It’s no secret that dismissing an ineffective teacher is exceedingly difficult. It’s why we recently recommended that states and districts take the tenure process seriously rather than rubber-stamping every eligible teacher for approval. So what happens when a state chooses to do just that and more?
This study examines the effects of changing teacher tenure policy in Louisiana. In 2012, Louisiana passed a law that made tenure contingent on how a teacher performed on the state’s teacher effectiveness measure, known as Compass. The law extended the time to tenure and made tenure status contingent upon Compass performance. For untenured teachers, as of the beginning of 2012–13 school year, tenure would be granted only after he or she received a highly-effective Compass rating for five out of six consecutive years. Further, tenure status is revoked if a teacher is rated ineffective once and that teacher has to regain tenure by receiving consecutive highly-effective ratings.
Analysts use teacher employment records—specifically, summer exits—from a period before the reform (2006–11) compared to teacher exits for two years after the reform (2012–13). The analysis attempts to control for other things that might be responsible for a change in exit rates, like an aging workforce or more challenging working conditions, and by comparing teachers with similar characteristics. But it is nonetheless very difficult to control for everything else that might also be occurring during the same period as the tenure reform.
There are four key findings. First, once the tenure reforms were adopted, the overall teacher exit rate for all traditional public school teachers increased by 1.5 percentage points; in raw numbers an estimated 1,500 to 1,700 left in the first two years after the tenure reform. Second, the effects were greatest for teachers who were eligible for retirement with immediate, full pension benefits (who tended to be the teachers with at least twenty-five years of experience). Third, the increase in teacher exits was highest in schools with the lowest standardized test scores. Schools with a letter grade of F on the state report card saw exits increase from 7.4 percent to 9.4 percent, while A rated schools saw no change. Fourth, exits for fourth-year teachers jumped 3.6 percentage points after the reform—this is the group that used to get granted tenure before the reform took place.
The study does not include teacher effectiveness data so we have no idea whether the least effective educators were most likely to exit. Whether this reform had a positive or negative impact on the quality of the workforce is a question that needs an answer. Unfortunately, this report doesn’t provide it.
SOURCE: Katharine O. Strunk et al., “When tenure ends: Teacher turnover in response to policy changes in Louisiana,” Education Research Alliance for New Orleans, Tulane University (February 2017).
