A new Public Policy Institute study examines retention of new teachers in California schools, assessing the impact on retention of two oft-competing solutions: improved compensation and better induction.

The study finds that a good induction program, including mentoring, was generally more effective for keeping teachers on the job than better pay. Both, however, improve retention. During the early 1990s, districts that adopted Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) programs improved retention for the two groups of teachers in the study: 26 percent for teachers with multiple-subject certification and 16 percent for teachers with single subject certification. Within the same period, a $4,000 increase in starting salary improved retention in the first group by 17 percent, and the second group by 9 percent.

Appropriately, the authors think these findings point to California putting more of its dollars into induction over starting pay, especially since teacher induction programs cost less than raising starting pay--a great consideration for the budget-strapped Golden State. The authors recommend that that policymakers include teachers with traditional credentials as well, in what is now only a program for alternatively certified teachers.