External Factors and Teacher Churn

• In Event: The Michigan Consortium for Education Research: A Research and Data Policy Partnership

Abstract

Objectives or Purpose: On average, 15 percent of the nation’s teachers either move schools or leave the teaching profession (Keigher & Cross, 2010). Schools with high turnover rates are related to lower levels of student achievement, especially in schools with higher percentages of Black and low ability students (Rondfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013). While teacher turnover occurs for a number of reasons, one limitation of previous research that examines turnover is treatment of teacher decision-making as separate from (e.g., Kukla-Acedvdeco, 2009) the possible influence of districts (Mansfield, 2012) and other contextual forces related to teacher churn.

Perspectives or Theoretical Framework:The current study focuses on teacher mobility among high school teachers in the state of Michigan from 2003-2011, a period during which Michigan schools experienced profound changes in both state levels of fiscal support, as well as in state curricular policy. Following the 2002 national recession, the state of Michigan’s per capita income continued to decline steadily, even while the rest of the nation’s per capita income rebounded and increased. In other words, Michigan experienced a “one-state recession.” When the 2009 national recession occurred, Michigan’s per capita income dipped even lower (Michigan Department of Technology, Management, & Budget, nd), forcing a reduction in state tax revenue, money for the general education fund, and schools’ budgets for hiring teachers, and exacerbating differences in local levels of funding. Simultaneously, beginning in 2006, Michigan implemented a sweeping new high school curriculum, called the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC), designed to increase academic rigor by preparing all students to be college and career ready. The changes in local levels of funding along with changes in the academic demands at the high school level served to create a policy environment in which variation in teacher labor market conditions arguably contributed significantly to both teacher and district level hiring decisions. Given that few studies have examined how specific changes in educational policies may be related to changes in the teacher work force (Keesler, 2010), this study presents new information on how the interplay of local economic conditions and policy mandates impacts the compositional make-up of the teacher work force.

Data and Methods: Using data from Michigan’s Registry of Educational Personal database from 2003-2010, we conduct fixed effects models using school level panel data to examine the extent that local and state level forces influence teacher mobility.

Results: Although we find and overall decrease in the number of high school teacher in Michigan since 2003, we find a sharp increase in teacher attrition coincident with the 2006 announcement of the MMC, suggesting a relationship between that policy change and teacher turnover. We also find a positive relationship between overall unemployment and teacher turnover.

Scholarly or Scientific Significance: We find evidence that external forces are related to teacher turnover, which varies by locale. With teacher turnover disproportionately occurring in schools with disadvantaged student populations, it is important to have a fuller understanding of the factors related to turnover.

Authors

• Guan Saw, Michigan State University

• Elizabeth Covay Minor, National Louis University

• Kenneth A. Frank, Michigan State University

• Barbara Schneider, Michigan State University