Teacher Retention and Mobility: A Look Inside and Across Districts and Schools in Washington State
Abstract
"This report examines teacher retention and mobility in Washington's teaching force at state, district, and school levels during a recent five-year period (1998-99 and 2002-03). First, we provide data about overall retention patterns across the state. We then turn our attention to a more intensive look at 20 districts. The 20 districts selected represent the range of district size, poverty level and regions of the state, and include many of the largest districts. The 20 districts represent nearly 30 percent of the state's teaching force (14,286 classroom teachers) and over a quarter of the state's students (276,641 students). For these 20 districts, we present a school-by-school examination of teacher mobility, comparing patterns among districts and also looking inside districts. We examine retention and mobility in relation to student demographics, measures of student learning in reading and mathematics, and other school and district characteristics."
