Tenure

Tenure plays a role in everything from how frequently a teacher is evaluated to the protections surrounding layoffs and dismissals. States set the minimum length of time a teacher must be in the classroom before earning tenure..

37 states award tenure in three years or less. 3 states have no tenure and thus only award annual contracts. 11 states require that evidence of student learning is the preponderant criterion for granting a teacher tenure, with another 9 states that require evidence of student learning to be part of the consideration. For more information on state level tenure policies, see the tenure section of the state policy issues page.

Districts generally do not alter state tenure policy.

Teacher Contract Database The process for obtaining tenure is often not clearly outlined by the contract or handbook. In many cases, it simply occurs by default if a teacher has taught with a satisfactory evaluation for a specified number of years. Our database examines the role of tenure on teacher assignment and employment and in doing so relies primarily on state statute as opposed to district contracts or handbooks.

See our most recent Teacher Trendline on tenure for a detailed description of policies in our database.

What the research shows

There is evidence that reforming the tenure process to make it an active decision rather than a passive one granted to all teachers who teach a certain number of years decreases the number of teachers who receive tenure. In 2011, NCTQ analyzed teacher policies in the Los Angeles Unified School District and found that after the district enacted an active tenure decision process the number of eligible teachers denied tenure increased by 60 percent.

In 2009, New York City initiated significant tenure reforms where principals had to provide rationale for their decisions when the district had evidence (including student test scores) that contradicted the principal?s recommendation. The percentage of eligible teachers granted tenure dropped from 94 percent to an average of 56 percent. Additionally, teachers who transferred or exited the school system after their probationary periods were extended (instead of being granted tenure) were less effective than those likely to replace them (Loeb, Miller, and Wyckoff, 2014).

Works Cited

Loeb, S., Miller, L. C., & Wyckoff, J. (2014). Performance Screens for School Improvement: The Case of Teacher Tenure Reform in New York City.