Compensation for Prior Work Experience: North
Carolina

Retaining Effective Teachers Policy

Goal

The state should encourage districts to provide compensation for related prior subject-area work experience.

Best Practice
Suggested Citation:
National Council on Teacher Quality. (2011). Compensation for Prior Work Experience: North Carolina results. State Teacher Policy Database. [Data set].
Retrieved from: https://www.nctq.org/yearbook/state/NC-Compensation-for-Prior-Work-Experience-9

Analysis of North Carolina's policies

In North Carolina, teachers are awarded one year of credit, for salary purposes, for every two years of "full-time relevant non-teaching work experience" prior to earning a bachelor's degree and one year of experience credit for every year of "full-time relevant non-teaching experience" after earning a bachelor's degree. "Relevant non-teaching work experience" is defined as professional work experience in public or private sectors that is directly related to the individual's area of licensure and work assignment.

Citation

Recommendations for North Carolina

State response to our analysis

North Carolina recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.

Research rationale

Of particular concern for the teaching profession are the quality and number of teachers available in math, science and special education and of those serving high-poverty students. See the following:

Debra Hare, et al., "Teacher Shortages in the Midwest: Current Trends and Future Issues," Center for School Change, University of Minnesota, 2000; Paul Harrington, "Attracting New Teachers Requires Changing Old Rules," The College Board Review, 2001; 192: 6-11; Patrick M. Shields, et al., "The Status of the Teaching Profession 2001," The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning, 2001.

Much of the blame for the difficulty in hiring people with technical expertise falls on the single salary schedule that rewards only experience and degree level. See D. Goldhaber and Albert Yung-Hsu Liu, "Teacher Salary Structure and the Decision to Teach in Public Schools: An Analysis of Recent College Graduates," Center on Reinventing Public Education, 2005.

People with technical skills are in high demand in the non-teacher labor market. See Cathleen Stasz and Dominic J. Brewer, "Academic Skills at Work: Two Perspectives," Rand Corporation, 1999. See also Burton A. Weisbrod and Peter Karpoff, "Monetary Returns to College Education, Student Ability and College Quality," Review of Economics and Statistics, 1968; 50(4): 491-97.

It has also been shown that teachers who teach technical subject matters have higher rates of attrition. See M. Podgursky, et al., "The Academic Quality of Public School Teachers: An Analysis of Entry and Exit Behavior," Economics of Education Review, 2004; 23: 507-18.

In addition, research has shown that math and science teachers—both men and women—with high ACT scores are the first to leave the teaching profession. See Sheila N. Kirby, et al., "Staffing At-risk School Districts in Texas: Problems and Prospects," Rand, 1999.

See also Robin R. Henke and Lisa Zahn, "Attrition of New Teachers Among Recent College Graduates," Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Reports, U.S. Department of Education, 2001.