Abstract
Teacher turnover that is not related to regular school transitions is a neglected topic of educational-psychological research. This study examines irregular teacher turnover and its effect on students’ academic achievement in the subjects Mathematics, German, French and History at four high schools of the canton of Berne, Switzerland. The study is based on an administrative dataset used to track the academic achievement of N = 1789 students from more than 100 classes. The results show that irregular teacher turnovers affect every 12th class on average, whereby definitive turnovers occur more frequently than temporary ones. In all examined subjects, panel data models show that irregular teacher turnovers have a more or less pronounced negative effect on students’ academic achievements. With respect to the students’ gender no significant differences have been observed.
Highlights
Teacher turnover that is not related to regular school transitions is a neglected topic of educational-psychological research
The effects of irregular teacher turnover on student academic achievement were determined by comparing high school students who experienced teacher turnover and those who did not
While students in the mathematics and German classes experienced 16 and 13 incidents, respectively, of teacher turnover, fewer instances were observed for the history and French classes
Summary
Teacher turnover that is not related to regular school transitions is a neglected topic of educational-psychological research. Studies have shown that student achievement and self-esteem are more negatively affected during the transition from primary to secondary school if students experience several occurrences rather than only one occurrence of teacher turnover (Simmons & Blyth, 2008). Because of the confounding institutional and individual effects, little is known about the influence of teacher turnover during regular school transitions This situation is even more pronounced in the case of irregular teacher turnover, a change in teaching staff that is not tied to an institutionally prescribed and, normative school transition. According to the self-determination theory of motivation, the sense of relatedness is one of three basic needs that affect students’ behavior in school It is of special importance for the self-regulation of learning and academic performance (Niemiec & Ryan, 2009). Inadequate support from teachers or feelings of being disrespected by teachers partly account for negative attitudes toward school, and this can even lead to school alienation and dropout (Juvonen, 2007; Osterman, 2000; Teuscher & Makarova, 2018)
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