Public pension systems in many U.S. states face large funding short-falls, and policymakers have considered moving toward defined contribution (DC) pension structures in the interest of reducing the likelihood of future shortfalls. Concerns exist, however, that such changes might increase levels of employee turnover. The empirical evidence on the…

Many argue that public school systems should stop linking teachers' salaries so closely to their years of experience. However, the effect of deferred retirement compensation on the premium paid to experienced teachers has, to date, been underappreciated. To shed more light on this issue, we calculate the total compensation earned by teachers in…

This article examines the dynamic between educational leadership in terms of school administration and social studies education pedagogy. The article examines the tension between the mandate for school principals in an age of increased school accountability, and the essence and delivery of social studies pedagogy. The data compiled examine the…

Most public school teachers in the United States are enrolled in defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Using administrative microdata from four states, combined with national pension funding data, we show these plans have accumulated substantial unfunded liabilities--effectively debt--owing to previous plan operations. On average across 49 state…

Most public school teachers in the United States are enrolled in defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Using administrative microdata from four states, combined with national pension funding data, we show these plans have accumulated substantial unfunded liabilities--effectively debt--owing to previous plan operations. On average across 49 state…

Rising attrition rates and the shortage of highly qualified special education teachers have a negative impact on students and school districts. This study explores the open-ended questions that were part of a larger mixed-method analysis to uncover the voices of current special education teachers (n = 366) from across the United States. Using…

The authors describe a project that compared the effects of three interventions on the retirement investment knowledge of public school teachers in the Midwest. They interpret outcomes from three different interventions (online training, site-based workshop, and hybrid of online and site-based). While the study results indicate that program…

From funding to teacher quality, inequities exist between school districts. This paper adds to the literature on inequities by examining the impact of pension plan formulas on pension benefits. Using data from the salary schedules of 464 Missouri school districts, this paper analyzes how various final average salary calculations would impact the…

This descriptive survey research utilized a content-validated questionnaire to determine the perceived impact of the implementations of a K to 12 education system in the Philippines. It also determined how teachers plan to manage the possible threats of the new K to 12 education system to their tenure and financial stability. For this study, 77…

During the late 1990s public pension funds across the United States accrued large actuarial surpluses. The seemingly flush conditions of the pension funds led legislators in most states to substantially improve retirement benefits for public workers, including teachers. In this study we examine the benefit enhancements to the teacher pension…

Traditional defined benefit (DB) pension systems in many states face large funding shortfalls. Movement toward defined contribution (DC) pension structures may reduce the likelihood of future shortfalls, but there is concern that such reforms may have the undesirable effect of increasing employee turnover. In studying patterns of employee turnover…

Rising costs of public employee pension plans are a source of fiscal stress in many cities and states and have led to calls for reform. To assess the economic consequences of plan changes it is important to have reliable statistical models of employee retirement behavior. The authors estimate a structural model of teacher retirement using…

Several studies have argued that teacher pensions are a raw deal for most teachers and should be replaced with account-style plans. This report examines research that most teachers working today are building a secure retirement. According to the author, the myth that most teachers get a raw deal while a lucky few receive generous pensions is based…

Leaders across the state of Minnesota and nation proclaim to want to diversify the educator workforce. However, the reality nationwide is that less than 20% of teachers who teach a student population that is at least 51% students of color are teachers of color (Ingersoll et al., 2018). What follows are a number of research briefs organized around…

With the elimination of mandatory retirement, the average age of college and university faculty members has increased. While this has raised some concerns, relatively little research has tried to measure the impact of this aging on productivity inside the classroom. Using data from the RateMyProfessors.com website for a large sample of instructors…