Weaker Teachers Leave Tough Schools, Analysis Finds
It's long been known that high-poverty, high-minority schools have higher rates of teacher turnover than other schools. But is turnover in such schools always a bad thing? In a new paper out from the National Bureau of Economic Research, economists Eric Hanushek and Steven Rivkin take on the issue and provide some fresh food for thought.
The researchers looked at data from an urban district in Texas from 1995-96 and from 2000-2001 in grades 4 and 8, using a matched teacher-student data set. The district has a whopping 30 percent annual "exit rate" among new teachers and 18 percent among veterans.
The researchers found that, of the "exiting" teachers, those leaving Texas schools entirely and those that sought out another school in the district were on average less effective relative to teachers who stayed in their schools in raising mathematics scores.
But when they sliced and diced the data, they found a much more complex set of factors. When the data were correlated by school type, for instance, the researchers found that the teachers who left low-achieving schools and schools with a higher concentration of black students were less effective, compared with "stayers," than teachers who left higher-achieving schools or those with fewer black students.
The one exception seems to be for novices with but a year of experience under their belts. First-year teachers
The researchers looked at data from an urban district in Texas from 1995-96 and from 2000-2001 in grades 4 and 8, using a matched teacher-student data set. The district has a whopping 30 percent annual "exit rate" among new teachers and 18 percent among veterans.
The researchers found that, of the "exiting" teachers, those leaving Texas schools entirely and those that sought out another school in the district were on average less effective relative to teachers who stayed in their schools in raising mathematics scores.
But when they sliced and diced the data, they found a much more complex set of factors. When the data were correlated by school type, for instance, the researchers found that the teachers who left low-achieving schools and schools with a higher concentration of black students were less effective, compared with "stayers," than teachers who left higher-achieving schools or those with fewer black students.
The one exception seems to be for novices with but a year of experience under their belts. First-year teachers
