Teacher Turnover: Why It Matters and What We Can Do About It

Without changes in current policies, U.S. teacher shortages are projected to grow in the coming years. Teacher turnover is an important source of these shortages. About 8% of teachers leave the profession each year, two-thirds of them for reasons other than retirement. Another 8% shift to different schools each year. In addition to aggravating teacher shortages, high turnover rates lower student achievement and are costly for schools. This brief examines turnover trends and causes. It concludes that policies to stem teacher turnover should target compensation, teacher preparation and support, and teaching conditions. For the full report on which this brief is based, go to https:// learningpolicyinstitute.org/ product/teacher-turnover. External Reviewers The full report on which this brief is based benefited from the insights and expertise of two external reviewers: Li Feng, Brandon Dee Roberts Excellence Assistant Professor at Texas State University; and Jesse Rothstein, Professor of Public Policy and Economics, and Director of the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at University of California, Berkeley. Core operating support for the Learning Policy Institute is provided by the Sandler Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Desiree Carver-Thomas and Linda Darling-Hammond As students return to school this fall, many will be taught by teachers untrained for the classes they are teaching. Last year, more than 100,000 classrooms were filled with underprepared teachers, and that number is expected to rise.1 Other students will face course cancellations, and some will attend larger classes because qualified teachers could not be found. Teacher shortages, which have been growing since 2015, compromise student learning in these and other ways. Many policymakers have focused on recruiting new teachers to address the national shortage, but curbing teacher turnover is equally important. Unlike Finland and Singapore, where 3–4% of teachers leave the profession each year, usually for retirement, in the United States annual teacher attrition is about 8% and accounts for roughly 90% of the demand for new teachers. Teacher attrition in the United States has increased steeply since the 1990s, when it was only 5%, and two-thirds of those who leave the profession each year do so for reasons other than retirement. Another 8% of teachers shift to different schools each year, bringing the total turnover rate—the combination of those who move schools or leave the profession—closer to 16% of the total teacher workforce. In addition to aggravating teacher shortages, high turnover rates create extra costs for schools, with estimates reaching $20,000 or more for every teacher who leaves an urban district. Although some teacher turnover is expected and can be beneficial, high turnover rates reduce student achievement—not only for students whose classrooms are directly affected, but also for other students in the school.2 Although some teacher turnover is expected and can be beneficial, high turnover rates reduce achievement for students whose classrooms are directly affected and for other students in the school. LEARNING POLICY INSTITUTE | RESEARCH BRIEF 1 This brief summarizes a report using data from the most recent nationally representative survey of U.S. teachers— the 2012 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 2013 Teacher Follow-up Survey—to investigate how turnover trends vary across regions, schools, teachers, and subject areas, and what factors predict teachers’ decisions to leave their school or the profession.3 Variations in Turnover Rates The survey data reveal that teacher turnover rates vary markedly across the country. Annual turnover rates are highest in the South (16%) and lowest in the Northeast (10%), where states tend to offer higher pay, support smaller class sizes, and make greater investments in education. For most regions, turnover is higher in cities than in any other district type. In the West, however, turnover is highest in towns and rural areas. Turnover also varies widely across states (see Figure 1), with rates above 20% annually in Arizona, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas, and rates below 10% in Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and a set of New England states (New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) combined for this analysis because of their individual size. These differentials tend to be associated with salaries and working conditions.4