Teacher Stability and Turnover

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In a new PACE Working Paper, Teacher Stability and Turnover in Los Angeles: The Influence of Teacher and School Characteristics, Xiaoxia A. Newton, Rosario Rivero, Bruce Fuller, and Luke Dauter, University of California, Berkeley, investigate the effects of teacher characteristics and school context on the timing of teachers’ decisions to exit schools where they teach. The two-level discrete-time survival analysis framework allows for simultaneous examinations of who exits, when, and under what conditions. Their results for a large sample of teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, observed from 2002-03 to 2008-09, affirm the importance of school context, such as type of school (e.g., charter) and school organizational characteristics (e.g., teacher-students racial match) above and beyond individual teacher characteristics and qualifications. In addition, differences in the relationship between some factors and teacher turnover are observed between elementary and secondary teachers.

Reviewing the study posted immediately before this on, as well as this one the LA Times concluded:

Many charter middle and high schools in Los Angeles have high teacher turnover, with nearly 50% of educators leaving each year, a University of California, Berkeley study shows. The rate -- nearly three times that in other L.A. public schools -- is in contrast to that of students, who are more likely to remain at the charters than at traditional schools, the study shows.