Title:
Improving teacher supply through professional development, mentoring and induction
Presenters:
Professor Beng Huat See, Dr. Rebecca Morris and Professor Stephen Gorard, School of Education, Durham University
Email: b.h.see@durham.ac.uk
Abstract:
Financial incentives have been used widely by governments in many countries to attract and retain ‘effective’ teachers. To determine the effectiveness of such initiatives we synthesise the findings of some of the strongest empirical work available so far in a rigorous and comprehensive review of international evidence. Of the 120 studies included in the review, 35 were specifically about monetary inducements. Evidence from the strongest studies in terms of research design suggests that targeted money can encourage people into teaching but does not necessarily keep them in the teaching profession, and its effect is only short-term. The incentive needs to be large enough to compensate for the disadvantages of working in certain schools and areas, and competitive enough to offset the opportunity costs of not being in better paid occupations. Approaches, such as professional development and early career support, show promise for retaining teachers in the profession, but the evidence is weak.
Keywords:
teacher supply, financial incentives, professional development, systematic review
Creating Education Futures: The Role of Teachers and Schools in the New Social Contracts 