NCTQ recently took a closer look at the teacher turnover data in a report titled NCTQ Clears Up Latest “Crisis” in Teaching: An Accurate Look at Teacher Turnover Data. Some are claiming that teacher turnover is the latest crisis affecting the “national” teacher shortage, but NCTQ researchers find that some often repeated statistics are wrong and are contributing solutions that undermine the work that should be done to improve teacher quality and address specific shortage areas and the underlying conditions that affect them.
The report’s data support the following conclusions:
Schools are hiring lots of teachers.
Turnover rates appear to be about the same as other professions, about 16%.
Half of those who “leave” are not actually leaving teaching but are switching schools.
There is little evidence that teachers are leaving because they are dissatisfied.
For more, see: http://www.nctq.org/dmsView/Teacher_Turnover_Fact_Sheet_Release
