NCTAF Launches Web-Based Calculator to Help Schools Estimate Cost of Replacing Teacher “Drop Outs”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 23, 2007 – The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) has launched a new web-based tool, Teacher Turnover Cost Calculator, for educators and others to estimate the costs of recruiting, hiring, processing, and training new teachers to replace those who have “dropped out” of a specific school or school district anywhere in the country.

NCTAF estimates that the national cost of public school teacher turnover could be over $7.3 billion a year, draining resources, diminishing teaching quality, and undermining the nation’s ability to close the student achievement gap. The NCTAF Teacher Turnover Cost Calculator, available at www.nctaf.org/ttcc, utilizes the data collection and analysis protocol from a just-completed pilot study of the issue and which yielded the $7.3 billion estimate.

Using the Calculator, educators and members of the public can estimate the cost of teacher turnover for any school or school district. The calculator contains enough background information on this tool to enable school leaders to design and conduct their own detailed turnover cost analyses. The tool, like the pilot study, recognizes that the cost of turnover varies from district to district and is largely dependant upon the size of the district and the types of induction programs the district implements.

NCTAF is also hosting a Wiki on its website for discussion and comparison of costs that have been calculated by users in communities around the country.

“We want to help school leaders identify the problem, so that they will be in a better position to manage their resources to reduce teacher turnover and improve teaching quality,” said NCTAF president Tom Carroll.

Access the NCTAF Teacher Turnover Cost Calculator at www.nctaf.org/ttcc.

About NCTAF
The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization based in Washington, DC. NCTAF is dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success. With a network of 25 partner states and links to professional educational organizations across the nation, NCTAF provides leadership on innovation and improvement in teaching and learning in America’s schools. For more information, visit NCTAF’s website: www.nctaf.org.

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