Research in education

Research in Education

Today’s article: How teacher turnover harms student achievement

Authors: Ronfeldt, Matthew

                 Loeb, Susanna

                 Wyckoff, James

American Educational Research Journal (Feb 2013, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 4-30)

This article addresses the common assumption: teacher turnover harms student achievement

-          Study focuses on 4^th and 5^th graders in New York City between 2001 – 2010

-          86% teachers were “stayers” (remained at the school)

-          4% teachers transferred

-          9% first year teachers

General Findings:

·         Turnover rate at low-achieving low-income schools is highest

·         Achievement at low-income schools is lowest

·         Effective teachers are less likely to request transfers at low-achieving schools

·         Teacher turnover affects and disrupts school climate

·         Staff cohesion and community are related to student engagement and achievement

·         Schools with persistent turnover are continually
“starting ove.”

·         Turnovers have substantial impact on financial and human resources

·         Smaller schools tend to have higher teacher turnover rates

·         There is no perfect way to measure teacher effectiveness

Common thread: Teachers leaving may cause low achievement, but low achievement may also cause teachers to leave.

The authors looked at teacher experience and value-added models to explain teacher turnover and student achievement. They cite these two criteria as “signals” for teacher quality. However, they note that a teacher’s prior effectiveness does not appear to explain fully the harmful effects of turnover on student achievement in low-achieving schools.

The overall finding: substantial amounts of the effect of teacher turnover remains unexplained.

Opinion: The authors provide good models from which to grow. These models provide statistical formulas which my prove beneficial in future studies.