10. Both students and teachers can experience high rates of turnover
When it comes to low socioeconomic status at school, there are unfortunately two similar trends. The first is that teachers don’t always stick it out. Citing a teacher survey by the U.S. Department of Education, the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development reported in 2017 that nearly a quarter of new public school teachers completely leave the profession within their first three years of teaching. Similarly, in 2017, the Learning Policy Institute found that teacher turnover rates are 50 percent higher in Title I schools, which generally serve more low-income students.
At the same time, the students themselves are also frequently uprooted. The National Center for Children in Poverty explains that lower-income families move more frequently, with 17 percent of children between 6 and 11 years old in low-income families moving during 2015. This frequent cycle of moving forces students to have to abruptly stop and restart their studies, whether they’re adjusting to a new living situation or even a new district’s or new state’s curriculum—not to mention dealing with the emotional challenges that can stem from moving to a new school and forming new relationships with peers and teachers. And for more on the state of American education, don’t miss these 20 Shocking Confessions from Public School Teachers.
