Teacher attrition rate

Definition

Number of teachers at a given level of education leaving the profession in a given school year, expressed as a percentage of teachers at that level and in that school year.

Example of use

Teach for America and similar programmes in other countries are playing a key role in getting good teachers to disadvantaged areas, while underlining the need in such areas for the best possible teachers. However, they cannot be seen as the solution to improve learning outcomes for all. Not only is there a high attrition rate among these teachers – sometimes 80% or more by their third or fourth year of teaching – but they make up only about 0.2% of the 3.5 million teachers in the United States (UNESCO, 2014: 253).