Indicator: Educator retention

Definition

Teachers and school leaders return to the same school in consecutive years.

Recommended Metric(s)

Percentage of teachers who return to teaching in the same school from year to year

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Percentage of Pre-K teachers who return to teaching in the same school from year to year

Percentage of K-12 teachers who return to teaching in the same school from year to year

CEDS Connections offer guidance, including data elements and step-by-step analysis recommendations, for how to calculate select metrics.

Percentage of school leaders who have served in their current positions for less than two years, two to three years, and four or more years

Type(s) of Data Needed

Administrative data

Why it matters

Retaining effective educators is linked with improved school climate1 and better outcomes for students. Research in early learning settings shows that having the same teacher throughout an academic year is linked to higher rates of school readiness,2 and that teachers who leave their program tend to receive lower ratings in teacher–child interaction quality.3  Studies in K–12 settings have produced mixed findings on the impact of teacher turnover. However, one study involving more than 850,000 students in New York City found that teacher turnover results in lower performance in English language arts and math, with especially negative impacts on Black students and students who struggle academically.4  This study suggests that turnover impacts student outcomes by affecting students’ access to experienced, effective teachers, but also by having a disruptive effect on schools. Educator turnover tends to be more common in schools that serve a higher share of disadvantaged students; for example, in 2017, 21 percent of school leaders in high-poverty schools left their positions, compared to 15 percent of school leaders in low-poverty schools.5

What to know about measurement

Educator retention can be computed using administrative records from districts’ or states’ staff data management systems linking teachers and principals to schools from one year to the next. For school leaders, we recommend examining their tenure in the same school. In 2017, the national average tenure of principals at their current schools was four years, with 35 percent of principals staying at their school for less than two years.6 A recommended best practice is also to disaggregate retention by measures of educator effectiveness, such as those based on teacher performance ratings or value-added scores, to better assess the impact of staff turnover.7 Currently, 20 states publicly report data on teacher retention.8

Source frameworks

This indicator appeared in two source frameworks reviewed for this report: the Urban Institute’s Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools (REMIQS) framework and National Education Association’s Great Public Schools Indicator Framework.

References