impact of teacher retention on student achievement in high school mathematics

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher retention and student achievement as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) Math Developmental Scale Scores (DSS). This study examined the impact of teacher transience on high school student math scores over a three-year period and considered the effect of teacher years of experience in relation to transience and achievement. For the purposes of this study teachers were identified into the following four classifications: Stayers, Within District Movers, Cross District Movers, or Beginning teachers. The findings indicated that students of beginning teachers scored significantly lower on the ninth grade math test than students of teachers in the other three classifications. At the 10th grade level there was no significant difference among the teacher transience groups. Based upon the findings, the following conclusion resulted from the study. Since an analysis of the data indicated that teacher retention is likely to improve ninth grade student score gains on the FCAT Math assessment, it is recommended that High School administrators carefully review the teaching assignments of ninth grade math teachers, especially in this era of high stakes testing and accountability.