How to Make the Coming Teacher Layoffs Hurt Schools and Students Less

Teacher layoffs and even the threat of layoffs can depress student-test scores in several ways. A team led by Michigan State University scholar Katharine Strunk studied teachers who were threatened with RIF notices, though ultimately, the notices were rescinded or the teachers were rehired. Strunk and her team found that those teachers often became less effective after they got the notices as measured by their contributions to gains in student-test scores. The researchers attributed the change to the teachers’ greater stress and their reduced commitment to jobs that might be taken away.

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