In the Wake of Reform: Effect of Tenure Policy Changes on Student Achievement in Tennessee

• In Event: 15.031 - The Effects of Teacher Policy Reforms on Teacher Effectiveness and Student Achievement

Abstract

Ongoing debates surrounding teacher tenure advance opposing claims on the potential effects of tenure reform on the educational prospects of students. Criticisms of tradition tenure policies, conveyed primarily through popular media and recent court cases, posit that lifetime tenure protections nullify mechanisms promoting improved performance within the teaching workforce, while those that support traditional tenure protections claim such policies incentivize high quality teaching candidates to join and remain within the profession. In 2011, Tennessee passed a series of reforms that extended the pre-tenure probation period, made tenure status non-permanent, and tied tenure eligibility to teacher performance within the newly restructured educator evaluation process. Teachers who already received tenure prior to 2011 remain unaffected through a strict grandfather clause that allowed them to maintain their tenure status indefinitely. This study exploits longitudinal variation in math and reading test scores for students assigned to teachers that were and were not affected by tenure reform using a difference-in-difference analysis. Results from this study contribute to the emerging evidence base on the effects of K–12 teacher tenure policy reform by focusing on and approximating the causal effect on student achievement.

Authors

• Luis Alberto Rodriguez, New York University

• Matthew G. Springer, Vanderbilt University