Teachers’ Grade-Level Reassignments: Evidence From Michigan

Oct 15, 2026

Teacher churning likely reduces student achievement, yet within-school grade-level teacher reassignments remain insufficiently studied. This study documents how often self-contained classroom teachers switch grades within the same school and identifies predictors using Michigan longitudinal administrative records and nationally representative survey data. About 7% of such teachers change grades after a school year. Inexperienced teachers switch more, and grade switching is uneven across schools and students, with urban schools higher and charter schools lower than traditional public schools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages23

Reading Time58 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Frequency and predictors of grade switching

Inequitable distribution across schools and students

Teachers’ Grade-Level Reassignments: Evidence From Michigan Educational Policy 2017, Vol. 31(2) 249–271 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: [sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav](sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav)[ ](sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav)[DOI: 10.1177/0895904815586857](DOI: 10.1177/0895904815586857) [journals.sagepub.com/home/epx](journals.sagepub.com/home/epx) Quentin Brummet 1, Seth Gershenson2, and Michael S. Hayes3 Abstract Teacher churning likely harms student achievement. However, the phenomenon of within-school grade-level teacher reassignments is understudied. The current study provides descriptive evidence on the frequency and predictors of within-school teacher grade switching using both longitudinal administrative data from Michigan and nationally representative survey data. About 7% of self-contained classroom teachers change grades following any given school year. Inexperienced teachers are relatively more likely to switch grades, and grade-level reassignments are inequitably distributed across both schools and students. For example, urban schools experience significantly higher rates of grade switching. Charter schools experience significantly less grade switching than traditional public schools. Keywords teacher retention, teaching assignments, school quality, teacher turnover Teacher turnover, whether measured by attrition from the profession or mobility across schools, can disrupt the functioning of schools in a myriad of ways. For example, high rates of teacher turnover may reduce instructional 1 U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C., USA 2American University, Washington, D.C., USA 3Rutgers University–Camden, Camden, NJ, USA Corresponding Author: Seth Gershenson, Assistant Professor, School of Public Affairs, American University, Washington, DC 20016, USA. Email: [gershens@american.edu](gershens@american.edu) quality, destabilize schools, and disrupt schools’ curriculums and course offerings (Shields et al., 2001) . Indeed, recent research finds empirical support for the claim that teacher turnover harms student achievement over and above its effect on the distribution of teacher quality (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013). Within-school teaching reassignments (i.e., grade-level and subject changes) have similar consequences, as evidence from New York City suggests that within-school teacher churning harms the academic achievement of middle school students (Atteberry, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2014) . Moreover, within-school grade-level reassignments potentially undermine student achievement by reducing teachers’ grade-specific teaching experience, which has been shown to be relatively more important than general teaching experience (Ost, 2014) . This evidence has led observers to argue that principals should think carefully about how to best allocate teachers to grades and subjects, as such decisions are typically non-controversial yet may have substantial effects on student achievement (Jacob & Rockoff, 2011) . However, the large literature on the distribution of teacher turnover generally ignores the within-school sorting of primary-school teachers into grade levels. This is a potentially important omission, as student achievement is affected not only by the number of teachers new to the school or profession, but also by the number of teachers who are teaching in a new assignment or grade level. Moreover, we show that within-school rates of grade switching are similar in magnitude to both rates of attrition from the profession and mobility across schools. Well-documented higher rates of teacher turnover in low-performing and high-poverty schools (e.g., Hanushek, Kain, & Rivkin, 2004; Ingersoll, 2001; Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2002) suggest that such schools may necessarily experience more shuffling of teachers across grade levels and subjects. An inequitable distribution of within-school churning in teaching assignments presents an additional challenge that

FAQs

How common are within-school grade-level teacher reassignments in Michigan?

About 7% of self-contained classroom teachers change grades following any given school year, based on Michigan longitudinal administrative data.

Which teacher characteristics predict grade switching?

Less experienced teachers are relatively more likely to switch grades, especially teachers who are new to their school.

How do school types and locations affect grade switching rates?

Urban schools experience significantly higher grade switching than others, while charter schools experience significantly less grade switching than traditional public schools.

Oct 15, 2026

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