School Demographic Data Elements – Free and Reduced-Price Lunch
The percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL) is a measure of the
number of students experiencing poverty in a given school in a given year. Eligibility for FRPL is
determined by household size and household income relative to the federal poverty guidelines.
Household income must be less than 185% of the federal poverty guidelines in a given year in order
for a student to qualify for FRPL.
There are additional and federal grant programs that school districts can access in order to
support schools with a high percentage of students receiving FRPL through the Title I Program.
DCPS did not provide consistent data that identified which schools received Title I dollars across the
years of the study. As a substitute, the total percentage of students eligible for FRPL at each school
was included in the multiple regression analysis.
Employment Data Elements – Experience, Degree Level, and Employment Location
Previous research on DCPS conducted by JPEF analyzed retention for novice teachers.
Novice teachers are an important subset of teachers, and proper supports can increase teacher
retention amongst this group of teachers. However, since average teaching experience is decreasing
over time within DCPS, novice teachers alone cannot account for the movement patterns of teachers
within DCPS. Therefore, the years of teaching experience were analyzed. Average years of teaching
experience was calculated across each year of the study period and was tracked at the school level.
School Data Elements – School Grade, In-field and Out-of-field, Stayers and Leavers
School-level characteristics including, school grade, percent of teachers out-of-field, and
teacher movement were measured to determine what effects, if any, these factors have on teacher
retention rates. Since the school grading formula and state assessment changed during the period in
question, an alternative measure of percent of total possible points earned was calculated for each
year and each school.
In-field or out-of-field status was used as a relative measure of a teacher’s qualifications to
teach their assigned subject. Teachers are considered in-field if they have passed all tests and hold
valid certifications related to each subject area in which they are assigned to teach. For example, a
teacher with a degree in English Education who possesses valid certification to teach English in
grades 6-12 and is teaching a grade 8 English course is considered in-field. A teacher with a degree in
Special Education who possesses a valid certification to teach Biology or Special Education
courses but is teaching a grade 5 Intensive Reading course is considered out-of-field. There are
numerous variations in paths that might result in an individual being labeled in-field or out-of-field.
A more thorough explanation of the various pathways to certification in the state of Florida is
included in Appendix Item 2.
Since representatives from DCPS indicated that this information was not tracked at the
individual teacher level, but FLDOE was able to provide this data at the school building level, the
percent of teachers at a school who were flagged out-of-field was analyzed. Further research could
build upon individual teacher out-of-field status and examine the effects being flagged out-of-field
have on an individual teacher’s likelihood to turn over or retain.
Since DCPS provided employment records by year for the five years in the study period, four
years of movement data was analyzed. This data included the number of teachers at a given school
who stayed from year to year as well as the percent of teachers who stayed at a given school year
to year and the percent of teachers who left a given school year to year. There is not movement data
available for the final year in the study period since there was no data collected for the year beyond
the study period. Further research could include a sixth year in order to better analyze all variables
across five years.
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