The Workplace Matters: Teacher Quality, Retention, and Effectiveness. Working Paper

This report describes workplace conditions that support effective instruction and professional growth according to recent research. Key workplace conditions include: fair teaching assignments; opportunities for teachers to collaborate with colleagues; extra induction support, ongoing professional development, and expanded career opportunities; support for working with students, curricular support for high standards, adequate and safe facilities, and a supportive school leadership. The report emphasizes the influence of substandard workplace conditions on the high rates at which teachers--especially new teachers--leave their schools or quit the profession altogether. It suggests greater numbers of talented teachers can be retained through improvements in workplace conditions, particularly at hard-to-staff schools. A list of additional research resources is appended.