A Tough Assignment

New research suggests school leaders need to be more thoughtful about new teacher placements—and the whole nexus of related working conditions.

In looking at four broad factors related to teacher assignments in the Los Angeles School District—instructional load, homophily, colleague qualifications, and professional culture—researchers of urban education policy at the University of Southern California discovered three main lessons for practice: First, that teacher working conditions are complicated and can't always easily be summarized as "good" or "bad." Second, that "novice" teachers—which they define as teachers in their first five years in the classroom—often have the most challenging assignments. And finally, that education leaders need to find ways to improve working conditions for all teachers whenever possible.