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Retention
Summary
USHCA
Best People Best Results
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY
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Content in Context
How do you retain the “best” talent?
USHCA
Best People Best Results
Retention Summary
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY
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What Is Retention?
Keeping the Best Talent
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Retention refers to the rate that all employees stay or remain in the
district or school system
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In HR, we aim to increase Strategic Retention – keeping the top
performers while simultaneously removing the weakest performers
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Additional terms used to discuss retention*:
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Attrition or “Leavers”: Rate at which employees leave (resignations, retirements,
terminations, etc.) the district or teaching altogether (“Leavers”)
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Migration or “Movers”: Rate at which employees move to jobs in other
schools/offices within the district (“Movers”). For clarification purposes, USHCA uses
the nomenclature of those who remain in the school and those who move to other
schools when discussing data
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Turnover: Includes both attrition and migration
USHCA
Best People Best Results
Retention Summary
*Ingersoll, 2001;Luekens, et al., 2004.
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY
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Why is This Important?
Strategic Retention
1. Top educators produce stronger gains for students
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Top teachers produce 5 to 6 more months of learning per year
Top principals generate 2 to 7 more months of student learning gains
2. Low performers don’t always opt out
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Most ineffective teachers had 9+ years of experience and planned to
stay for another decade
3. More effective teachers are available to hire
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75% chance of replacing an ineffective teacher with a more effective
one
4. Turnover is expensive
USHCA
Best People Best Results
Retention Summary
Data from TNTP’s The Irreplaceables
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY
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Keep in Mind
Things to Remember
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Overall retention can be good or bad – use strategic
retention as a key indicator
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Retention is individual – there is no one-size-fits-all solution
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Principals should be encouraged, not penalized, for taking action to
promote, dismiss, or non-renew a teacher
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Ask your highest-performers what will keep them happy
Reasons for attrition (resignation, retirement, non-renewal, dismissal,
etc.) must be captured intentionally
Teacher movement between schools (transfers and excessing/
surplussing) is not a zero sum game and must be captured
intentionally at the school level
Retention Summary
USHCA
Best People Best Results
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY
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Making Connections
Related Content
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Guide to Calculating Retention
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Diagnosing Retention Challenges
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Offers district and school strategies to address specific retention challenges and concerns
School-level Retention Mapping
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Provides a sample exit survey to understand the levers for retention in a district
Targeted Retention Strategies
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Assists districts in diagnosing their key challenges related to retention
Exit Survey Template
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Provides recommended methods and tips for measuring staff retention, particularly for
teachers
Provides a principal with a visual map of teachers to retain and offers a place to record
retention strategies and next steps
Case Study – Retention
 Offers a hook into the content of
Retention Summary
retention
USHCA
Best People Best Results
URBAN SCHOOLS HUMAN CAPITAL ACADEMY