Aliyah McIlwain
EPIC, Michigan State University
Erica Harbatkin
EPIC, Michigan State University
A Policy Brief from EPIC
Human Capital in Michigan’s Partnership Schools and Other Low-Performing Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic
November 2021
Prior to the pandemic, Partnership schools and districts were making some achievement gains, and Partnership leaders and educators identified their focus on human capital as a key factor in the intervention’s successes.
This policy brief examines teacher turnover and recruitment in Michigan’s Partnership schools and districts and other low-performing schools in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We show that:
- Partnership and other low-performing schools consistently experience higher turnover than schools in the rest of the state.
- School and district turnover in Partnership and other low-performing schools dipped after the 2019-20 school year.
- Although school and district turnover decreased, the share of teachers in Partnership schools leaving Michigan public education was higher than pre-reform years—though these increases began before the pandemic.
- Black and early career teachers—especially those in Partnership and other low-performing schools—are leaving the profession at a higher rate than their peers.
- More than 8 in 10 teachers in Partnership districts reported plans to stay in their schools in the 2021-22 school year—an increase from the prior school year.
- As in pre-pandemic years, factors related to school culture, climate, and leadership were important for recruitment and retention, while workload and pay contributed to teacher decisions to leave.
- Teacher reports of job satisfaction in Partnership districts climbed during the 2020-21 school year as teachers reported feeling supported by their administrations.
