Does Teaching Experience Increase Teacher Effectiveness? A Review of the Research

Palo Alto, Calif. — Do teachers plateau early in their career or do they continue to grow and improve as they gain experience? Our report reexamines this critical question in light of recent research using advanced research methods. Based on a review of 30 studies published within the last 15 years, the authors find that as teachers gain experience throughout their careers, their students’ achievement gains increase. Although the steepest gains in effectiveness are in the first few years of teaching, this improvement continues in the second and often third decade of their careers, especially when they work in collegial work environments.
Other findings include:

  • Experienced teachers have a positive impact on the performance of their peers.
  • As teachers gain experience, their students are more likely to do better on other measures of success beyond test scores, such as school attendance.
  • Teachers make greater gains in their effectiveness when they accumulate experience in the same grade level, subject, or district.
  • More experienced teachers confer benefits to their colleagues, their students, and to the school as a whole.

The report has important implications for policymakers who are seeking to improve learning and close achievement gaps. Its findings highlight the value of retaining experienced teachers and offer strategies to improve their effectiveness. The report also raises equity concerns, since inexperienced teachers tend to be highly concentrated in underserved schools serving high-need students. Correcting this problem is a goal of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which requires districts and states to monitor and address teacher equity gaps, including the distribution of effective and experienced teachers.

Read the report at learningpolicyinstitute.org.

Featured

  • New Jersey PreK–12 School Breaks Ground on New STEM Building

    Saddle River Day School (SRDS) in Saddle River, N.J., recently announced that it has broken ground on the new Dr. Kristen Walsh Hall of Science & Entrepreneurship, according to a news release. The school partnered with DIGroup Architecture for the design of the new facility, which will provide the school with space to expand its STEM and business education classes.

  • Rice University to Build New Student Life Complex

    Rice University in Houston, Texas, recently announced that a groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Moody Center Complex for Student Life (MCCSL) will take place on May 8, 2025, according to a university news release. The 75,000-square-foot facility was designed by architecture firm Olson Kundig with Page serving as executive architect, and it has an estimated completion date of fall 2027.

  • Pangram Secures Funding for AI Detection Technology

    Pangram, which provides technology that detects AI-generated text, recently announced that it has secured nearly $4 million in pre-seed and seed funding, according to a news release. The most recent round of investments, totaling $2.7 million, come on top of the pre-existing seed fund of $1.25 million.

  • old university building with visible aging signs, overlaid with digital data graphics like thermal maps, charts, and system icons

    Modernizing Higher Education Infrastructure: Why Smarter Facility Management Is Essential to Protecting Aging Schools

    Schools now have the opportunity to adopt smarter, more strategic approaches to futureproof operations and enhance the on-campus experience.

Digital Edition