I recently read three studies focused
on the topic of teacher quality that all shed light on a common theme: teacher
pre-service preparation combined with teacher in-service support together
influence teacher retention. To support teacher quality, districts must pay
attention to how their teachers are being trained and supported throughout
their careers.
You might say this is old news, but
many districts shy away from getting in the business of teacher preparation or
spending time making sure teachers have a supportive context throughout their
careers.
The studies I read each touched on
three important elements of teacher quality: preparation, retention, and
influence on student achievement. Here are short summaries of the relevant
findings from each study.
Marilyn Cochran-Smith and colleagues[i]
described their qualitative study of teachers attending the same teacher
education program at a highly selective post-secondary institution.
Cochran-Smith’s team posits five configurations of early career decisions
coupled with quality of teaching practice:
1) Strong teaching,
remained in same school;
2) Strong teaching,
moved schools;
3) Moderate teaching,
moved schools;
4) Weak teaching,
remained in teaching profession;
5) Weak teaching, left
teaching;
6) Preparing to teach,
but never teaching.
Of their set of findings, what I find
most interesting is first, the authors’ association between high-need,
hard-to-staff subject areas and teacher evaluation and career pathways.
Cochran-Smith argue that strong subject matter knowledge alone is not enough to
produce strong teaching practice or enable teachers to stay at the same school
or in teaching. Second, Cochran-Smith also suggests that school contexts
dramatically shape teaching practice and teacher career decisions. For early career teachers to succeed
and stay in their schools, Cochran-Smith and colleagues argue teachers need
opportunities for on-going, job embedded professional development provided by
their school and school districts.
Boyd and colleagues[ii]
described their mixed methods study of math teachers in New York City,
comparing math teachers from different preparation pathways such as Teach for
America (TFA), College Recommended, or NYDOE’s Teaching Fellows program that
also employed a Math Immersion pathway to increase the number of math teachers
in their program. The Math Immersion teachers have somewhat smaller gains in
mathematic achievement for middle school mathematics students than their
College Recommended peers (yet not a significant difference) and substantially
smaller gains than their TFA peers. While the Math Immersion teachers are more
likely to leave the teaching profession than their College Recommended peers,
they are substantially less likely to leave than their TFA peers. In fact, in this analysis, the authors
suggest that the advantage TFA teachers offer in gains is largely eliminated
once the much higher attrition rate is taken into account. Given the variation
within the pathway, the authors recommend that districts better understand the
effective recruitment and preparation for teachers in their districts and the
importance of monitoring and supporting teachers once in the classroom.
Moore-Johnson and colleagues[iii]
quantitative study of teacher working conditions, job satisfaction, and career
pathways for teachers throughout the state of Massachusetts found that teacher
working conditions mattered. Teachers are more satisfied and plan to stay
longer in schools that have a positive work context, independent of the student
demographic characteristics. The working conditions that mattered most were the
social conditions – the school’s culture, the principal’s leadership, the
relationships among colleagues and in general a supportive context. Favorable
conditions of work predict higher rates of student achievement growth. The
authors stressed the importance of schools having contexts that support
effective teaching and learning in order for public education to provide
effective teachers for all students.
[i]
Cochran-Amith, M., McQuillan, P., Mitchell, K., Terrell, D.G., Barnatt, J.,
D’Souza, L., Jong, C., Shakman, K., Lam, K., Gleeson, A.M. (October 2012). A
Longitudinal Study of Teaching Practie and Early Career Decisions: A Cautionary
Tale. American Educational Research Journal. Vo. 49., No. 5, pp. 844-880.
[ii] Boyd,
D., Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., Ronfeldt, M.,
Wyckoff, J. (December 2012). Recruiting Effective Math Teachers: Evidence From
New York City. American Educational Research Journal. Vol. 49, No. 6, pp.
1008-1047.
[iii]
Moore-Johnson, S.M., Kraft, M.A., Papay, J.P., (October 2012). How Context
Matters in high-Need Schools: The Effects of Teachers’ Working Conditions on
Their Professional Satisfaction and Their Students’ Achievement. Teachers
College Record. Volume 114.
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