Teachers, funding key to higher test scores

UIUC-ILEPI study finds close correlation between teacher retention, test scores, but warns against consolidating districts

A new study confirms the importance of teacher continuity and adequate school funding in education. (Shutterstock)

A new study confirms the importance of teacher continuity and adequate school funding in education. (Shutterstock)

By Ted Cox

A new study finds a strong correlation between teacher attendance and retention and higher test scores, while warning against inadequately funded schools and consolidating districts.

The Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign combined on the study, “Factors That Impact PreK-12 Student Test Scores in Illinois: An Analysis of 543 Local Public School Districts,” with the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. The study was to be formally released Wednesday.

It found, unsurprisingly, a strong correlation between teacher attendance from day to day and teacher retention from year to year and higher student test scores, with recommendations that teachers be paid more in order to encourage them to stay at a school and provide continuity for students.

Working from test-score data from the 2017-18 school year and the financial conditions for two-thirds of all Illinois public school districts, the authors found compelling correlations. “For the average district,” a news release on the study stated, “a 10 percent increase in teacher retention is associated with a 2 percent improvement in student test-score proficiency, and a 10 percent increase in teacher attendance is associated with a 1 percent gain the share of students who meet or exceed expectations.”

“Teachers matter,” said study co-author Jill Gigstad, ILEPI’s Midwest researcher. “Half of the factors that contribute to high-performing school districts relate to teacher quality and teacher dependability.”

“It’s not surprising that the study concluded that ‘teachers matter,’” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union. “This is why we always emphasize that an educator’s working conditions are a student’s learning conditions. When half of the factors that contribute to high-performing school districts relate to teacher quality and teacher dependability, it is clear — teachers make a difference every day in students’ lives. That’s what makes this career so rewarding.”

“Our study highlights the fact that retaining credentialed teachers is essential to the success of students,” added study co-author Robert Bruno, a UIUC professor and director of the Project for Middle Class Renewal. “One way to improve retention is to raise teacher pay, which is strongly correlated with higher retention rates as teachers feel valued as professionals.”

Bruno cited that llinois is currently facing a teacher shortage, with almost 2,900 unfilled education jobs and 13 percent of teachers either leaving their schools or exiting the profession altogether every year. “Relatively low pay has been a primary driver of this shortage,” according to the news release. “Illinois’s teachers earn 16 percent less than comparable workers with the same level of educational attainment.”

“The recently passed $40,000 minimum salary for public school teachers will also help attract and retain qualified workers into teaching careers,” said study co-author Frank Manzo IV, ILEPI policy director. “The new minimum salary will boost earnings for nearly 10,000 full-time teachers across the state.”

“Your study shows students benefit when teachers earn advanced degrees and when they stay in districts for longer periods of time,” Griffin said. “One thing the study shows improves teacher retention is higher pay. That’s why we fought last year for the $40,000 minimum teacher salary. And, the study shows a clear correlation between increased funding and increased test scores. That’s why we fight every year for increases in education funding.”

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“The study shows a clear correlation between increased funding and increased test scores. That’s why we fight every year for increases in education funding.”

IEA President Kathi Griffin (One Illinois/Ted Cox)

Education critics frequently complain that you can’t just “throw money” at school problems, but the study recommends adequate funding, and not just for teacher retention. One of the warning signs it finds is that a high concentration of low-income students — suggesting a high concentration of low-income residents in a district and diminished resources for increased funding through property taxes — is indicative of lower test scores.

The study recommends that “a 10 percent increase in funding adequacy is associated with a 1 percent improvement in student test-score proficiency.”

“Increasing state funding for public education would improve district finances and result in 46,000 more students being prepared for college,” said Bruno. “Building and expanding upon the evidence-based funding model would also decrease school district reliance on property taxes, which are particularly regressive in Illinois and have produced a system in which schools in low-income areas are under-resourced and under-performing.”

Reformers have recommended consolidating some smaller school districts in order to gain efficiency, but the study warned of the turbulent effects that can have in education. The release stated that “consolidated school districts do not have better test-score performance. In fact, academic achievement is 2 percent lower in consolidated districts. This finding led the authors to caution elected officials that consolidating school districts in any efforts to cut costs could produce unintended consequences.”

Consolidated districts may need more funding resources to compensate, just as low-income districts do.

The new study shared much of the data UIUC and ILEPI gathered in a newly released study earlier this month finding that union teacher contracts have a strong impact on improving local education. The studies determined that “Illinois has a regressive school funding system, with property taxes accounting for 63 percent of revenue,” and that while “school districts receive $18 billion per year from local property taxes, the average district has just 77 percent of the necessary funding and only 14 percent have annual budget surpluses,” with the “average district’s spending on instruction” set at $6,725 a student.

“Fully 85 percent of school districts report that the teacher shortage is a ‘major or minor’ problem,” the study states, and “teacher attendance — the share of teachers with fewer than 10 absences — is just 72 percent on average.”

It suggests that “increasing state funding for education would improve district finances,” as “more than 46,000 students would be prepared for college if all school districts were fully funded,” while “boosting wages can improve student outcomes,” and “the state should increase investments in low-income communities to lift children out of poverty.”

“If we want to improve the living and working standards in Illinois, we have to keep working to improve our public education systems,” Griffin said. “We have to work to solve our teacher shortage. We have to work to fill open positions for paraprofessionals and social workers. All of these are vital to student success. And, we can do it by passing the fair tax, fully funding the evidence-based funding model, and moving away from our reliance on property taxes — so students in every district can have the same chance at success.”

“While Illinois’s school districts continue to face financial difficulties, state lawmakers can implement policies that are proven to attract and retain qualified teachers and improve local economic conditions,” concluded Gigstad. “Increasing state funding for public education, raising teacher pay, and increasing investments in low-income communities are the most effective ways to improve student academic performance.”

Ted Cox