A New Look at Teacher Turnover: Understanding the Geography of Instability in Schools

• In Event: 69.056 - Roundtable Session 31
  In Roundtable Session: 69.056-8 - Turnover in Schools: New Measures, New Contexts

Abstract

A growing body of research in recent years has focused on the issue of teacher turnover, more specifically, describing the problem of turnover and understanding the causes. One of the most consistent findings in this literature is that teacher turnover is higher in schools urban schools and those with high concentrations of low-income and minority students.

Existing research, however, provides a fairly superficial view of the turnover problem and how it varies by school context. This is because most studies rely on “annual turnover rates” of teachers, which measure the percentage of teachers who leave a school in a year. These annual rates, however, tell us little about the different types of turnover that schools might experience, and how different types of turnover exist in different types of schools. For example, these rates do not capture the longitudinal nature of loss, such as which schools experience “chronic” turnover problems (i.e., high turnover rates for many years in a row) versus schools that experience brief spells of turnover (i.e., turnover for just one or two years, but then quickly stabilize.) Existing measures also provide little information about the depth of loss: for example, a school may report a 20% turnover rate every year for three years, yet few studies distinguish whether these losses are in the same positions (i.e., 20% of the same staff positions replaced each year over three years, with 80% of staff positions remaining stable), or different positions (i.e., the 20% is comprised of different staff positions replaced each year, accumulating to a 60% loss over three years.).

This paper examines turnover through these more nuanced measures. We use ten years of teacher-level, statewide data from Texas, between 2004 and 2014. This data set, recognized nationally for its depth and quality, allows us to track teacher, administrator, and other staff movements across all public schools in Texas. We also match the administrative data with Census data using school addresses for a deeper understanding of how the turnover varies across school contexts.

We examine which schools experience chronic turnover (multiple years of turbulence), which experience short and long “spells” of turnover, and which schools experience deep cumulative turnover over the course of several years. We specifically explore how these new turnover measures vary by geography and school demographics. We report which schools are affected by varying types of turnover, by district type (i.e., urban/suburban), and by school demographics (race and poverty). We use GIS maps to illustrate these patterns. Finally, we bring to bear interviews from pilot studies to examine how these varying typologies of turnovers may affect organizations. Our preliminary findings suggest that the nature of turnover varies by context, with high-poverty schools experiencing the most severe cumulative and chronic turnover rates.

This study contributes to research on teacher turnover and inequity in schools, with implications for policy and practice. Identifying the demographics of schools experiencing chronic or temporary turnover may help district and state leaders develop targeted policy solutions.

Authors

• Jennifer Jellison Holme, The University of Texas - Austin

• Huriya Jabbar, The University of Texas - Austin

• Emily Germain, The University of Texas - Austin

• Wesley Logan Edwards, The University of Texas - Austin

• Joanna Dolores Sanchez, Howard University