Teacher Turnover and Teacher Retirement

Teachers have an important impact on students in the short- and long-term, but only teachers’ experience consistently predicts high teacher quality. This dissertation, divided into three chapters, investigates two topics that are related to teachers’ experience levels: turnover and retirement. The first chapter studies the relationship between voluntary beginning teacher turnover and teachers’ levels of conscientiousness. It uses the data from the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study and the effort that teachers put on a survey taken during their first year in the profession as a proxy for teachers’ levels of conscientiousness. The results of this chapter indicate that teachers putting less effort on their surveys (i.e. the less conscientious teachers) are more likely to be retained. While higher quality principals can reduce the likelihood of teacher turnover, these principals more effective at retaining less conscientious teachers. The second chapter conceptually evaluates policies that try to induce teacher turnover in an attempt to reduce mounting pension costs. Using data from Massachusetts, this chapter calculates the required deviations from actuarially assumed teacher exit rates that would hold the uniform normal cost rate (the average cost of prefunding all currently accruing benefits for teachers as a percent of salary) constant when the lowering the discount rate from the expected investment return rate to a less risky rate. It finds that the probability that each teacher exits would have to increase substantially. This chapter also evaluates two targeted policies that would only increase teacher exit rates among the teachers that earn individual normal cost rates above the uniform normal cost rate and among the teachers that are eligible to retire. Even when all teachers in the targeted populations exit the Massachusetts Teachers’ Retirement System, savings to the fund are not enough to prevent a rise in the uniform normal cost rate. The final chapter of this dissertation calculates teachers’ willingness-to-pay for several job conditions using a nationally representative sample of teachers from RAND’s American Teacher Panel. Results indicate that respondents value their final average salary defined benefit plans at under 3 percent of salary relative to switching to an alternative retirement plan, but experience and cognitive ability, used to proxy for teacher quality, mediate this preference. Early-career and lower quality teachers, measuring through lower levels of cognitive ability, are indifferent to the type of retirement plan they are enrolled in. Respondents also valued their retirement plans less than they valued their replacement rates, retirement ages, salary growth, health insurance, and whether they are enrolled in Social Security

Mortuary Metaphor: Location of the Remains of the Deceased as a Symbol of Group Membership

The question of where to place the dead is a universal problem for mankind. The body of the deceased is not regarded as ordinary carrion. It must be cared for in a correct manner and disposed of in an appropriate place, not simply for hygienic reasons, but out of moral obligation (Hertz 1960:27). Death creates similar psychological and social problems in all human societies. Consequently similar kinds of rites, such as rites of separation, of protection, of reaggregation within a new order, and of commemoration, are very widespread, as is the ritual sequence in which they are found (Hertz 1960; Van Gennep 1960; Malinowski 1925; Goody 1962; Rosenblatt, et al., 1976). At the same time, great variation is found in the specific ways in which mortuary ritual is given concrete form. Disposition of the body may consist of cremation, burial in the dirt, enclosure in a container placed either above or below the ground, exposure, cannibalism, the keeping of relics, or some combination of these procedures. Likewise, the location considered appropriate for the disposition varies widely. The meanings invested in the form and location of the disposition of the dead also differ in different societies. It is my contention that these meanings can be usefully categorized. The variation in meaning does not seem to be random. My research project consists of a cross-cultural study of mortuary ceremonialism in sixty societies, the purpose of which is to investigate the influence of sociological and economic variables on certain aspects of mortuary ritual. The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which predictable variation occurs in the way social affiliation is symbolized by the location of the disposition of the dead. This work is built upon studies of both the relationships between ritual and socio-cultural organization and also the social and psychological functions of funerary ritual. It entails study of ecological adaptation in its widest sense, involving the intersection within funerary activities of demographic, economic, sociological, cultural (in the sense of ideas and values including concepts of the supernatural and afterlife), and psychological aspects of human behavior. In addition, an important purpose of this project is to increase the understanding of the ways in which mortuary artifacts excavated by archeologists can be expected to reflect the organization of the societies of which they are the tangible remains. Systematically searching out ways in which aspects of funerary ceremonies, such as the location of disposition of the deceased, vary with changes in such factors as population density, fixity of residence, degrees of political integration and social stratification, systems of subsistence, technological development, systems of inheritance and measures of overall complexity should reveal the strength of the influence of each and the effects of their interaction. In addition, the reliability with which one can predict backward from the mortuary practice to the presumed presence of one or another of the economic or social variables should become clear

Mortuary Metaphor: Location of the Remains of the Deceased as a Symbol of Group Membership

The question of where to place the dead is a universal problem for mankind. The body of the deceased is not regarded as ordinary carrion. It must be cared for in a correct manner and disposed of in an appropriate place, not simply for hygienic reasons, but out of moral obligation (Hertz 1960:27). Death creates similar psychological and social problems in all human societies. Consequently similar kinds of rites, such as rites of separation, of protection, of reaggregation within a new order, and of commemoration, are very widespread, as is the ritual sequence in which they are found (Hertz 1960; Van Gennep 1960; Malinowski 1925; Goody 1962; Rosenblatt, et al., 1976). At the same time, great variation is found in the specific ways in which mortuary ritual is given concrete form. Disposition of the body may consist of cremation, burial in the dirt, enclosure in a container placed either above or below the ground, exposure, cannibalism, the keeping of relics, or some combination of these procedures. Likewise, the location considered appropriate for the disposition varies widely. The meanings invested in the form and location of the disposition of the dead also differ in different societies. It is my contention that these meanings can be usefully categorized. The variation in meaning does not seem to be random. My research project consists of a cross-cultural study of mortuary ceremonialism in sixty societies, the purpose of which is to investigate the influence of sociological and economic variables on certain aspects of mortuary ritual. The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent to which predictable variation occurs in the way social affiliation is symbolized by the location of the disposition of the dead. This work is built upon studies of both the relationships between ritual and socio-cultural organization and also the social and psychological functions of funerary ritual. It entails study of ecological adaptation in its widest sense, involving the intersection within funerary activities of demographic, economic, sociological, cultural (in the sense of ideas and values including concepts of the supernatural and afterlife), and psychological aspects of human behavior. In addition, an important purpose of this project is to increase the understanding of the ways in which mortuary artifacts excavated by archeologists can be expected to reflect the organization of the societies of which they are the tangible remains. Systematically searching out ways in which aspects of funerary ceremonies, such as the location of disposition of the deceased, vary with changes in such factors as population density, fixity of residence, degrees of political integration and social stratification, systems of subsistence, technological development, systems of inheritance and measures of overall complexity should reveal the strength of the influence of each and the effects of their interaction. In addition, the reliability with which one can predict backward from the mortuary practice to the presumed presence of one or another of the economic or social variables should become clear

Local Labor Market Conditions, Principals’ Leadership, Conscientiousness, and Beginning Teacher Turnover: A Study During the Great Recession

An abundance of literature sheds light on which factors determine teacher turnover, but it has yet to consider the role that local labor market conditions may play in teachers’ turnover decisions and how these labor market conditions may influence the quality of teachers who might be retained. The effect of local labor market conditions on teacher turnover could be relevant especially in times of high economic instability like the Great Recession. To study the determinants of teacher turnover, we match the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS) with local unemployment rates from the USC Great Recession Indicators Database (GRID). We also build proxy measures of teachers’ conscientiousness with levels of survey effort on the baseline BTLS survey. Our results show that, in the absence of changes in unemployment, teachers who present lower levels of conscientiousness, by means of lower effort in the baseline survey, also present lower probabilities of teacher turnover during their first years of teaching.However, higher conscientious teachers seem to be better retained when there is more instability in their local labor markets. Higher quality principals appear to help retain teachers, but they seem to be more effective at retaining those teachers who show lower levels of conscientiousness on their baseline survey

Using modern low-oxygen marine ecosystems to understand the nitrogen cycle of the Paleo- and Mesoproterozoic oceans

CAF was funded by University of Maryland Horn Point Laboratory start-up funds.During the productive Paleoproterozoic (2.4–1.8 Ga) and less productive Mesoproterozoic (1.8–1.0 Ga), the ocean was suboxic to anoxic and multicellular organisms had not yet evolved. Here, we link geologic information about the Proterozoic ocean to microbial processes in modern low‐oxygen systems. High iron concentrations and rates of Fe cycling in the Proterozoic are the largest differences from modern oxygen‐deficient zones. In anoxic waters, which composed most of the Paleoproterozoic and ~40% of the Mesoproterozoic ocean, nitrogen cycling dominated. Rates of N2 production by denitrification and anammox were likely linked to sinking organic matter fluxes and in situ primary productivity under anoxic conditions. Additionally autotrophic denitrifiers could have used reduced iron or methane. 50% of the Mesoproterozoic ocean may have been suboxic, promoting nitrification and metal oxidation in the suboxic water and N2O and N2 production by partial and complete denitrification in anoxic zones in organic aggregates. Sulfidic conditions may have composed ~10% of the Mesoproterozoic ocean focused along continental margins. Due to low nitrate concentrations in offshore regions, anammox bacteria likely dominated N2 production immediately above sulfidic zones, but in coastal regions, higher nitrate concentrations probably promoted complete S‐oxidizing autotrophic denitrification at the sulfide interface.PostprintPeer reviewe

Teachers’ Knowledge About and Preparedness for Retirement: Results From A Nationally Representative Teacher Survey

Adequately saving for retirement requires both planning and knowledge about available retirement savings options. Teachers participate in a complex set of different plan designs and benefit tiers, and many do not participate in Social Security. While teachers represent a large part of the public workforce, relatively little is known regarding their knowledge about and preparation for retirement. We administered a survey to a nationally representative sample of teachers through RAND’s American Teacher Panel and asked teachers about their retirement planning and their employer-sponsored retirement plans. We find that while most teachers are taking steps to prepare for retirement, many teachers lack the basic retirement knowledge necessary to plan effectively. Teachers struggled to identify their plan type, how much they are contributing to their plans, retirement eligibility ages, and who contributes to Social Security. These results suggest that teacher retirement reform may not be disruptive for teachers and that better, simpler, and clearer information about teacher retirement plans would be beneficial

Testing, Teacher Turnover and the Distribution of Teachers across Grades and Schools

Teacher turnover has adverse consequences for student achievement and imposes large financial costs for schools. Some have argued that high-stakes testing may lower teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs and could be a major contributor to teacher attrition. In this paper, we exploit changes in the tested grades and subjects in Georgia to study the effects of eliminating high-stakes testing on teacher turnover and the distribution of teachers across grades and schools. To measure the effect of testing pressures on teacher mobility choices we use a difference-in-differences approach, comparing changes in mobility over time in grades/subjects that discontinue testing vis-à-vis grades/subjects that are always tested. Our results show that eliminating testing did not have an impact on the likelihood of leaving teaching, changing schools within a district, or moving between districts. We only uncover small negative effects on the likelihood of grade switching. However, we do find relevant positive effects on retention of beginning teachers in the profession. In particular, the average probability of exit for teachers with 0-4 years of experience fell from 14 to 13 percentage points for teachers in grades 1 and 2 and from 14 to 11 percentage points in grades 6 and 7

Teachers\u27 Willingness to Pay for Retirement Benefits: A National Stated Preferences Experiment

Many states have recently made or are considering changes to their teacher retirement systems. However, little is known about how teachers value various elements of their retirement benefits versus other aspects of their jobs and compensation. To help alleviate this gap, we use a discrete choice stated preferences experiment embedded in a nationally representative survey of teachers to estimate their willingness-to-pay for various retirement plan characteristics and other non-salary job components. We find that teachers would be indifferent between a traditional pension and alternative retirement plan designs if the alternatives were paired with 2 to 3 percent salary increases. Our results indicate that experience is a significant mediator of retirement plan preferences. While more experienced teachers are willing to pay more to keep their traditional pension plans, inexperienced teachers do not have strong preferences around retirement plan type. However, teachers’ willingness-to-pay for traditional pension plans is less than their willingness-to-pay for many other elements of their compensation, including the value of retirement benefits, retirement age, salary growth, healthcare coverage, and Social Security enrollment

Understanding how COVID-19 has Changed Teachers’ Chances of Remaining in the Classroom

The 2020-2021 academic year was a trying year for teachers. We use a nationally representative sample of teachers from the RAND American Teacher Panel to document that teachers’ stated consideration of leaving the profession increased during the pandemic. We also study factors associated with teachers’ consideration of leaving the profession and high levels of job burnout during the pandemic. Approaching retirement age (being 55 or older), having to change instruction modes, health concerns, and high levels of job burnout all appear to be important predictors of the probability of considering leaving or retiring from teaching. Hybrid teaching increased consideration of leaving the profession because of COVID. Health concerns and switching instruction modes are all associated with higher levels of concern about job burnout. Interestingly, those approaching retirement ages do not present higher levels of concern about job burnout than younger teachers. Although increased consideration of leaving and concern about burnout do not yet appear to have materialized into higher attrition rates so far, higher levels of job dissatisfaction could affect teacher effectiveness and could harm student academic progress

Complete arsenic-based respiratory cycle in the marine microbial communities of pelagic oxygen-deficient zones.

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2019. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 116(20), (2019):9925-9930, doi:10.1073/pnas.1818349116.Microbial capacity to metabolize arsenic is ancient, arising in response to its pervasive presence in the environment, which was largely in the form of As(III) in the early anoxic ocean. Many biological arsenic transformations are aimed at mitigating toxicity; however, some microorganisms can respire compounds of this redox-sensitive element to reap energetic gains. In several modern anoxic marine systems concentrations of As(V) are higher relative to As(III) than what would be expected from the thermodynamic equilibrium, but the mechanism for this discrepancy has remained unknown. Here we present evidence of a complete respiratory arsenic cycle, consisting of dissimilatory As(V) reduction and chemoautotrophic As(III) oxidation, in the pelagic ocean. We identified the presence of genes encoding both subunits of the respiratory arsenite oxidase AioA and the dissimilatory arsenate reductase ArrA in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific (ETNP) oxygen-deficient zone (ODZ). The presence of the dissimilatory arsenate reductase gene arrA was enriched on large particles (>30 um), similar to the forward bacterial dsrA gene of sulfate-reducing bacteria, which is involved in the cryptic cycling of sulfur in ODZs. Arsenic respiratory genes were expressed in metatranscriptomic libraries from the ETNP and the Eastern Tropical South Pacific (ETSP) ODZ, indicating arsenotrophy is a metabolic pathway actively utilized in anoxic marine water columns. Together these results suggest arsenic-based metabolisms support organic matter production and impact nitrogen biogeochemical cycling in modern oceans. In early anoxic oceans, especially during periods of high marine arsenic concentrations, they may have played a much larger role.We thank John Baross and Rika Anderson for helpful discussions and feedback on this project. We also thank the chief scientists of the research cruise, Al Devol and Bess Ward, as well as the captain and crew of the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. This work was supported through a NASA Earth and Space Sciences Graduate Research Fellowship to J.K.S. and National Science Foundation Grant OCE-1138368 (to G.R.).2019-10-2