Performance and Turnover in the Narrowest Silos: How Instructional Isolation Relates to Teacher Labor Market Outcomes

• Published in: Peabody journal of education Vol. 100; no. 2; pp. 182 - 197
• Main Authors: Guthrie, J. Edward, Patrick, Susan Kemper
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 15.03.2025; Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Curricula; English language; Labor market; Schools; Statistical significance; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Persistence; Teachers; Teaching
• ISSN: 0161-956X; 1532-7930
• DOI: 10.1080/0161956X.2025.2483140

Teaching assignment shapes the daily work of teachers, as do different structural features of schools (like size) and assignment decisions (like specializing within a subject area). This study explores the experiences of "instructionally isolated" teachers who are the only teacher with a given teaching assignment in their school. Instructionally isolated teachers may have less access to collaboration, colleagues, and resources because they are the only teacher in their school delivering a specific curriculum associated with a tested subject. Using statewide data from Tennessee, we examined whether teacher retention and teacher performance-as measured by value-added-vary when teachers have isolated assignments. Isolated teachers tend to teach in schools with lower turnover, but teachers with isolated assignments have slightly higher turnover rates compared to same-grade or same-subject peers in their district. Being instructionally isolated is associated with higher performance ratings but its strength and statistical significance varies across grade bands and subject areas. The positive relationship between isolation and performance is strongest in English language arts across all grade levels and science in Grades 3-8.