1. T H E S TA G G E R I N G C O S T O F
TEACHER ATTRITIONHow Professional Development Can Improve Teacher Retention
THE LOSS
THE COST
“TOO LITTLE SUPPORT” IS A KEY REASON TEACHERS LEAVE8
HOW DO WE CURB THIS STAGGERING RATE OF ATTRITION?
Online professional development is as effective13
as traditional,
face-to-face methods, more economical, and scalable to
specific needs and any sized district.
SAVES MONEY
Nostipends or
travel expenses
More efficient use
of dollars
SAVES TIME
Minimizes time
out of the classroom
Notravel required
Training can take
place anytime
IMPROVES OUTCOMES
PERSONALIZED AND
SELF-PACED LEARNING
MEANS:
60% faster learning14
25–60% increased
retention of material15
FIND OUT WHERE TO START
Rise in annual attrition rates for
first-year teachers since 19881
13%
(442,000) of the nation’s
3.4 million teachers move
to another school or leave
the profession each year2
33%
of America’s
new teachers
leave after just
3 years3
40%–50%
of all new teachers
quit within 5 years1
$7 BILLION
The estimated national cost of public
school teacher turnover, including the
revolving costs to recruit, hire, and train4
STUDENT
PERFORMANCE
JUST 3 YEARS of comprehensive
induction support can significantly
improve student test scores5
STUDENT SUCCESS
Spending just one year taught by a LESS
EFFECTIVE TEACHER costs students
$50,000in lifetime earnings6
compared to students
with average teachers
Students who attend schools where
more than 1/5 of teachers are underprepared
have significantly lower graduation rates7
SEMESTER
OF STUDENT-TEACHING
is the only classroom experience
most beginning teachers receive9
Teachers need
an estimated
3–7 YEARS
IN THE FIELD
to become highly skilled10
Systemic changes, such as sanctioned time
for targeted professional development
activities, are an effective way to nurture and develop
teaching professionals
Comprehensive approaches to
teacher induction can reduce teacher
turnover by more than 50%11
and
improve student achievement12
YEAR 1 2 3 4 5
34%
$7B Y1 Y2
Y3
1
C H I E VA E
$
1. Ingersoll, R. M., Merrill, L., Stuckey, D. (2014). Seven Trends: The Transformation of the Teaching Force. CPRE Research
Reports. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/cpre_researchreports/79
2. Keigher, A. (2010). Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results From the 2008–09 Teacher Follow-up Survey (NCES 2010-353).
U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010353.pdf
3. Ingersoll, R. M.; “The Teacher Shortage: A Case of Wrong Diagnosis and Wrong Prescription” NASSP Bulletin 86 (June
2002), pp.16–31, cited in National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (2003) No Dream Denied: A Pledge to
America’s Children. Retrieved from http://nctaf.org/wp-content/uploads/no-dream-denied_full-report.pdf
4. National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (2007) Policy Brief: The High Cost of Teacher Turnover. Retrieved
from http://nctaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/NCTAF-Cost-of-Teacher-Turnover-2007-policy-brief.pdf
5. Glazerman, S., Isenberg, E., Dolfin, S., Bleeker, M., Johnson, A., Grider, M., Jacobus, M. (2010). Impacts of Comprehensive
Teacher Induction: Final Results From a Randomized Controlled Study (NCEE 2010-4027). Washington, DC: National Center
for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved
from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104027/
6. Chetty, R., Friedman, J., Rockoff, J. 2014. “Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Out-
comes in Adulthood.” American Economic Review, 104(9): 2633-79.
7. Silver, D., Saunders, M., Zarate, E. (2008) What Factors Predict High School Graduation in the Los Angeles Unified School
District. Retrieved from http://www.hewlett.org/uploads/files/WhatFactorsPredict.pdf
8. Marinell, W. H.; Coca, V. M. with the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, “Who Stays and Who Leaves: Findings from
a Three-Part Study of Teacher Turnover in New York City Public Schools,” Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human
Development, New York University, March 2013, cited in Headden, S., “Beginners in the Classroom: What the Changing Demo-
graphics of Teaching Mean for Schools, Students, and Society,” Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2014.
Retrieved from http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/beginners_in_classroom.pdf
9. Alliance for Excellent Education. (2014). On the Path to Equity: Improving the Effectiveness of Beginning Teachers.
Retrieved from http://all4ed.org/reports-factsheets/path-to-equity/
10. Alliance for Excellent Education, Tapping the Potential; F. Huang, “Is Experience the Best Teacher?: A Multilevel Analysis
of Teacher Qualifications and Academic Achievement in Low Performing Schools,” paper presented at the 2009 annual
meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA, April 13–17, 2009; D. Berliner, “A Personal
Response to Those Who Bash Teacher Education,” Journal of Teacher Education 51, no. 5 (November/December 2000).
11. Ingersoll, R. M., Smith, T. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover?,
American Education Research Journal, 41, 705. doi: 10.3102/00028312041003681
12. Grissmer, D., Kirby, S. (1997). Teacher turnover and teacher quality. Teachers College Record, 99, 45-56. Cited in Barnes,
Gary; Crowe, Edward; Schaefer, Benjamin. National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
The Cost of Teacher Turnover in Five School Districts: Executive Summary. Retrieved from http://nctaf.org/wp-content/
uploads/2012/01/NCTAF-Cost-of-Teacher-Turnover-2007-full-report.pdf
13. Fishman, B., Konstantopoulos, S., Kubitskey, B. W., Vath, R., Park, G., Johnson,H., and Edelson, D. C. (2013). Comparing
the impact of online and face-to-face professional development in the context of curriculum implementation. Journal of
Teacher Education. doi: 10.1177/0022487113494413
14. WR Hambrecht + Co, Corporate e-Learning: Exploring a New Frontier (2000), 6.
15. The Research Institute of America cited in WR Hambrecht + Co, Corporate e-Learning: Exploring a New Frontier (2000), 6.
www.wiley.com/go/teachertraining
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