Disparities in Access to Well-Qualified, Well-Supported Special Educators Across Higher- Versus Lower-Poverty Schools Over Time

Scholars have documented long-standing disparities in access to well-qualified, well-supported teachers, including disparities in access to special education teachers (SETs), based on student socioeconomic status. In response, policy initiatives have aimed to incentivize teaching in higher-poverty schools. Thus, we examined changes over time in disparities between SETs’ demands and resources (including internal resources, such as qualifications, and school-based resources, such as adequate materials), using multiple waves of the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey. We found that, by one metric, disparities in certification have closed since 2000. However, SETs in higher poverty schools are significantly more likely to work in self-contained settings than those in lower-poverty schools, and disparities in school-based resources continue to be significant, such that SETs in higher-poverty schools were significantly more likely to teach in self-contained classes, rated teacher cooperation significantly lower, and reported having significantly weaker access to material resources.

Principal Effects on Academic Progress Over Time and the Potential Effects of School Context and Principal Leadership Practices

We used interrupted time series to examine the causal effect of principals on school performance over time and whether the trajectory of performance is affected by school context and leadership practices. Results were based on a unique dataset that links responses from the National Schools and Staffing Survey with 10 years of California Academic Performance Index (API) data. These data and methods address a need identified in the literature to examine the effects of principals with more rigorous research designs. Results indicated that improved academic performance does not occur immediately but accrues over time. We estimated both the first-year impact of a principal and the subsequent impact over time. The effect size increased from 0.04 in the first year to 0.21 by year three. Exploratory analyses showed that school context and leadership practices account for a substantial portion of the variation in progress among schools: 25% and 40%, for context and practices, respectively. Although the Schools and Staffing Survey afforded an opportunity to examine teacher and principal responses to academic performance over time, continued study is warranted to systematically and more concretely identify specific leadership practices that impact academic progress over time.

Changing the Composition of Beginning Teachers: The Role of State Alternative Certification Policies

Drawing on nationally representative data from six cohorts of beginning teachers from the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, this study applies a difference-in-differences research design to examine the relationship between changes to state-level alternative certification policies and the characteristics of new teachers. The introduction of alternate routes into teaching is associated with an increase in the fraction of new teachers of color in a state and the new teachers who graduated from selective colleges. No evidence was found of a relationship with the relative share of male teachers or teachers of in-demand subjects.

Leadership Preparation and the Career Paths of Black Principals

Leadership training and administrative experience are key components of sponsored mobility as the candidate’s participation in district- or school-sponsored training for aspiring school principals combined with the opportunity to avail of administrative experiences effectively constitute a pipeline to the principalship. The literature reveals that principals are the primary sponsor of teachers entering into the principalship pipeline. We conceptualize two of the above key areas (leadership training & administrative experience) as components of contest mobility and the other two (participation & opportunity) as components of sponsored mobility. Contest mobility encompasses academic credentialing and management experience and assumes every candidate has an equal chance and the same opportunity as any other candidate to contest for a school leadership position. These actions are not sponsored by the candidate’s district or school. In contrast, sponsored mobility encompasses the informal process used to facilitate transition to leadership for some teachers, but not for others. We use restricted data from the 2011 to 2012 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) to discern whether there were differences between Black and White principals’ exogenous contest mobility and endogenous sponsored mobility prior to the attainment of their principalships.

Relationships between teacher influence in managerial and instruction-related decision-making, job satisfaction, and professional commitment: A multivariate multilevel model

Research shows teacher influence in school decision-making is related to improving individual job satisfaction and professional commitment. However, few empirical studies investigate how different domains of school decision-making may have a distinct relationship with both individual teacher job satisfaction and professional commitment. Using the Schools and Staffing Survey 2011–2012 and the National Teacher and Principal Survey 2015–2016 which are national samples of U.S. primary and secondary schools, this study examines teacher influence in managerial and instruction domains of school decision-making and whether both are associated with job satisfaction and professional commitment. Results showed that teacher influence in the instruction domain has a statistically stronger relationship with teacher professional commitment than job satisfaction. In contrast, teacher influence in the managerial domain of school decision-making has a statistically stronger relationship with teacher job satisfaction than professional commitment. The results have policy implications for involving teachers in school decision-making and improving their overall job satisfaction.

Three-Level Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analyses of the Relationship Between Political Culture and Teacher Autonomy

Research suggests that the limits of teacher autonomy are defined by educational policies. Educational policies, however, are driven by political culture. This study examines the relationship between teacher autonomy and political culture and how this relationship varies with teacher and school characteristics. Using the 2011–2012 Schools and Staffing Survey, the three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis demonstrates that political culture was significantly associated with teacher autonomy. According to Elazar’s three-part cultural typology, the moralistic culture is associated with a higher level of teacher autonomy, the traditionalistic culture is associated with lower levels of teacher autonomy, and the individualistic culture is in-between. Also, the more traditionalistic the culture, the stronger the association between positive school climate and teacher autonomy. As teacher autonomy relates positively to teacher job satisfaction and retention, this study suggests that policy makers consider a moralistic approach in creating educational policies.

Associations Between Teacher–Student Racial/Ethnic Congruence and Public School Teachers’ Risk for Stress

Using national data from the National Center for Education Statistics 2011–2012 Schools and Staffing Survey and Common Core of Data, we examined the relationship between K–12 practitioners’ risk for stress and the teacher-to-student racial/ethnic congruence. Analyses indicated significant variation in risk for stress by school racial composition and suggested that the likelihood of being categorized as most at-risk for stress is associated with the teacher-to-student racial/ethnic congruence. Findings point to substantial differences in how teachers appraise their environments depending on school context, which has implications for how education stakeholders recruit and prepare classroom practitioners.

Strategies for Recruitment and Retention of Secondary Teachers in Central U.S. Rural Schools

This study sought to identify differences in strategies used for teacher recruitment and retention by successful and non-successful rural high schools. According to data from the 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), small towns and rural areas in the central U.S. states did have relatively more difficuly in recruiting teachers than did larger communities. However, when the successful and unsuccessful school districts were compared on the strategies and benefits included in the SASS, the only difference was with signing bonuses, which were offered significantly more often in the unsuccessful group than the successful group. The researchers also interviewed seven principals identified as successful by their state agencies. Their responses revealed minimal reliance on the strategies addressed in the SASS. however, there was some alignment between many of the strategies they did use and the three approaches investigated in previous research: grow-your-own, using federal funding opportunities, and using targeted incentives.

Estimating Teacher Attrition for Impact Study Design

The goal of this article is to provide guidance on teacher attrition rates that can inform power analyses. The subjects were a nationally representative sample of teachers responding to the National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher Follow-Up Survey (2011–2013). The findings indicate that at the national average of percent free and reduced-price lunch (FRL), approximately one in six teachers move schools or leave the profession between adjacent academic years. The odds of this type of attrition happening increase by approximately 0.8% for each 1% FRL difference (increase) of a planned study context from the national average.

Workplace Support and Diversity in the Market for Public School Teachers

Mentoring, and to a greater extent support from high-level administrators, has been shown to decrease worker turnover in general, but little is known about its differential impact on minority workers. Utilizing four waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey, we find that administrative support is most strongly associated with retention for minority teachers working in schools where minorities are underrepresented. This effect is pronounced for teachers new to the profession and those in schools with more students from low-income families or located in rural areas. The results indicate that workplace support is essential in maintaining or growing minority representation in relatively less-diverse organizations.