Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy (PhD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Education Reform

Advisor/Mentor

Gema Zamarro

Committee Member

Josh McGee

Second Committee Member

Patrick Wolf

Keywords

COVID-19; Schools and COVID; Teacher Labor Markets; Teacher Turnover

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic placed an undeniable burden onto the teaching profession which already faced levels of prestige and interest at 50-year lows. The strains of the pandemic resulted in educators reporting higher levels of job-related stress and burnout and exacerbated concerns about potential teacher shortages. This dissertation leverages administrative data from Arkansas to better understand challenges facing the teacher workforce following COVID-19 and evaluate two increasingly policies aimed at the teacher workforce. In the first chapter, I provide evidence that teacher turnover was relatively stable during the first two years (2020-21 and 2021-22) of the COVID-19 pandemic before a notable increase during the 2022-23 school year. Furthermore, I examine changes in which teachers left the classroom during this period and find evidence that more experienced teachers, Black teachers, and more effective teachers became more likely to exit the education sector during COVID. In the second chapter I provide evidence on the paraeducator-to-teacher pipeline and estimate the potential impacts of Grow-Your-Own pro-grams on teacher diversity and quality. In the third and final chapter I identify the causal impact of four-day school week calendars, which have become increasingly common following the pandemic, on teacher retention and new hire quality.

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