Best and worst NYC teachers leave at same rate

Study following educators found 11% of top teachers — based on student test scores — left jobs while 12% of weakest ones did also

THE CITY is keeping its best and worst teachers in nearly identical numbers, a new report released Monday has found.
The nonprofit The New Teacher Project noted that 89% of “the irreplaceables” — the city’s top teachers — stayed on, while 88% of the weakest teachers did, too.

The group used the controversial standardized-test-score-based ratings to determine that 18% of city teachers were “high-performing” and 16% were “low-performing” and suggested schools could take simple steps to discourage poor teachers from staying, such as informing them of their weak performance.

Top teachers should be encouraged by regular feedback from principals, and by being offered more responsibility, the report urged.
Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott noted the report echoed some of the city’s key priorities while slamming the teachers union for standing in the way of one of its recommendations — to award higher pay to high-quality teachers.

“That’s exactly why we have offered to add a $20,000 annual stipend to the salaries of teachers who are rated highly effective for two consecutive years,” they said in a joint statement.

Teachers union President Michael Mulgrew took issue with the mayor and with the report’s methods for determining teachers’ performance — based on only one year of the controversial and sometimes inaccurate ratings.

“It’s a shame that the mayor, who thinks merit pay is the solution to every problem, has chosen to ignore one of this report’s central findings — that ‘poor school cultures and working conditions drive away great teachers,’ ” Mulgrew said.