Examining Model for Aiding New Teachers

Developed and managed by the New Teacher Center (NTC), the NTC Induction Model is a comprehensive and systemic approach to support beginning teachers (i.e., teachers new to the profession). The induction model aims to accelerate the effectiveness of beginning teachers at increasing student learning by providing one-on-one mentoring and professional development in a supportive school environment. The NTC works with school districts and state departments of education to design, develop, and implement induction programs that are aligned with both district priorities and NTC standards. In addition to the analysis of the teacher retention outcomes, the study examined impacts on (a) student reading achievement, (b) student math achievement, (c) teacher implementation of literacy lessons, (d) content of literacy lessons, (e) classroom culture, (f) teacher feelings of preparedness to instruct, (g) teacher feelings of preparedness to work with students, (h) teacher feelings of preparedness to work with other school staff, (i) teacher satisfaction with school, (j) teacher satisfaction with class, and (k) teacher satisfaction with teaching career.

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, & What Works Clearinghouse (2015). Teacher training, evaluation, and compensation intervention report: New Teacher Center induction model. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Docs/InterventionReports/wwc_ntc_070716.pdf

Great Principals Retain Great Teachers

A new study finds that effective principals are not only skilled at keeping high-performing teachers—they also strategically don't retain the low performers. This study investigates strategic retention behaviors with longitudinal data from Tennessee. Using multiple measures of teacher and principal effectiveness, the study finds that indeed more effective principals see lower rates of teacher turnover, on average. Moreover, this lower turnover is concentrated among high-performing teachers. In contrast, turnover rates of the lowest-performing teachers, as measured by classroom observation scores, increase substantially under higher-rated principals. This pattern is more apparent in advantaged schools and schools with stable leadership.

Key findings include:

·       Highly rated principals succeed at keeping high-performing teachers while moving out low performers.

·       Lower turnover is concentrated among teachers with higher scores on classroom observation measures and higher student test-performance growth scores (also known as value-added scores).

·       Notably, highly rated principals appear to focus on just one performance measure—teacher observation scores—to identify low-performing teachers to move out.

·       Effective principals likely use informal means, such as “counseling out,” to remove low-performing teachers, rather than relying on administrative procedures. These teachers typically exit teaching rather than move to another school in the same district.

Grissom, J. A., & Bartanen, B. (2018). Strategic retention: Principal effectiveness and teacher turnover in multiple-measure teacher evaluation systems. American Educational Research Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0002831218797931

Effectiveness of New Teachers

In this study of novice teachers in North Carolina public schools, the authors investigated the development of teachers' effectiveness during their first five years in the classroom and contrasted the effectiveness of teachers who stayed with that of those who left. Across grade levels, teachers' effectiveness increased significantly in their second year of teaching but flattened after three years. The teachers who left the profession were less effective, on average, than those who stayed at least five years, but this finding is somewhat less consistent than the findings of an initial jump in effectiveness and diminishing returns to on-the-job development.

Henry, G. T., Bastian, K. C., & Fortner, C. K. (2011). Stayers and leavers: Early-career teacher effectiveness and attrition. Educational Researcher, 40(6), 271-280. https://publicpolicy.unc.edu/files/2015/07/Stayers-and-Leavers-Early-Career-Teacher-Effectiveness-and-Attrition.pdf