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
