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Benefits
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. (Donley, J., et al., “Teacher Turnover Impact,” The Wing Institute, 2019)
Costs
High turnover rates reduce achievement for students whose classrooms are directly affected and for other students in the school. (Carver-Thomas, D. and Darling-Hammond, L., “Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It,” Learning Policy Institute, 2017).
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 a reduced collaborative environment and less unified and less comprehensive instructional programs.
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 losses to educational productivity when schools lose more experienced teachers to less experienced ones.
Principals…are forced to continually focus on hiring and training new teachers rather than address systemic and sustained instructional improvements. 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.
Teachers [tend] to move to schools where the average teacher quality was similar to their own, resulting in a “rich get richer” effect, and likely exacerbated achievement gaps between disadvantaged/minority and affluent/white students.
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.
Teacher turnover is quite costly, with [annual expenditures] on separation, recruitment, hiring, and induction, and training—an amount that otherwise could be used for academic programs and services. (Donley, J., et al., “Teacher Turnover Impact,” The Wing Institute, 2019) “Urban districts, on average, spend more than $20,000 on each new hire, including school and district expenses related to separation, recruitment, hiring, and training. These investments don’t pay their full dividend when teachers leave within 1 or 2 years after being hired.” (Learning Policy Institute, “What’s the Cost of Teacher Turnover?” 2017)
Almost half of all public-school teacher turnover [in the nation] takes place in just one quarter of the population of public schools. The data show that high-poverty, high-minority, urban and rural public schools have among the highest rates of turnover.
Over the past couple of decades, minority teachers have had significantly higher rates of turnover than White teachers….Increases in turnover among minority teachers, especially in disadvantaged schools, undermine efforts to recruit new teachers in hard-to-staff schools and to diversify the teaching force.
Beginners…have been leaving at relatively high rates, and these rates have held steady or even increased, in recent decades….[in the nation] more than 44 percent of new teachers leave teaching within 5 years of entry.
A negative consequence of high levels of beginning teacher attrition is the loss of newcomers before they are able to fully develop their skills. (Ingersoll, R., et al. “Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force,” Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2021)
[From research by Redding and Henry,] when teachers leave midyear, the learning loss for their students can range from 32 to 72 instructional days. The factors most commonly to blame for this associated learning loss … include classroom disruption, school instability, and less-qualified replacement teachers, [such as long-term substitutes]. (Heubeck, E. “Teachers Are Quitting Midyear. It’s Leaving Some Schools in the Lurch,” Education Week, 2022)
A number of studies have documented…that teachers’ academic effectiveness as measured by gains in their students’ test scores increases significantly with additional experience for the first several years in teaching. (Ingersoll, R., et al. “Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force,” Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania, 2021)
[Alternatively certified] teachers have had less coursework and student teaching, on average, than teachers who are prepared through traditional programs. This predicts high rates of leaving, even after controlling for other student and teacher characteristics and working conditions. (Carver-Thomas, D. and Darling-Hammond, L., “Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It,” Learning Policy Institute, 2017).
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. (Donley, J., et al., “Teacher Turnover Impact,” The Wing Institute, 2019)
Teachers who enter the profession through alternative certification pathways are much more likely to leave their schools and the profession, especially when they teach in schools with high proportions of students of color. (Carver-Thomas and Darling-Hammond)
For students, there is mounting evidence that teaching out-of-field can contribute to lower student performance and student dissatisfaction. (Hobbs, L., et al, “Out-of-field Synthesis and Recommendations for Policy, Practice and Research, Part A Report,” Australian National Summit on Teaching Out-of-Field, 2022)
Out-of-field teaching – teaching a subject that is not your specialty, or teaching an age group you are not trained to teach – has been identified…as one of the main constraints faced by new recruits to the profession. Most new teachers report feeling “overwhelmed” by their out-of-field teaching experience and report serious levels of anxiety. While stress occurs with having to be proficient in both content knowledge and delivery, classroom management is a larger contributor.
Out-of-field teaching is a significant problem…The risk to the education system and to society is that a heavy out-of-field workload may result in early-career teachers giving up teaching altogether. Moreover, it affects subject integrity and disrupts classroom management, which can in turn affect student learning outcomes. (Caldis, S., “Out-of-field teaching: New teachers survive under pressure,” research outreach, 2022)
[Concerning vocational education,] not only can out-of-field teaching affect teacher well-being and lead to attrition, but it can also affect student learning outcomes. For teachers needing to demonstrate vocational competence, teaching out-of-field increases their workload, leading to more teachers leaving the profession. (Nakar, S. and Du Plessis, A.E., “Facing the Dilemma of the Out-of-Field Teaching Phenomenon in Vocational Education and Training (VET), Vocations and Learning, 2023)
[That out-of-field teaching] can erode healthy and effective learning and teaching environments often goes unnoticed…teachers must not be seen as semi-skilled workers ready to perform any job because unsuitably placed teachers who are struggling can complicate an already complex system of constantly changing curricula and procedures. (Du Plessis, A.E., “Out-of-Field Teaching Practices: What Educational Leaders Need to Know,” Learning Sciences Institute Australia, 2017)
Students of color benefit over the short and long run when taught by a same-race teacher. This finding is now well established in empirical research. Particularly for Black students, having even one same-race teacher improves test scores, graduation rates, attendance, and behavioral outcomes. (Gershenson, S. and Papageorge, N., “T hrough peer learning, the benefits of teacher diversity extend beyond classroom walls,” Brookings, 2023)
Being taught by a same-race teacher accomplishes the following:
As early as elementary school, race matching [of students and teachers] increases Black and Latino students’ long-run outcomes like high school graduation, college aspiration, and college enrollment. The effect is large. The 10% increase in college aspirations and enrollment is roughly the same size as the effect of a significant class-size reduction. (Gershenson, S., et al., Teacher Diversity and Student Success: Why Racial Representation Matters in the Classroom, Harvard Education Press, 2021)
[From research by David Blazer] when upper elementary students are randomly assigned to a teacher of color, they are better at completing tasks and are more engaged, score higher on end-of-year math and English/language arts tests and attend school more frequently. This effect holds true for both students of color and white students, and the effects on test scores and chronic absenteeism persist up to six years later when the students are in high school. (Will. M., “Teachers of Color Are Linked to Social-Emotional, Academic Gains for All Students,” Education Week, 2022)
Research suggests that White students show improved problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity when they have diverse teachers. (Motamedi, J.G., “How Teachers of Color Can Make a Difference in the Classroom and Beyond,” education northwest , 2019 )
We find that female teachers are better at increasing both male and female students’ achievement than their male counterparts in elementary and middle schools. The positive effects of having female math teachers are particularly large for female students’ math achievement, but we do not find evidence for a positive gender matching effect in English language arts. In addition, contrary to popular speculation, boys do not exhibit higher academic achievement when they are assigned to male teachers. Our findings suggest that the effects of teacher gender on student learning vary by subject and gender, but the effect sizes are small. (Hwang, N., et al., “Student–Teacher Gender Matching and Academic Achievement,” American Educational Research Association, 2021)
Male teachers are needed in schools for psychological, social, organizational, and societal reasons.
First, male and female teachers contribute to children’s gender knowledge. The presence of male teachers may be particularly important for some children allowing them to observe men who are non-violent and whose interactions with women are positive. Limited visibility of male teachers, however, further perpetuates the view that teaching is a job better suited to women.
Second, the presence of both male and female teachers in classrooms gives students the opportunity to learn from teachers who they perceive as being similar to themselves. This may promote feelings of school belonging, which can reduce disruptive behavior. Additionally, for some students the presence of male teachers may support understanding of how to interact with adults who are different from themselves promoting positive relationships between men and young children.
Third, having a diverse workforce of teachers can enhance decision-making processes and drive positive outcomes. People from different backgrounds may see the same problem in different ways, leading to innovative solutions. Workforce diversity has also been linked to improved performance and job satisfaction.
More broadly, the presence of male teachers may help promote alternative, non-violent, and gender-equitable versions of masculinity. By working in roles that are typically viewed as appropriate only for women, men can help break down the polarized differences that foster gender inequalities. (McGrath, K.F., et al., “Do we really need male teachers? Forget those old reasons, here’s new research,” Australian Association for Research in Education, 2019)
Research conducted in recent years in various parts of the country and world has helped clarify the role of teacher pay. Many of these studies have found that increased pay — whether through salary hikes, one-time bonuses, college debt-forgiveness programs, or other new forms of compensation — is associated with:
Both mathematics and English test scores are significantly higher in districts that offer higher base salaries to teachers when compared to those in districts with a lower teacher base salary. We also find that higher teacher base salaries reduce the achievement gap between White and Black students as well as between White and Hispanic students by raising test scores more for those minority students. (Garcia, E. and Han E.S., “Teachers’ Base Salary and Districts’ Academic Performance: Evidence From National Data,” Economic Policy Institute and University of Utah, 2022)
Research from Michigan and from North Carolina finds that the length of time teachers stay in teaching depends on salaries and opportunity costs—that is, the salary teachers forgo by staying in teaching instead of moving into a different field. A study from Washington state found that female teachers stay longer in the profession when local teacher salaries increase relative to salaries available in other local employment. Males stay longer when teachers are paid more across the state. (Ferlazzo, L., “What Does It Mean to ‘Overspend’ on Teacher Salaries?” Education Week, 2022)
Teacher turnover and shortages are among the most critical issues in education. Teachers are the number one in-school influence on student achievement, and research shows that poor quality teaching disrupts learning and has a negative impact on students’ ability to graduate from school college- and career-ready. (“U.S. Teacher Shortages—Causes and Impacts,” MEMO, Learning Policy Institute, 2018)
Research shows that educator shortages disproportionately impact students of color, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and students from rural communities. (“…Action to Address the Teacher Shortage,” FACT SHEET, U.S. Dept. of Education)
Students need and deserve a diverse corps of highly skilled teachers. Yet providing all students with equitable access to well-prepared teachers has long been a struggle in U.S. schools. Teacher turnover rates are high, and shortages have grown across the country, particularly in several key subjects and in schools serving higher populations of students of color and students from low-income families. This lack of qualified teachers hurts student outcomes and well-being, disproportionately affecting underserved students. (“Teacher Recruitment, Retention, and Shortages,” Learning Policy Institute)