Thread by @MatthewAKraft

[Thread] In honor of national teacher appreciation day, I’m going to review 18 (stylized) facts about the K-12 teaching profession in the United States that shape teacher effectiveness. Thank you teachers! @NEAToday @AFTunion

Here we go – from training to turnover. 1/

FACT #1) K-12 teachers constitute the second largest occupation in the U.S.

# of K-12 teachers ~ 3.8 million
# of lawyers & doctors combined ~ 2.4 million

The sheer size of the teacher labor market has major implications for teacher quality. 2/

nces.ed.gov/programs/diges…

FACT #2) Parents increasingly do not want their children to become teachers

For the first time ever a MAJORITY of parents report that they would not want their children to become a public school teacher. 3/

pdkpoll.org/results

@pdkintl @JoshuaPStarr

Fact #3) Teacher shortages are real, but not ubiquitous

Teacher supply varies considerably by subject area, location, & school chars. Lots of healthy debate, but just talk to urban HS principals about recruiting STEM teachers. 4/ @Thomas_S_Dee @NCTQ

hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/u…

Fact #4) We still have much work to do to improve educator training in the U.S.

There is little difference in the avg quality of graduates across preparation pathways (trad vs. alt) or programs. 5/ @CoryKoedel @EducationNext

mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.116…

educationnext.org/rating-teacher…

Fact #5) Student-teaching experiences matter a lot

The quality of student-teachers’ mentors & the context of their placements help shape s-t’s effectiveness & preferences for where they work. 6/ @CEDR_US @ShanyceCampbell

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

Fact #6) Paper credentials do very little to predict future teacher effectiveness

However, recent multi-measure screening approaches have shown some promise. 7/ @eric_s_taylor @BrianJacobProf

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.116…

Fact #7) Individual teachers have large effects on student achievement

. . . and effectiveness varies considerably across teachers - even within the same school. 8/

Lots of evidence here, e.g.
aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/01…

Fact #8) Individual teachers have equally large effects on students’ behavior & social-emotional development

9/ @KiraboJackson @david_blazar

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31…

jhr.uwpress.org/content/54/1/1…

econweb.umd.edu/~pope/Nolan_Po…

journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.10…

Fact #9) Individual teachers affect students’ long-term outcomes such as high school graduation, college going, and earnings

/10 @John_N_Friedman @OppInsights

ideas.repec.org/p/cep/cepdps/d…

aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…

Fact #10) Disadvantaged students are less likely to be taught by a qualified & effective teacher than their more-advantaged peers

This is true both across & within schools. /11 @SusannaLoeb @BeteilleTara @CEDR_US

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…

Fact #11) Teachers do not reflect the diversity of their students & this is a problem

💯 interactive graphics by @urbaninstitute /12

urban.org/features/diver…

@Dr_ConstanceL @SethGershenson @NWPapageorge @annaegalite @BrianKisida

nber.org/papers/w25254

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Fact #12) Teachers improve as they gain experience on-the-job.

These improvements are steepest early in the career and vary considerably
across individual teachers. 13/ @sunnyladd

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.116…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

Fact #13) Teacher coaching is emerging as one of the few forms of effective professional development

/14. @Teachstone @matthewhood @PepsMccrea @informed_edu

PD in general:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…

Teacher coaching:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

science.sciencemag.org/content/333/60…

Fact #14) Teacher churning (switching grades & subjects) is a real problem

Teachers are less effective when frequent reassignments prevent them from gaining subject & grade-specific skills w/ experience. /15 @AcmAtteberry

hamiltonproject.org/papers/organiz…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.31…

Fact #15) The majority of teachers are paid based only on their experience & credentials

Rigid teacher salary schedules used in most districts have huge consequences for who enters & stays in the profession. /16 @Stephen_Sawchuk @madeline_will @nctqkate

edweek.org/ew/issues/teac…

Fact #16) Teacher pay (in real dollars) has been in decline for decades

/ 17. @TIME @DrMikeHansen @BrookingsEd @EconomicPolicy @Sly21 @LarryMishel @SchlFinance101

brookings.edu/blog/brown-cen…

epi.org/publication/te…

drive.google.com/file/d/1BGXV3m…

time.com/longform/teach…

Fact #17) Teachers place a high value on working conditions

Teachers value salary, but b/c of fixed pay schedules, working conditions play an outsized role in their career decisions. /18 @JasonAGrissom

tcrecord.org/content.asp?co…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

tcrecord.org/content.asp?co…

Fact #18) Teacher turnover remains alarmingly high in urban school districts & most teacher turnover is disruptive to students & schools

Again, healthy debate here & effectiveness matters. /19 @abacherhicks @linzcpage @jhwyckoff

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.310…

To be clear, this is my own subjective selection of key stylized facts that excludes many important issues. I've focused on characterizing the teaching profession rather than reviewing potential policy levers to promote teacher effectiveness. Look out for that down the road. /20

I'd like to end by emphasizing how incredibly complex & important teachers' jobs are, & how grateful I am to all those who invest their fullest energy day in & day out in service to their students.

Thank you. #TeacherAppreciationDay [End]