reduce pupil-teacher ratios, and ongoing high attrition rates.
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2016). A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US. Washington, DC: Learning Policy Institute. Available at: https://learningpolicyinstitute. org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT. pdf.
A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the U.S
Recent media reports of teacher shortages across the country are confirmed by the analysis
of several national datasets reported in this brief. Shortages are particularly severe in
special education, mathematics, science, and bilingual/English learner education, and in
locations with lower wages and poorer working conditions.
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2016). A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US. Learning Policy Institute.
Understanding Teacher Shortages: An Analysis of Teacher Supply and Demand in the United States
This paper reviews the sources of and potential solutions to teacher shortages in the United States. It describes the sources of current and projected increases in teacher demand relative to enrollments, shift in pupil-teacher rations, and attrition.
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2019). Understanding Teacher Shortages: An Analysis of Teacher Supply and Demand in the United States. education policy analysis archives, 27(35).
Building special education teacher capacity in rural schools: Impact of a Grow Your Own program
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a grow your own (GYO) program equitably increased special education teacher capacity in one Southern state's rural and non-rural school districts.
Sutton, J. P., Bausmith, S. C., O'connor, D. M., Pae, H. A., & Payne, J. R. (2014). Building special education teacher capacity in rural schools: Impact of a grow your own program. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 33(4), 14-23.
A comprehensive model for estimating the impact of teacher turnover.
The purpose of this study was to develop a model that may be used to estimate the financial costs of teacher turnover in urban school districts.
Synar, E., & Maiden, J. (2012). A comprehensive model for estimating the financial impact of teacher turnover. Journal of Education Finance, 130-144.
Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey (2013)
This report from the United States Department of Education provides national data on teacher retention.
Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2012-13 Teacher Follow-up Survey (2013). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, Institute of Education Science. Retrieved November 10, 2014 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014077.pdf
Teacher recruitment and retention: It’s complicated
In certain states and districts, and in particular specialties like special education or foreign
languages, teacher shortages are a recurring fact of life. An Education Week analysis of
federal data finds that all 50 states and most territories reported experiencing statewide
shortages in one teaching area or another for either the 2016-17 school year, the current
one, or both.
Viadero, D. (2018). Teacher recruitment and retention: It’s complicated. Education Week, 37(18), 4-5.
The national teacher shortage is a myth. Here’s what’s really happening
The faux teacher shortage is of tremendous consequences. It routinely results in both states and school disricts lowering their standards for who is license and hired. But more important, it serve to distract us from fixing the chronic and persistent and alignment of teacher supply and demand.
Walsh, K. (2016, December 2). The national teacher shortage is a myth. Here’s what’s really happening. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-national-teacher-shortage-is-a-myth-heres-whats-really-happening/2016/12/02/58fac7d0-b4e5-11e6-a677-b608fbb3aaf6_story.html
The High Cost of Leaving: An Analysis of the Cost of Teacher Turnover
The cost of teacher turnover to schools and school districts has only recently been studied. This research reveals that when high-quality teachers leave the classroom, the effect on both student performance and school and district fiscal operations is significant and deleterious.
Watlington, E., Shockley, R., Guglielmino, P., & Felsher, R. (2010). The cost of leaving: An analysis of the cost of teacher turnover. Journal of Education Finance, 36(1), 22–37.
Teachers say they are more likely to leave the classroom because of coronavirus
Two-thirds of educators say they’re concerned about the health implications of resuming in-person instruction in the fall, and some say the coronavirus outbreak—and its dramatic effects on schooling—has increased the likelihood that they will leave the classroom altogether.
Will, M. (2020). Teachers say they’re more likely to leave the classroom because of coronavirus. Education Week.
Who leaves, Teacher attrition and student achievement
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between student achievement and teacher attrition using value-added modeling for teachers in New York City.
Boyd, D., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2007). Who leaves, Teacher attrition and student achievement (Research Report). Albany, NY: Teacher Policy Research.
The Revolving Door of the Principalship
This study examines the importance of selection and retention of quality principals for improving and sustaining school success. Data from Texas educational employment files provides a basis for inquiry into this problem.
Fuller, E., Terry Orr, M., & Young, M. D. (2008). The Revolving Door of the Principalship. Implications from UCEA. University Council for Educational Administration. Retrieved December 9, 2014 from http://www.ucea. org/storage/implications/ ImplicationsMar2008.pdf
Are public schools really losing their “best”?: Assessing the career transitions of teachers and their implication for the quality of the teacher workforce
The purpose of this paper is to examine attrition and mobility of teachers using teacher value-added measures for early-career teachers in North Carolina public schools from 1996 to 2002. The results suggest the best teachers remain in teaching and stay in high socioeconomic Status and high performing schools.
Goldhaber, D., Gross, B., & Player, D. (2007). Are public schools really losing their “best”?: Assessing the career transitions of teachers and their implication for the quality of the teacher workforce. Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (Working Paper 12). Washington, D.C. Urban Institute. H
Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results from the 2004-05 Teacher Follow-up Survey
This survey provides information about teacher mobility and attrition among elementary and secondary school teachers in the United States and the District of Columbia.
Marvel, J., Lyter, D. M., Peltola, P., Strizek, G. A., Morton, B. A., & Rowland, R. (2007). Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results from the 2004-05 Teacher Follow-Up Survey. NCES 2007-307. National Center for Education Statistics.
Administrative Climate And Novices' Intent To Remain Teaching
This study uses survey data from new elementary and middle school teachers across 11 districts to examine the association between novices' perceptions of the administrative climate and their desire to remain teaching within their schools.
Pogodzinski, B., Youngs, P., Frank, K. A., & Belman, D. (2012). Administrative climate and novices' intent to remain teaching. The Elementary School Journal, 113(2), 252-275.
Churn: The High Cost of Principal Turnover
This study looks at the significant costs associated with school principal turnover. CHURN reveals the multitude of impacts on schools and school systems that include teachers and students. The study highlights the cost implications of a typical system associated with ineffective principals and the turmoil that results.
School Leaders Network. (2014). Churn: The High Cost of Principal Turnover. Retrieved March 4, 2015 from http://connectleadsucceed.org/sites/default/files/principal_turnover_cost.pdf
