Indicator: Teacher experience

Definition

Students have equitable access to experienced teachers.

RECOMMENDED METRIC(S)

Pre-K: Percentage of teachers with less than one year, one to five years, and more than five years of experience

K–12: Percentage of teachers with less than one year, one to five years, and more than five years of experience

Type(s) of Data Needed

Administrative data

Why it matters

Research consistently shows that more experienced teachers make greater contributions to student achievement, especially compared to teachers who are early in their careers. After teachers gain about five years of experience, however, the difference between a more or less experienced teacher (that is, one with 10 versus 5 years of experience) is not significant.  Students do not have equal access to experienced teachers; Black and Latino students, and those from low-income households, are more likely than their peers to be taught by teachers who are newest to the profession. In 2016, 9 percent of teachers in schools with a low share of students of color were in their first or second year of teaching, compared with 17 percent of teachers in schools with a high proportion of students of color.

What to know about measurement

Data on teacher experience can be tracked as part of districts’ or states’ staff data management systems. About one-third of states with a Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for their pre-K programs include experience indicators as part of their program quality ratings. K–12 districts must report school-level data to the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) on the number of teachers in their first and second years of teaching, and commonly base salaries on teachers’ years of experience.

Source frameworks

This indicator appeared in three source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our recommendations draw from a definition put forth by the National Academies which focuses on group differences in access to novice, experienced, and certified teachers. The thresholds selected in our proposed metric align with research by Kraft and Papay mentioned above. 

References

The framework's recommendations are based on syntheses of existing research. Please see the framework report for a list of works cited.