Chronic Teacher Turnover in Urban Elementary Schools

By Kacey Guin. 2004

392 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This study examines the characteristics of elementary schools that experience chronic teacher turnover and the impacts of turnover on a school’s working climate and ability to effectively function. Based on evidence from staff climate surveys and case studies, it is clear that high turnover schools face significant organizational challenges. Schools with high teacher turnover rates have difficulty planning and implementing a coherent curriculum and sustaining positive working relationships among teachers. The reality of these organizational challenges is particularly alarming, given that high turnover schools are more likely to serve low-income and minority students. The negative relationship between teacher turnover and school functioning, and the fact that turbulent schools are disproportionately likely to serve lowincome and minority students have important implications for both district and school-level policies. Specifically: Teacher turnover rates are one indicator of school health, which school districts should consider when focusing on school improvements. Districts need to begin by developing the means to identify individual schools that experience high levels of teacher turnover. Current district policies in implementing professional development for teachers in low-performing schools are inefficient when teachers do not remain in the schools in which they are trained. In order for low-performing schools to improve, districts need to consider providing incentive programs so that high quality teachers apply for, and remain in, these schools. Future research is needed to address the causal link between turnover, organizational functioning and student outcomes. Additionally, there is a need for research examining district policies that may facilitate teacher turnover within a district, including how districts place and transfer teachers, as well as how teachers’ salaries are budgeted.

Subfields: Education, Information Systems and Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/e8a44f4e5653d69c7b20c9a91667616219d31913

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Citations in the corpus

How Teacher Turnover Harms Student Achievement (2011, methodology): “Table 8 presents results for models using school-by-grade fixed effects, while Table 9 presents results for models using school-by-year fixed effects.”
Field Placement Schools and Instructional Effectiveness (2015, background): “Other studies have shown that schools with lower turnover also have better student achievement (Guin, 2004; Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 2004).”
The Elusive Relationship Between Teacher Characteristics and Student Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Multilevel Model for Change (2007, background): “teachers teaching to the tests that measure student performance, creating a competitive atmosphere that undermines the collegiality between teachers, and increasing the teacher turnover in schools with struggling students (Guin 2004).”
The Price of Misassignment (2010, background): “Thus, attracting and retaining effective teachers for these students is vitally important (Education Trust, 2004) yet quite difficult (Dillon, 2007; Guin, 2004; Ingersoll, 2001).”
Why leave the teaching profession? A longitudinal approach to the prevalence and persistence of teacher turnover intentions (2020, background): “For instance, there is research evidence proves that teacher turnover negatively affects student engagement and achievement as well as school leadership and the dynamics of the professional community (Guin 2004; Ingersoll 2001; Ronfeldt et al.”
Teacher job satisfaction by principal support and teacher cooperation: Results from the Schools and Staffing Survey (2019, background): “These high rates of turnover disrupt program and lesson coherence within schools and can negatively impact student outcomes (Guin, 2004; Newman, 2001).”
Constancy and Change in Work Practice in Schools: The Role of Organizational Routines (2011, background): “This number is quite high, but typical staff turnover at urban districts can range between 14–35%, tending to be higher in schools with high poverty populations (Guin, 2004).”
The trouble with teacher turnover: How teacher attrition affects students and schools (2019, background): “High rates of turnover can impede instructional improvements and teacher collaboration (Guin, 2004).”
Does New Teacher Induction Really Improve Retention? (2017, background): “Policymakers are paying increasing attention to teacher churn, especially given growing evidence that it harms school organizations, teachers, and students (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2005; Guin, 2004).”
Teacher efficacy in student engagement, instructional management, student stressors, and burnout: A theoretical model using in-class variables to predict teachers' intent-to-leave (2012, background): “As seasoned teachers devote time to their novice counterparts, less time is available for their own students or their professional growth (Guin, 2004).”
How Much Do School Principals Matter When It Comes to Teacher Working Conditions? (2017, background): “In addition to negatively affecting efforts to build a strong organizational culture and to maintain staff cohesion (Guin, 2004; Hanselman, Grigg, & Bruch, 2014), high rates of teacher turnover negatively affect student achievement outcomes (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013).”
Identifying Personal and Contextual Factors that Contribute to Attrition Rates for Texas Public School Teachers (2012, background): “Moreover, higher rates of teacher attrition are associated with additional financial costs and concerns related to school stability and teacher trust (Guin, 2004).”
Early Career Outcomes for the “Best and the Brightest” (2015, background): “High levels of attrition, in particular a constant churning of novice teachers through the school, begins to negatively impact school climate and learning outcomes (Bryk & Schneider, 2002; Guin, 2004; Ronfeldt, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2011).”
The Support Gap: New Teachers' Early Experiences in High-Income and Low-Income Schools. (2004, background): “Although some attrition is certainly desirable, chronic turnover such as that experienced by many low-income schools can disrupt children’s education, fragment a school’s instructional program, and waste substantial funds already invested in a teacher’s professional development ( Guin, 2004 ).”
Teacher Mobility: Looking More Closely at "The Movers" Within a State System (2006, background): “In particular, the composition of a school’s student body with regard to race, ethnicity, and poverty has been shown to influence teacher attrition and mobility (Guin, 2004; Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 2001; Ingersoll, 2001b; Kelly, 2004; Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002; NCES, 2005; Shen, 1997).”
Is This Work Sustainable? Teacher Turnover and Perceptions of Workload in Charter Management Organizations (2016, background): “Although there may be financial benefits to employing less experienced teachers (Toch, 2009), losing the institutional knowledge of more experienced teachers can make it more difficult to maintain instructional quality and a healthy school culture (Guin, 2004; Toch, 2009).”