Statements from Education Leaders in Support of NCTAF's Cost of Teacher Turnover Study

Ellen Alberding, President

The Joyce Foundation

The costs of turnover are high, both financially for districts and academically for children. But we can turn this around by investing in proven programs that support and mentor new teachers to help them stay on the job and become good teachers.  We hope this analysis encourages policy makers at the federal, state and district levels to invest in such programs, especially for teachers in our most challenging schools.

Arne Duncan, Superintendent

Chicago Public Schools

NCTAF’s report on the cost of teacher turnover provides valuable information that will help schools and districts explore their costs locally. Over the years, high teacher turnover has cost the Chicago Public Schools in both resources and student achievement -- the district’s support of new teachers has historically been weak and uneven.  We at CPS are committed to changing this by implementing an intensive two-year induction program for all new teachers in the district.  A pilot program implemented in several CPS schools has already resulted in improved teacher retention at those schools.  The Chicago Public Schools has committed two million dollars from next year’s budget to begin scaling up the induction program, with the important goal of developing and retaining high quality teachers for all of our students.

 Tom Williams, Superintendent

Granville County Public Schools, North Carolina

 This study allowed us to see the linkage between various factors influencing the turnover rate and with this knowledge we are better positioned to address those factors within our control that most impact teacher retention.  This study will help us to continue improving processes that support our most important school resources, our teachers and principals. 

Dave Bennett, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources and Operations

Granville County Public Schools, North Carolina

Being involved in this action research to examine the total cost of teacher turnover has been a valuable learning experience for our school system.  Through the NCTAF study, we identified the comprehensive cost factors associated with replacing a single teacher in our system.  This study allowed us to create a business process where this can be updated on a regular basis to keep these cost factors in the forefront as part of our efforts to increase our retention rate.

Bob Wise, former Governor of West Virginia, President

Alliance for Excellent Education

This study sheds much needed light on the cost of teacher turnover, and it draws much needed attention to what we can do to reverse the alarming trend of high teacher turnover.  For improving teaching this study shows the way; now is the time for policymakers to show the will.

Karen Hawley-Miles

Education Resource Strategies

Our research on high-performing schools suggests there is a healthy threshold of turnover in teaching that ensures only the most effective teachers remain in the classroom.  The NCTAF study makes a compelling case for districts to invest in strong induction programs that support all teachers in serving students well and continuing to grow professionally while they are novices.  Exemplary induction programs will also provide school leaders with powerful insight into which teachers they want to keep in teaching and which individuals might not be best suited for the classroom.  To ensure that their investment in teacher induction and mentoring sufficiently supports those teachers they most want to remain in teaching, districts must also invest to create integrated data systems that can track teacher performance and the characteristics of teachers who are leaving the profession.  The NCTAF study helps identify where districts might find these resources. 

Eric Hanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow

Hoover Institution of Stanford University

This report highlights one of the most pressing issues facing urban schools, namely the instability of the teacher workforce in the most disadvantaged schools.  This instability leads to direct costs, as pointed out by this report, and to indirect costs in terms of high rates of new teachers teaching in the most challenging situation.  We must address these problems head-on.

Chad Wick, President and CEO

KnowledgeWorks Foundation

Globalization, shifting demographics, changing work preferences and increased expectations for learners at all levels are forming a tsunami of change in our society and public schools.  As we transition from an industrial to knowledge era, we face many critical questions. How will we rise to the challenge of attracting more of the very best teachers to public education? How might we support their ongoing professional growth and engagement? How can we more effectively retain teachers in the field for longer periods?  This report makes it clear we must address these questions if we genuinely care about providing a high quality education for all children.

Joseph A. Aguerrebere, President and CEO

 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) commends the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future on its report, “The High Cost of Teacher Turnover.” This report notes that the most important action our nation can take is investing in the teaching profession in fulfilling its mission to increase teacher retention and improve student achievement. … Research shows that National Board Certified Teachers® help raise the quality of teaching and learning, particularly for minority children. Research also documents that National Board Certified Teachers intend to remain in teaching longer than the general teacher population and are frequently involved in their schools—as mentors and coaches to new and struggling teachers, in curricular decisions, and in organizing professional development opportunities for colleagues. (To read the full statement, click here.)

Arthur E. Wise, President

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) has brought the nation's attention to one of the key factors that can increase teacher quality, and it is teacher retention. The report highlights the abysmal state of teacher attrition in some of our cities (70 percent over six years in Philadelphia), where new teachers go through a revolving door each year. The report says to policymakers: increasing supply is not the answer, as long as teachers do not stay on the job once they get there. ….The nation needs to get serious about making a front-end investment in teacher quality for teachers in all of our nation's schools; we would quickly experience dramatically increased retention rates. In its 2003 report, No Dream Denied, NCTAF reported that high quality teacher preparation reduces beginning teacher attrition by 50 percent. Ensuring that teachers are prepared before they become teachers of record is an important policy to be pursued. (To read the full statement, click here.)

Reg Weaver, President

National Education Association

The National Education Association applauds the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future for once again taking the lead in advancing the cause of teacher quality. The High Cost of Teacher Turnover paints a clear and compelling picture of the financial burden facing too many of our schools. This report provides important evidence that supports what NEA members know and have long advocated: that a talented, prepared, respected, and stable teacher workforce is essential for ensuring a great public school for every student. A revolving door teaching profession is not good for teachers, schools, or communities, and is certainly not good for students. We urge policymakers to pay attention to the report’s clear evidence that “Low performing schools pay the highest price” for high teacher turnover. The financial implications are staggering. More important, the implications for America’s poorest public schools and the children they serve are disastrous and should be considered a national disgrace.  (To read the full statement, click here.)

Wendy D. Puriefoy, President and CEO

Public Education Network (PEN)

Public Education Network applauds NCTAF’s seminal work in calculating the financial and student achievement costs of teacher turnover in some of the nation’s largest school districts. High teacher turnover is a very serious problem plaguing far too many of our schools.  School districts with large numbers of economically vulnerable children, including many studied by NCTAF, suffer the most when quality teachers leave too soon or cannot be recruited in the first place. …We share NCTAF’s hope that school leaders will use this new information on teacher turnover costs to make better, more coherent human resource investments in teachers because they are central to quality public education.  And every child in America deserves a quality public education. (To read the full statement, click here.)

 Fred Frelow, Director of Early College Initiative

 Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation

Once again NCTAF has presented a powerful case that the nation’s teacher dropout rate is spiraling out of control.  $7 billion could do a lot of good in improving schooling for students who are working hard to get ready for college and the workforce. If we have learned anything over the last few years, what schools measure matters.  And the evidence presented here emphatically underscores that teacher turnover matters and, thus school districts should regularly cost out teacher turnover to ensure that this problem doesn’t disappear from the public eye.  It is true that school leaders can’t manage what they don’t measure.  NCTAF is calling on national, state, and local policymakers to make the elimination of this problem a national priority.  Assisting school districts in creating a system to track and cost out teacher turnover is an essential first step. I hope and pray our leaders embrace this call to action.