Reductions in Force: Massachusetts
Exiting Ineffective Teachers Policy
Analysis of Massachusetts's policies
In Massachusetts, the factors used to determine which teachers are laid
off during a reduction in force consider a teacher's tenure status.
School districts may not lay off teachers with "professional teacher
status" if there is a teacher "without such status" within the same
certification area who could be laid off instead. Effective 2016, performance is taken into consideration between two teachers with like tenure status. Indicators used to determine performance include "overall ratings resulting from comprehensive evaluations... and the best interests of the
students in the school or district."
Recommendations for Massachusetts
Require that districts prioritize classroom performance in determining
which teachers are laid off during reductions in force.
While Massachusetts will be using teacher performance as a factor in layoff
decisions, the state still allows the main emphasis to be on seniority and
tenure status. Using performance as the tiebreaker does not send a clear
message to districts that it is the most important consideration.
State response to our analysis
Massachusetts recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.
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Massachusetts
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Delivering Well Prepared Teachers
- Admission into Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Reading Instruction
- Elementary Teacher Preparation in Mathematics
- Early Childhood
- Middle School Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation
- Secondary Teacher Preparation in Science and Social Studies
- Special Education Teacher Preparation
- Special Education Preparation in Reading
- Assessing Professional Knowledge
- Student Teaching
- Teacher Preparation Program Accountability
Expanding the Pool of Teachers
Identifying Effective Teachers
- State Data Systems
- Evaluation of Effectiveness
- Frequency of Evaluations
- Tenure
- Licensure Advancement
- Equitable Distribution
Retaining Effective Teachers
Exiting Ineffective Teachers
Pensions
Research rationale
LIFO policies put
adult interests before student needs.
Across the country, most districts utilize "last in, first
out" policies in the event of teacher layoffs.
Most states leave these decisions to district discretion; some states require layoffs to be based on
seniority. Such policies fail to give
due weight to a teacher's classroom performance and risk sacrificing effective
teachers while maintaining low performers.
Policies that prioritize seniority in layoff decisions can
also cause significant upheaval in schools and school districts. As teachers
who are newer to the classroom traditionally draw lower salaries, a
seniority-based layoff policy is likely to require that districts lay off a
larger number of probationary teachers rather than a smaller group of
ineffective teachers to achieve the same budget reduction.
States can leave districts flexibility in determining layoff
policies, but they should do so while also ensuring that classroom performance
is considered. Further, if performance is prioritized, states need not prohibit
the use of seniority as an additional criterion in determining who is laid
off.
Reductions in Force: Supporting Research
See National Council on Teacher Quality, "Teacher Layoffs: Rethinking 'Last-Hired, First-Fired' Policies", 2010; The New
Teacher Project, "The Case Against Quality-Blind Teacher Layoffs" (2011); D. Boyd, H. Lankford, S. Loeb, and J. Wyckoff, "Teacher Layoffs: An Empirical Illustration of Seniority v. Measures of Effectiveness", Calder Institute, July 2010, Brief 12; D. Goldhaber and R. Theobald, "Assessing the Determinants and Implications of Teacher Layoffs." Calder Institute, Working Paper 55, December 2010; C. Sepe and M. Roza, "The Disproportionate Impact of Seniority-Based Layoffs on Poor, Minority Students." Center on Reinventing Public Education, May 2010.