What Impact Have Accountability Policies and Practices Had on the Satisfaction and Retention of Teachers?

• In Event: 33.038 - National and International Perspectives on Teacher Satisfaction and Working Conditions

Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study is to empirically examine the impact that school accountability reforms have on the ability of schools to retain qualified teachers.

Theoretical Perspective

The Theory of School Accountability Reform centers on a series of common steps: the setting of performance standards for students and schools, the use of assessments (typically students’ standardized test scores) to gauge student and school performance in regard to the standards, and the use of various combinations of incentives and sanctions to induce schools to improve their performance on various outcomes.

In our research we utilize a theoretical perspective drawn from the sociology of organizations, occupations, and work, and from organizational theory. Our operating premise is that in order to fully understand the effects of reforms, such as accountability, on teachers and schools, it is necessary to examine the role of organizational conditions, leadership, and resources in the schools where these processes happen and within which teachers work.

Data and Methods

Our data source is the National Center for Education Statistics’ nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey, along with its supplement, the Teacher Follow-up Survey. SASS/TFS is the largest and most comprehensive data source available on elementary and secondary teachers and schools. We focus in particular on the 2003-04 SASS and 2004-05 TFS—data collected 2-3 years after the advent of NCLB.

The Study

Using these data, we seek to answer three sets of research questions:

1.) How Many Schools are Subject to State or District Mandated Performance Standards, Evaluations of Performance, and Subsequent Recipients of Rewards or Sanctions?

2.) What are The Effects of the Above Accountability Components on Teacher Satisfaction and Turnover?

3.) What is the Role of School Leadership and Organization in the Impact of Accountability on Teacher Satisfaction and Turnover?

Results

Our preliminary analysis shows that, after controlling for the background characteristics of teachers and schools, some aspects and steps in school accountability reforms had an effect and some did not. Having standards and assessments in schools themselves did not have an impact on teacher retention. Performance did matter; lower-performing schools had far higher turnover than higher-performing schools. Rewards given to higher performing schools did little to improve the already higher retention. Sanctions applied to lower-performing schools did a lot to worsen their already lower retention. But, our analyses also show that there is an important role for the leadership and organizational conditions in these schools, especially for the degree of autonomy and discretion teachers are allowed in their own classrooms. Lower-performing sanctioned schools which allowed teachers greater classroom autonomy had significantly better retention.

Conclusion and Significance

These results have large implications for reform and policy. Our results suggest teacher accountability and autonomy must go hand in hand in school, and increases in one must be accompanied by increases in the other. Imbalances between the two can result in problems for both the teacher and for the school.

Author

• Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania