Most U.S. public school teachers participate in defined benefit retirement plans, which base benefits on years of service and their last few years of salary. These plans are often backloaded and include sharp economic incentives. We consider the implications of transitioning to a cost-equivalent defined benefit plan under which teachers would earn…

At first glance, the recent teacher-retirement reforms in Ohio seem to bring good fiscal news to school systems in the Buckeye State. With Senate Bills 341 and 342--and a series of cutbacks on retiree healthcare--the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is projected to spend less on retirement costs in 2020 than it does today. But these reforms…

Purpose: This paper draws on data from a research project that examined the professional relationships that existed between teachers of different generations within an educational setting, including both those inside and outside school. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted to better understand participants'…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) have created opportunities, within schools, as a means to work together to share professional inquiry and further explore various strategies to increase student achievement. Previous research on PLCs mostly focused on ways school staff and faculty engaged on topics of student performance and student…

Pensions are a promise made today of benefits to be received tomorrow. They reward employees, including public school teachers, who remain working in a system for extended periods, often for their entire careers. And they impose large costs on those who leave before reaching retirement eligibility--all in the hopes of encouraging them to stay.…

This holistic single-case study design grounded by Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence explores the perspectives of renowned emeriti engineering faculty on the future of the engineering professoriate and the factors that can lead to a successful professional trajectory for early-career, tenure-track engineering faculty. The emeriti…

After many years of labor peace, public school teachers have engaged in strikes and work stoppages in record numbers during the past two years. Chief among the demands of striking teachers was higher pay. Discontent was also expressed with working conditions, which teachers and their unions connected to flat or declining state spending on…

Higher education institutions are seeking to ease faculty retirement transitions and to identify ways in which retiring faculty can continue to make contributions in retirement. The University of Southern California and Clemson University, among others across the United States, have established emeritus colleges and retiree centers to offer…

The "purpose" of this study was to understand the perspectives of recently retired principals who were mentors to new school leaders in a high-need urban school district. Mentors reflected on the mentoring needs and challenges faced by new school leaders while also reflecting on their own careers as school principals. This study was…

Teacher turnover occurs during and at the end of the school year, although documentation of within-year turnover currently rests on anecdotal evidence. On average, over 4.6% of teachers turn over during the school year, which amounts to 25% of total annual turnover. Teachers transfer within districts at higher rates at the beginning of the school…

After Ava McCall retired from university teaching in June, 2015, she spent the 2015-2016 school year volunteering in a fourth-grade classroom helping to teach Wisconsin history. Her volunteer work was similar to other retired teachers in the local school district who returned to mentor new teachers, volunteer in classrooms, and serve as substitute…

The issue of science teacher turnover has been examined in many national studies, yet most educational policies related to teacher preparation and student performance are determined at the state level. There has been a lack of research that explores this issue in specific science domains. The present nonexperimental longitudinal study examined…

Pension legacy costs can restrict the amount of resources available for current public education, potentially making it more difficult to attract and retain high-quality teachers. Oregon provides a useful case study in pension legacy costs because many school districts in the state are now reallocating General Fund expenditures to cover sizeable…

Like many professions, teaching is forever evolving. Due to several trends in the teaching force within the past forty years, the demographics of public school teachers have changed. Because many baby-boomers have reached retirement age, there has been an exodus of retiring teachers, which in turn has created a large number of open teaching…

Teacher shortages that most severely affect schools serving the least advantaged children have been part of the California education landscape for the last half decade. This brief describes how key teacher supply and demand factors vary across the state, and it provides potential policy solutions to mitigate ongoing shortages. The brief also…