Quality and Turnover Rate as a Result of Support Gap

By: Shane Rooney

The support gap affects the quality of the teachers at the school, as well as the rate of turnover of new teachers.  Low-income schools generally hire teachers that are under qualified, and many teachers teach outside of their subject area.  “Teachers in such schools also, on average, score lower on various standardized tests, and have graduated from less competitive colleges (Lankford).” The turnover of teachers in low-income schools is significantly higher than the teachers in high-income schools. “Although some attrition is certainly desirable, chronic turnover such as that experienced by many low-income schools can disrupt children’s education, fragment a school’s instructional program, and waste substantial funds already invested in a teacher’s professional development (Guin).” Teachers who do leave low-income schools and stay in the profession of teaching generally leave to high-income schools where more support is received.  This increases the achievement gap as high-income schools get the more qualified, highly-skilled teachers as a result of poor support from low-income schools.

Works Cited

Guin, K. (2004). Chronic teacher turnover in urban
           elementary schools. Education Policy Analysis
           Archives, 12(42). Web. 25 Feb. 2011 

Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2002). Teacher
           sorting and the plight of urban schools: A
           descriptive analysis. Educational Evaluation and
          Policy Analysis, 24(1), 37-62. Web. 25 Feb. 2011