Beginning educators who participate in teaching residency programs (TRPs) are more likely to remain in the same school district than teachers trained through other programs, according to research from the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
A new report from ED’s National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) examines the retention rates of new teachers enrolled in TRPs funded through ED’s Teacher Quality Partnership grants. Teachers trained through TRPs pursue graduate-level course work while completing supervised year-long fieldwork experiences in high-need districts where the prospective teachers will work after graduation. Teaching residents work under experienced full-time classroom teachers during their field placements and receive additional on-the-job induction support during their first two years as certified classroom teachers.
NCEE tracked 377 TRP teachers and a comparison group of 376 non-TRP beginning educators who all were first- or second-year teachers during School Year (SY) 2011–12. By fall 2013, 82 percent of TRP teachers remained in the same school district, compared to 72 percent of other novice teachers, according to the report New Findings on the Retention of Novice Teachers from Teaching Residency Programs.
The major anomalies in this report’s data were centered around racial compositions and breakdowns in the cohorts as well as teachers who taught in high-needs schools. The report states, “Since racial/ethnic composition, student performance, and lower family income are all factors associated with high need in schools, we are left to conclude that whether mobile TRP teachers moved to schools that were more or less needy depends on how one chooses to measure need.“
Only 17 percent of new teachers nationally leave the profession within five years—a much lower attrition rate than previously believed. Nonetheless, more than half a million teachers across all experience levels still changed schools or left the profession during the 2012–13 school year, the most recent year for which data is available. Teacher turnover costs the nation as much as $2.2 billion in recruitment and replacement costs each year as well as losses of institutional knowledge and stability in the teacher workforce, particularly in schools serving students with the highest needs.
Whether TRPs impact new teacher retention directly is not clear from the NCEE study. But as an Alliance report notes, research shows a positive effect on retention among new teachers who experience comprehensive induction programs. Furthermore, programs that provide novice educators with multiple supports, including high-quality mentoring, common planning time with other teachers, intense professional development, and support from school leaders, show the greatest impact.
To read the full NCEE report, see New Findings on the Retention of Novice Teachers from Teaching Residency Programs
