Low-performing school districts in the southern region of the United States struggle to retain qualified teachers, leading to the hiring of inexperienced educators, resulting in lower student test scores. The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to investigate ways low performing public school districts can retain qualified and…

Many school districts in the United States are facing growing concerns regarding the shortage of qualified candidates for teaching positions. This problem has existed for some time, and its deleterious effects are exacerbated in school districts that have significant teacher turnover. School districts with higher teacher retention can mitigate…

Whether improved local economic conditions lead to better student outcomes is theoretically ambiguous and will depend on how schools use additional revenues and how students and teachers respond to rising private sector wages. The Texas boom in shale oil and gas drilling, with its large and localized effects on wages and the tax base, provides a…

Using data on charter and public school districts in Texas, we test the hypothesis that the labor practices in charter schools, in particular their ability to easily dismiss poorly performing teachers, diminishes the negative effect of teacher turnover on student achievement and graduation rates in comparison to public schools. We find some…

Improving public sector workforce quality is challenging in sectors such as education where worker productivity is difficult to assess and manager incentives are muted by political and bureaucratic constraints. In this paper, we study how providing improved information to principals about teacher effectiveness and encouraging them to use the…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that impact the job satisfaction and retention of teachers at a rural high school in South Carolina. An electronic survey was given to 22 teachers in order to collect information on job satisfaction and teacher retention. Several factors were identified that impact job satisfaction and teachers…

We use longitudinal data from North Carolina and Washington to study the extent to which four processes--teacher attrition from each state workforce, teacher mobility within districts, teacher mobility across districts, and teacher hiring--contribute to "teacher quality gaps" (TQGs) between advantaged and disadvantaged schools. We first…

Improving public sector workforce quality is challenging in sectors such as education where worker productivity is difficult to assess and manager incentives are muted by political and bureaucratic constraints. In this paper, we study how providing information to principals about teacher effectiveness and encouraging them to use the information in…

Teacher performance pay programs are theorized to improve student achievement by incentivizing teachers, but opponents counter that teachers are not motivated by money. We used regression discontinuity techniques and data on a census of the students, teachers, and schools in a large urban minority-majority school district to show receipt of a…

Although prior research has documented differences in the distribution of teacher characteristics across schools serving different student populations, few studies have examined the extent to which teacher sorting occurs within schools. This study uses data from one large urban school district and compares the class assignments of teachers who…

This report examines the patterns of placement of Teach for America (TFA) teachers and the achievement of the students they taught during the 2017-18 school year. The length of time current and former TFA teachers continue as employees of the District is also explored. TFA is an organization that recruits recent college graduates/professionals to…

This report examines the patterns of placement of Teach for America (TFA) teachers and the achievement of the students they taught during the 2018-19 school year. The length of time current and former TFA teachers continue as employees of the District is also explored. TFA is an organization that recruits recent college graduates/professionals to…

Houston Independent School District (HISD) prides itself on being a global district in a global city, and the district works tirelessly to ensure that it's students graduate ready for the world. With the help of community and business partners, as well as leaders from Houston's largest industries and institutes of higher education, HISD has…

The outcomes of a school improvement programme were measured in 26 primary schools over one year. Authorised pupil and staff absences and staff turnover decreased, and unauthorised pupil absences significantly increased ("p" < 0.05). Fixed-term exclusions significantly decreased ("p" < 0.001). The self-esteem of 316…

In 2011, a study by the Center for American Progress (CAP) found that the demographics of the teacher workforce had not kept up with student demographics and showed that students of color made up more than 40 percent of the school-age population. In contrast, teachers of color were only 17 percent of the teaching force. Since this time, the nation…