Keeping Good Teachers: Why It Matters, What Leaders Can Do

Author: Darling-Hammond, L.
Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
Publication Date: 2003, May
Journal: Educational Leadership
Journal Volume: 60(8)
Available for purchase online at: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/may03/vol60/num08/abstract.aspx#Keeping_Good_Teachers%40_Why_It_Matters%2c_What_Leaders_Can_Do

Abstract (written by Author/Publisher)

Keeping good teachers should be one of the most important agenda items for any school leader, writes the author. Substantial research shows that, among all school resources, excellent teachers have the largest impact on student learning. High attrition rates, especially during the first few years of teaching, impose heavy costs on schools, including the organizational costs of termination, substitutes, new training, and lost learning. Most important, high teacher turnover consigns students to "a continual parade of relatively ineffective teachers."

Darling-Hammond discusses four major factors that strongly influence teacher retention: salaries, working conditions, teacher preparation, and mentoring and induction programs. She asserts that a school's investments in these areas will pay for themselves when balanced against the costs of attrition.

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