Source: Forbes
According to a new study published in the journal Economics of Education Review, teacher retention rates within socially and economically disadvantaged communities could be improved with even small boosts in funding.
The study found that offering $5,000 one-time bonuses to teachers in high-poverty schools in Tennessee resulted in 68 percent retention rates. This was significant because the turnover in high poverty schools is often high due to the stress and difficulty of teaching students who are facing many barriers in their lives.
Researchers also took into account how the retention rates impacted student test scores in reading and math, and ultimately found that there was significant improvement in reading scores for students of teachers who stayed an additional year.
“Priority schools that participated in the bonus program saw a significant improvement in reading test scores among students compared to similar non-participant schools in subsequent years, even after the retention bonus was removed,” according to researchers. Priority schools are schools there were identified as having the fewest number of students who ranked as proficient or advanced in various subjects.
Ultimately researchers suggested that providing even small $5,000 incentives to improve teacher retention rates in high priority schools proves to be important for students and the community. They also suggested that it could actually cost less to provide an incentive than to spend money on recruiting and training a new teacher every year.
Read Full Story: Forbes