Recent Trends in Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent Turnover - Methodology and Terminology - Teacher Turnover Slows but Remains High

Oct 15, 2026

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Educator turnover rates in Wisconsin changed meaningfully from 2023 through 2025, with statewide teacher transitions declining after a 2023 peak while principal and superintendent turnover continued to swing upward, especially in 2025. Some districts face compounding instability, and workforce diversity increased alongside turnover, affecting planning and budgeting. Analysis uses the DPI Public All Staff Report snapshot, defining teachers, principals, and superintendents, and clarifies how “moves,” “leaves,” and “turnover” are counted.

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Recent Trends in Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent Turnover

Methodology and Terminology

Teacher Turnover Slows but Remains High

a partial turnaround for turnover Recent Trends in Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent Turnover After peaking in 2023, the rate at which Wisconsin teachers transitioned out of their districts declined statewide but remained elevated. Principal and superintendent turnover has not stabilized, with a new swing upward in 2025. Some districts experience compounding instability, with above-average turnover across educator types. Alongside turnover, workforce diversity increased. Both trends merit tracking as they shape student experience and success. In the wake of COVID-19’s peak and the turbulent inflation and labor market that followed, educatorsand school districts have sought to regain their footing. Previous Forum research has tracked data on school employees through this period, from teacher pay to school bus driver shortages to the use of emergency licenses to fill classroom positions. One of the most important trends has been that of educator turnover – the rate at which teachers, principals, and superintendents either switch jobs or leave their profession entirely. Our 2022 review of educator leadership turnover found that, at that time, principals and superintendents were staying put more than policy analysts expected; our 2023 review of teacher turnover found that teachers had largely done the same until 2022 and 2023, when they moved and left districts in droves. Our latest analysis of educator turnover data through 2025 continues tracking this issue, which has immediate impacts on the environment in which students learn, educators work, and school districts plan and budget. While some level of turnover is to be expected and may even be beneficial, too much churn destabilizes schools, discourages staff and students, harms student outcomes, and costs districts valuable resources. Overall, we find that, after principals and superintendents joined teachers in making 2023 a peak year for turnover, all three educator groups saw lower turnover rates in 2024. For teachers, the rate continued to drop in 2025, though it remained above normal levels. For principals and superintendents, the rates ticked back up. The combined impact for some Methodology and Terminology WPF analyzed turnover using the DPI Public All Staff Report, which includes staffing information for all traditional public and charter schools. This file is compiled using data reported by districts from the third Friday of September and therefore represents a point-in-time snapshot. We defined “teacher” as any individual holding at least one of these positions in the file: Department Head, Teacher in Charge, or Teacher. Principals and superintendents were designated as such in the file. For analysis of overall turnover, we excluded districts that closed or merged during the time period studied (2009 to 2025) and entities other than school districts (e.g. , independent charter schools, Cooperative Educational Service Agencies, etc.) . For our analyses of “moves,”“leaves,” and educator demographics, these entities were included. ( District-authorized charters were included in all analyses within their authorizing districts.) Similarly, our analysis of overall turnover included educators serving in multiple districts, but they were excluded from our analyses of moves, leaves, and educator demographics. As a result, the sum of “moves” and “leaves”may not always add up to overall turnover numbers cited. We defined “turnover” as any instance in which an individual appears in the DPI dataset for one year at a given district and does not appear in the same role (as teacher, principal, or superintendent) in that same district for the next year. The turnover may have happened during the summer or school year. Turnovers are listed by the school year in which they took effect – e.g. , a teacher who transitioned in between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years will be captured in the 2010 data. (We use 2010 to denote the 2009-10 school year.) Student enr

FAQs

What trends occurred in Wisconsin teacher, principal, and superintendent turnover from 2023 to 2025?

Teacher turnover declined statewide after peaking in 2023, but it stayed elevated. Principal and superintendent turnover did not stabilize and rose again in 2025.

How is educator turnover defined in the analysis?

Turnover is any year where an individual appears in the DPI dataset for a district but does not appear in the same role in that district the next year, whether the change occurred during summer or the school year.

What is the key difference between “moves” and “leaves” for teacher turnover?

A “move” occurs when a teacher shifts from teaching in one Wisconsin district to another. A “leave” means the teacher is no longer listed in the statewide public data set, which could reflect leaving education or shifting to a different role, private schooling, or another state.

Oct 15, 2026

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