SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a new report released today and to be discussed via live webinar on October 17, New Teacher Center (NTC), a national nonprofit focused on improving student learning by accelerating educator effectiveness, finds that investing in evidence-based professional learning and coaching for teachers pays off fast – not just in improved lifelong student outcomes, but also cost-savings for districts.
Past research confirmed NTC’s foundational hypothesis that by strategically redirecting existing spending on teacher development, districts can contribute to disrupting the predictable student outcomes of educational inequities. The “Counting the Cost” report quantifies the monetary implications of that disruption for students and school districts.
“The tangible impacts of evidence-based professional learning that are outlined in our ‘Counting the Cost’ report are an inspiring and hopeful testament of the critical need to accelerate educator effectiveness,” said Desmond Blackburn, Ph.D, CEO of New Teacher Center. “Our hope is that this report helps district leaders actualize the powerful changes they have the ability to initiate for their students, communities and economies by simply altering how they direct their budgets.”
Based on an evaluation of a New Teacher Center district partner, the report finds:
● Districts Can Save Millions While Supporting Diverse Student Populations – NTC’s professional learning program for new teachers yields a 22% return to the district, equivalent to a district savings of nearly $1 million over a 5-year investment with one hundred new teachers per year. These results were found in a district where 90% of students were not white and 85% of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
● Educators Increase Learning and Stay Longer – Year-over-year teacher retention was 11 percentage points higher in the NTC-supported group than in the group receiving traditional support (78% compared to 67%). Students of NTC-supported teachers in grades 4 through 8 demonstrated up to five months of additional learning in math and English language arts.
● Students Earn More to Give Back Sooner – On average, students of NTC-supported teachers have the potential to earn $38,000 more in career lifetime earnings. This increased earning equates to higher taxable income, in turn perpetuating support for public education.
● Communities Benefit From a Cycle of Economic Impact – Successful students generate greater long-term economic impact in their communities, equal to a $2.43 return for every $1 invested in NTC.
"We believe that mentoring and job-embedded coaching are critical components of ensuring new teachers are Day 1 ready and continue to grow their practice throughout their careers,” said Christine Murphy Judson, Director of Talent Acquisition, Chicago Public Schools. “By partnering with NTC to train cooperating teachers and mentor teachers, we are investing in supporting educators throughout their career - pre-service to veteran. Coaching and mentoring are consistently a key component of teachers choosing to return to our schools and classrooms year after year, creating stability for school communities and students."
“Counting the Cost” is a follow up to a 2017 validation study from SRI International that showed New Teacher Center’s two-year induction program provided up to 5 months of additional student learning and positively affected teacher retention. In 2018, NTC partnered with Metis Associates to measure the impact of its program and add newfound transparency and accountability to conversations around professional learning coaching; results were determined by extrapolating the monetary and lifetime impact of more effective educator training.
To access the “Counting the Cost” report, visit https://info.newteachercenter.org/Counting-the-Cost or visit Education Week to sign-up for the live webinar discussing its findings.
Methodology:
New Teacher Center regards its return on investment estimate as a “first approximation.” The methodology focused on the two most scrutinized program benefits: student testing achievements and teacher turnover. From 2013 to 2017, the New Teacher Center (NTC) received a federal i3 Validation grant to provide high-intensity mentor support to new teachers in a large urban school district. NTC since partnered with Metis Associates to compare the grant spending to the estimated monetary value of the observed effects of the program on student performance and teacher attrition.
Results are an extrapolation of earlier findings about the empirical benefits of new teacher induction, of which the monetary returns to a district’s investment are further enhanced by intangible benefits of having an educational system where the newest teachers are supported and nurtured.
For a more in-depth look at how New Teacher Center measured spending, retention costs and future learning potential, download the full report at: https://info.newteachercenter.org/Counting-the-Cost.
About New Teacher Center (NTC):
New Teacher Center (NTC) is a national non-profit organization committed to disrupting the predictability of educational inequities for systemically underserved students to ensure every student, from preschool through high school, receives an excellent and equitable education that empowers them to reach their full potential in classrooms, communities, and beyond.
Founded by teachers in 1998, NTC works with systems to drive student learning, increase educator effectiveness, and build leadership capacity. We do this by providing PreK-12 educators with evidence-based skills and supports needed to create optimal learning environments that accelerate students’ academic and social-emotional success, specifically focusing on the whole-child. NTC is improving the learning of over 1.8 million students and 25, 700 educators nationwide.
