Teacher Retention Research Articles

Exploring the technology teacher shortage in New Zealand: the implications for quality teaching and learning

The recruitment and retention of technology teachers in New Zealand is facing a potential crisis point. Worryingly, there are continuing misconceptions about the purpose and nature of technology education, and an ageing demographic in this sector of the teaching community. It is becoming increasingly difficult for schools to attract and appoint knowledgeable, qualified technology teachers. This paper reports research conducted by Technology Education New Zealand in 2020, which explored how the teacher shortage was impacting quality teaching and learning in the country. Initial survey findings indicate that most schools have experienced difficulty attracting qualified technology teachers. To address this issue, non-specialist teachers are being used from other learning areas. Schools have had to adapt their learning programmes to suit the teachers’ knowledge and skills, rather than be responsive and adaptive to their students’ learning needs or interests. The implications of the teacher shortage in technology education are discussed, and recommendations are made as a means to both raise awareness and mitigate risk for the subject’s future enactment in schools.

Building Capacity in the Successful Preparation of Teachers of Color: Effective Supports Beyond Graduation

The 2019 Kappa Delta Pi Teachers of Color Summit addressed three critical issues facing teacher education programs: recruitment, retention, and support of teachers of color upon graduation. This article targets strategies for teacher preparation programs to support teachers of color after graduation.

Building Resilience in New and Beginning Teachers: Contributions of School Librarians

Building beginning teachers’ resilience may contribute to increasing teacher retention in the early years, in turn improving student academic achievement. School librarians contribute to developing teaching skills by mentoring new teachers. This qualitative study of first to third year teachers and school librarians investigated the contributions that school librarians made in building resilience of beginning teachers through a focus group of new teachers and interviews of school librarians. Findings show that school librarians may contribute to early career teacher resilience, especially during the first days of school, by encouraging perseverance, providing nourishment and empathy, and offering the library as a resource, especially for research.

Compensation and Composition: Does Strategic Compensation Affect Workforce Composition?

Theory suggests that strategic compensation can not only serve as a powerful motivational incentive to increase worker performance, but also improve the composition of the workforce through the attraction and retention of high performers and discouragement of lesser performers from entering or staying in the profession. This study tests the compositional hypothesis of employment relationships by studying teacher compensation and incentives. In Tennessee, some school districts developed incentive pay plans that provided teachers with bonus awards, while other districts incorporated incentive pay into their salary schedules. This article uses panel data on individual teachers and a difference-in-differences instrumental-variables approach to examine the impact of those incentive programs on teacher retention. We also draw on detailed strategic compensation plan information, including award payout information, to examine the relationship between type of strategic compensation system and teacher turnover. Our analysis suggests that the strategic compensation programs in Tennessee had a significant impact on teacher turnover in participating schools. Implications for educational research, practice, and policy are discussed.

Teaching the Teachers With Milestones: Using the ACGME Milestones Model for Professional Development.

Teaching the Teachers With Milestones: Using the ACGME Milestones Model for Professional Development.

In search of keeping good teachers: Mediators of teacher commitment to the profession

To better understand teacher retention, the thrust of the study was to investigate the relationships among principal support, teacher efficacy, collective efficacy and practicing teachers’ commitment to the profession. This study was designed to test the mediating role of teacher and collective efficacy beliefs on teacher commitment facilitating three mediation models. Data come from 260 public school teachers in the Washington DC area, aged between 20 and 69, who completed three questionnaires through which a predictive and mediation model of teacher commitment was tested. Teacher efficacy and collective efficacy beliefs were hypothesized to mediate the relations between the principal support and teachers’ commitment to teaching profession. Mediation regression modelling was used to test and validate these three models across the sample of K-12 teachers. Teacher collective efficacy beliefs were found to be partially mediated the relationship between principal support and teacher commitment to teaching profession whereas general teacher efficacy and personal teacher efficacy did not mediate the relationship between principal support and teachers’ commitment to the profession of teaching. The measures in this study can be used to guide professional development and measure how successful attempts are to increase teacher commitment.

Socio-Demographic Variables of Work Engagement, Psychological Capital and Turnover Intention among South African Teachers

This study sought to empirically assess whether the socio-demographic variables (age, race, gender, marital status, educational level, years employed, employment status, and home language) of teachers predict their work engagement, psychological capital and turnover intention. A quantitative study was conducted using a non-probability, convenience sampling method on teachers working in the Tshwane South District in Gauteng, South Africa (N = 208). Biographical data were collected. Questionnaires of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, the Turnover Intention Scale, and Psychological Capital were used in the data collection. The results showed that education qualifications, race, tenure, and the age of high school teachers contribute when explaining their work engagement, psychological capital and turnover intention. The sample was predominantly characterised by African teachers, resulting in the under-representation of other races, and the size of the sample was not large enough to generalise the findings. These findings add valuable knowledge to the body of research and provide new insights that are aimed at enhancing the retention of high school teachers in underdeveloped countries. It is recommended that future research obtain a larger and a more representative sample to increase external validity.

Beginning Teacher Support Model: Elementary Teachers’ Resilience and Retention in Arizona

In the United States, beginning teacher retention rates are extraordinarily low; only 50% of teachers remain in the classroom after five years. In particular, the State of Arizona has been recruiting significant numbers of teachers from out of state and attempting to retain them with minimal success. This persistent problem has led the neediest of students to have teachers with lower levels of professional experience, leaving those students with continually lower achievement gains. Drawing on integrated action research and grounded theory methodology, this study’s took place in a large kindergarten to eighth grade elementary school district located in a high-poverty neighborhood in Arizona. The study invited six new teachers in their first year of teaching to explore innovative strategies to increase these teachers’ retention in the profession. The ultimate goal was to understand how such support might alter a beginning teacher’s perceptions of their own persistence and resilience in dealing with the challenges of first-year teaching, thereby reducing beginning teacher attrition. The study finds that teachers must be nurtured and cared for in order for them to fully devote their time and energy to effectively care for the students in their classroom. Increasing self-awareness and resiliency has the potential to create a ripple effect to retain more beginning teachers, as they become more likely to persevere, ask for help, connect with others, and achieve a healthy life/work balance while positively impacting students and their community.

Complementary Review of the Literature on Attrition and Retention Patterns of Special Education Teachers of Color: What We Know and How We Move Forward

Abstract The attrition and retention of special education teachers of color (SETOC) is a concern for school district leaders who are seeking racially and ethnically minoritized teachers to work with students of color with disabilities. We reviewed 47 articles from 2002 to 2020 regarding factors related to the attrition and retention of special education teachers (SET) to better understand the racial characteristics of the participants in the studies and to compare and contrast whether SETOC provide reasons for why they stay or leave that vary from reasons provided by their White colleagues. We found that researchers examining SETs have mostly ignored race and ethnicity when analyzing factors in the attrition and retention of SETs. Although empirical research on the topic is scarce, the articles that were analyzed in this review that also included an analysis of the experiences of SETOC often was framed using a racial lens in understanding factors that may cause them to stay in or leave the profession. We conclude with a discussion of major takeaways from the literature and recommendations for promoting a more robust research agenda on this topic for future considerations.

Complementary Review of the Literature on Attrition and Retention Patterns of Special Education Teachers of Color: What We Know and How We Move Forward

Complementary Review of the Literature on Attrition and Retention Patterns of Special Education Teachers of Color: What We Know and How We Move Forward

Why Become a Teacher? Exploring Motivations for Becoming Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia Science and Mathematics Teachers in Australia

There is an identified shortage of mathematics and science teachers across Australia and many of these teachers leave the profession within 3 to 5 years of graduating. This paper provides important insights on what motivates people to become science and mathematics teachers in Australia. Data drawn from two surveys, one investigating why students might become a teacher and the other examining why teachers joined the profession, are explored to provide unique insight into an area of need. Using descriptive statistics and Spearman’s rho, results suggest contribution to society and love of subject area to be among the top motivators for becoming a teacher. Financial reward and parental occupation were found to be less selected motivators. Although differences existed between the two cohorts suggesting motivations may change, similarities provide focus for future recruitment and retention of science and mathematics teachers for higher education institutions and education policy makers.

Boko Haram Violence on Western Schools System in Yobe State of Nigeria

The study is aimed at assessing the effects of Boko Haram Violence on Western schools System in Yobe State, Nigeria. One objective was formulated to guide the study, specifically to establish how Boko Haram violence has affected western schools’ system in Yobe State. A descriptive research design was adopted in which the instruments for data collection was a 10 items questionnaire based on 4-point Likert’s scale of staff of Yobe State universal Basic education Board, teachers, head of schools and PTA/Community members were conducted as a means of generating primary data. The data collected was analyzed using the descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation analysis through a statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 16.0 Version) using frequency tables and percentage. The study findings among other revelations discovered that Boko Haram has attacked schools resulting in the indiscriminate destruction of school’s infrastructure and the teaching and learning materials, loss of teachers, killing and kidnapping of school children as well as recruiting children of school going age as suicide bombers and spies. This therefore, has negatively affected the quality and standards of western schools’ system in Yobe State. The study recommended that the federal government should ensure educational facilities are adequately secured, especially in the northern States to forestall attacks on the school which claim the lives of pupils and their teachers alike, while also leading to wanton destruction of school’s infrastructure. Equally, the schools being destroyed by the Boko Haram should be rebuilt and children should be encouraged to go back to schools. Teachers, particularly in Yobe State and northern part of the country should be motivated by special allowances to ameliorate them from untold hardship they suffer as a result of Boko Haram violence. This ensures a high rate of retention of teachers in the school system. On school’s internal security system daily school attendance record books should be adopted by the all schools in Yobe State, likewise students’ movement record book should be introduced and kept by teachers with a daily report to the school head. This will make the school authorities to understand and have controls of the school internal security system during the school hours for the betterments of the students, teachers/personnel within the school environment and society at large.

Exploring Racialized Factors to Understand Why Black Mathematics Teachers Consider Leaving the Profession

Research on the attrition of teachers of color suggests that, under certain organizational conditions, they leave teaching at higher rates than other teachers. Additionally, research has identified microaggressions experienced by Black teachers. Building on the literature, we explored how racism and microaggressions may help us understand Black mathematics teachers’ attrition. We designed and administered the Black Teachers of Mathematics Perceptions Survey and found that teachers’ experiences of microaggressions accounted for most of the variance in our modeling of teachers’ thoughts of leaving the profession. These data reveal that anti-Black, racist microaggressions should be addressed as organizational conditions to be mitigated. From a critical quantitative perspective, the data reveal sociocultural and sociopolitical influences that often go unnoticed in large-scale policy work.

EFFECT OF CAREER ADVANCEMENT ON RETENTION OF SCIENCE TEACHERS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KISUMU COUNTY, KENYA: A MIXED METHOD APPROACH

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of career advancement on retention of science teachers in public secondary schools in Kisumu County, Kenya. Embedded research design was adopted for the study. Target population included 905 respondents which comprised 221 principals and 684 science teachers from 221 public secondary schools in Kisumu County. Stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques were employed to sample 277 respondents who included 68 principals and 209 science teachers from 68 public secondary schools. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used to collect data. Validity of the data collection instruments was determined through expert judgment whereas reliability was ascertained through internal consistency method using Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient formula. Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 22.0 facilitated analysis of quantitative data. Descriptive statistics, namely; frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation were used to analyze quantitative data while thematic approach was used to analyze qualitative data. Regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between career advancement and retention as well as to test the hypotheses. The study revealed that career advancement had a statistically significant effect on retention; training (β =.134, p = 060 > .05); career path (β = .062, p = .382 > .05) and promotion (β = .257, p = .000 Article visualizations:

Which Principal is the Right Principal? Student Achievement, School Finances, and Community Stakeholders

When a struggling high school may be placed on turnaround status during a bid for a school bond, the district considers replacing a beloved principal with a record of low test scores with an unpopular principal whose record shows increased student achievement. The school board must decide whether to prioritize finances, community support, student achievement, or state-level demands. This case presents many difficult decisions schools and districts are required to make. Key factors discussed in the case include principal turnover, student academic achievement, teacher retention, school culture, and power.

How Educational Leaders Can Initiate Mentoring Relationships to Support Their Newest Faculty Members

The number of teachers who enter and exit the field of education within their first five years in the profession is said to be near 40-50 percent (Ingersoll, 2012). First-year public school teacher attrition rates have increased from 21.4% in 1988 to 28.5% in 2004 (Ingersoll & Merrill, 2010). At a time when the number of new teachers exiting the profession within the first five years is 40-50 percent (Ingersoll, 2012), something must be done to support new teachers so they can remain and become successful in their field. Research suggests that students who receive instruction from high quality teachers are more likely to show academic gains. How can students get what they need if teacher turnover is so alarmingly high? Teachers need ongoing and job-embedded support to remain in this challenging profession. By combining the two powerful approaches of mentoring and coaching, educational leaders can foster reciprocal relationships between novice and seasoned teachers while increasing the likelihood that the rates of teacher retention could improve dramatically. Schools with mentoring programs in place reported greater new teacher retention rates as compared to those schools without mentoring programs in place (Di Carlo, 2015).

Special development: The nature, content, and structure of special education teachers’ professional learning opportunities

Professional development can support teachers and improve teaching. Special education teachers engage in complex work while implementing special education policy and integrating disabled students. This study applies the occupational perspective to portray the nature of special education teachers’ professional learning opportunities and offer suggestions on how to optimize professional learning experiences for these teachers. We present findings from a phenomenological study of special education teachers’ professional learning opportunities in Connecticut, USA. We surface the extent to which induction for new teachers and the content and structure of professional development align with tenets of effective professional development. While induction experiences and specialized professional development sessions presented strengths, we ascertained gaps in teachers’ opportunities for collaborative, contextualized professional development. We describe how professional development shapes the socialization and professional identity of special education teachers with consequences for teacher retention and the implementation of special education services.

British teachers’ declining job quality: evidence from the Skills and Employment Survey

ABSTRACT I analyse trends in teachers’ job quality in Britain, using the framework of the European Foundation for Living and Working Conditions, with data from the British Skills and Employment Survey. The issue of increasing concern is not work hours, which have remained long but stable; rather, teachers are working considerably more intensively than in earlier years. Moreover, their task discretion, their participation in work organisation and their training have declined. Their working time has also become less flexible. While the chances of promotion have increased since 1992, wages fell after 2006. Three indicators of teachers’ work-related well-being – Warr’s scales of Enthusiasm and Contentment, and the frequency of end-of-day exhaustion – have worsened since 2006. The changes in job quality account in part for the changes in well-being. Poor job quality is potentially important for understanding the problem of declining teacher retention.

Risk Factors and Resilience Strategies: Voices From Chinese Novice Foreign Language Teachers

In recent years, due to the concern of the high rate of burnout and attrition of teachers in their early career years, teacher resilience has become a vital theme in the study of their professional development. However, little has been done in China. This study contextualized teacher resilience development in Chinese universities and interviewed seven resilient novice foreign language (FL) teachers to explore risk factors confronting them in Chinese contexts and resilience strategies they have employed to cope with these challenges. In-depth interview data and informants' reflective journals were analyzed inductively by using thematic analysis. The results of the study unfolded risk factors peculiar to Chinese context, and novices' adoption of resilience strategies was found to involve teachers' highly selective and dynamic interaction with risk and protective factors, and individual agency manifested itself as an important factor in novice FL teacher resilience development.

Attracting, retaining and sustaining early childhood teachers: an ecological conceptualisation of workforce issues and future research directions

A well-qualified, well-paid, stable workforce with high psychological and emotional wellbeing is critical to the provision of quality early childhood education and care, yet workforce shortages and high turnover persist in Australia and internationally. This paper uses ecological theory to conceptualise and make sense of findings from research that has investigated the recruitment, retention and wellbeing of early childhood teachers in Australia. The theoretical framing of early childhood teacher workforce issues proffered in the paper highlights the utility of considering these issues from a holistic ecological perspective. Analysis of Australian early childhood workforce studies draws attention to the need for large-scale, longitudinal research that holistically investigates influences on the attracting, retaining and sustaining of early childhood teachers, and the impact of these influences on teacher quality.