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Sometimes, teacher turnover is a good thing, study finds
1/24/16 | Washington Post
Behind the Headline
An Effective Teacher in Every Classroom
Summer 2010 | Education Next
A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research last week found that teacher turnover led to an improvement in average student achievement under a new teacher evaluation system in Washington, D.C. According to the study, the departure of teachers rated “ineffective” or “minimally effective” had a significant positive impact on student achievement, equivalent to an additional one-third to two-thirds of a year of student learning in math and somewhat less in reading. When a high-performing teacher departs, student scores tend to drop slightly.
Emma Brown writes
Jason Kamras, chief of human capital for D.C. Public Schools, said the findings are exciting because they are the first independent evidence “that our districtwide effort to increase teacher quality has led to big increases in student learning” when weak teachers leave.
In a forum on getting more high-performing teachers into schools that need them most, Eric Hanushek and Kati Haycock discuss the need for teacher evaluation systems that allow districts to identify and replace teachers who are not effective in the classroom.
– Education Next
