The significance of the project was to answer the call of California schools in their plight to stop attrition and retain teachers. This project alone or in conjunction with other programs offered by schools/school districts gives them another tool to reach their goal of 100% teacher retention. It is the belief of this project that the problems with retention could be diminished if not eliminated, by giving beginning teachers a handbook.

MEDEM / Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management

Teachers who are not adequately prepared to teach struggling students often seek employment elsewhere rather than be ineffective with those students. When teachers leave the classroom, this has a vast impact on student learning. For the past 9 years, a high school in the southeast United States for students at risk of not graduating has had an average annual teacher turnover rate of 31.25%, nearly twice the national rate of 15.9%. The purpose of this study was to learn the kinds of training and knowledge teachers believed would help them to succeed in teaching students struggling to graduate. Constructivist theory served as a framework for this qualitative case study design that sought to answer what are the needs of teachers of at risk learners, and learn the kind of support they needed. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 core teachers during the 2014-2015 school year and document analysis of professional development yielded data that were analyzed for emergent themes. A key theme was a perceived lack of adequate support from both the school and the district. Participants wanted help from psychologists and mental health counselors, professional development (PD) to develop content-specific strategies and alternative pedagogical strategies, and time for collaboration with colleagues. Based on study findings, 3 days of PD training were developed that will allow time for teachers and administration to work together. Results also provide research-based data that may be applicable to other schools and school districts serving a similar population. Supporting teachers of students at risk of not graduating should improve teachers' job satisfaction and retention, and improve student achievement, resulting in positive social change for society.

No description available.

Schools are among the most important contributors to human capital development. Over the past few decades, the education sector has witnessed two significant trends that highlight the complex challenges and opportunities that schools currently face. First, there is a growing concern over the quality of the public school system. In response, school choice initiatives have become increasingly common, proposed as a means to introduce competitive forces into the education market, thereby incentivizing incumbent schools to enhance their quality. Second, the impact of climate change on human capital development has become increasingly apparent. The education system is particularly vulnerable to disruptions caused by climate-induced adverse events, such as natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks, which are growing more frequent and severe. This dissertation examines the consequences of these two important trends, aiming to provide insights into their implications for education policy. In the first chapter, I study the impact of competitive pressures on school resource allocation and the consequent impact on student achievement. Using administrative data in North Carolina, I examine the impact of nearby charter openings on the class structure and the allocation of teachers to students within traditional public schools (TPSs). I find that TPSs experience a significant attrition of teachers and a disproportionate exodus of economically advantaged and high-achieving students to charter schools. Subsequently, TPSs reduce the number of classes, resulting in a significant increase in both class size and the student-teacher ratio. Faced with the dual pressures of enlarged class sizes and the necessity of maintaining school proficiency rates dictated by accountability systems, TPSs undertake measures to enhance the allocation equity and efficiency of teaching resources. This involves a strategic reassignment of more high-quality teachers to disadvantaged students, and the enhancement in teacher-student racial matching. These effects remain consistent after accounting for changes in the composition of both teachers and students at the school level before and after the introduction of charter schools. Exposure to charter schools does not significantly affect the average standardized test scores in Math for TPSs, but it does lead to a noticeable increase in school proficiency rates. The second chapter studies the implications of alternative school choice designs for the equity and efficiency in the allocation of teachers within TPSs. This chapter develops and estimates an empirical model of school choice and school competition to characterize how TPSs reallocate teachers to students in response to competitive forces from charter schools, and the subsequent impacts on the distribution of student academic performance. I use administrative data from North Carolina to estimate the model with standard structural model estimation techniques. I utilize the model to assess the policy implications of expanding charter schools, decomposing the policy's effects into those stemming from student sorting and those from the reallocation of teachers (via the competition channel). I find that expanding the charter school sector effectively enhances equity in the distribution of high-quality teachers within TPSs and reduces achievement gaps, primarily through the competition channel. Additionally, optimizing the matching process between teachers and students can further facilitate allocative efficiency as a result of this policy. The third chapter focuses on the distributional effects of climate change on human capital development, with an acute emphasis on the suffering of the most disadvantaged students. We examine the causal effect of unexpected school closures due to wildfires on student academic achievement and the underlying mechanisms. We exploit exogenous variation in the intensity of wildfire school closures in California between 2009 and 2017 as a natural experiment. We find that wildfire school closures have negative effects on both English language arts and Math test scores. Students with lower socioeconomic status experience larger negative effects from such unexpected closures. Furthermore, we show that school time loss and air pollution are two important mechanisms contributing to the decline we measure in student achievement.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationships between job satisfaction, work engagement, and turnover intention of health science teachers in the state of Texas. The healthcare profession is one of the largest growing occupations in the U.S. nationwide. The job growth outlook for healthcare professionals is projected to be on average 34% between 2014 and 2024. Despite the growing healthcare job categories, there is a shortage of healthcare professionals in the U.S. This study addressed the shortage of health science teachers in secondary education. Considering the importance of healthcare, especially with an aging U.S. population, it is critical to study the impact of work engagement and job satisfaction on teacher intent to leave the health science teaching profession. Through a correlational survey research design it was found that job satisfaction and work engagement are negatively related to turnover intention. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that job satisfaction accounted for 39.6% of the variation in turnover intention. Findings also showed that work engagement did not moderate the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intention. Implications for research and practice are discussed and conclusions are provided.

Given issues in education concerning teacher shortages, the omnipresence of alternative certification programs and the growth of online programs in higher education, this study investigated teacher retention for 77 secondary education teachers who completed an online teacher preparation program in Texas. Teacher retention was examined from 2003-2013 and investigated the influence of factors such personal characteristics, working conditions and school setting characteristics on teacher retention. Data was collected electronically utilizing a survey instrument designed by two teacher education experts and I. A total of 21 variables and two open-ended questions were investigated using the survey instrument. Exploratory factor and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify a multi-factor model for teacher retention utilizing the participants' survey responses. These analyses yielded evidence of the program's effectiveness in preparing teachers for long careers. Specifically, the areas of program support, field experience, and classroom management were statistically significant factors that contributed positively to teacher retention. Additionally, variables outside the program, were examined. These factors included personal characteristics, working conditions, and school setting factors. The predictor model accounted for 56% of the variance; F (17, 54) = 3.015; p = < 0.001. In particular, working conditions contributed to 41% of the variance associated with the teacher retention model. A qualitative analysis of open-ended survey questions was used to further examine decisions to remain in teaching. Support of administration, colleagues, staff, and parents was shown to influence teacher retention.

Teacher attrition in schools is a common and ongoing phenomenon experienced nationally and internationally. Teacher attrition takes place continuously in schools either voluntarily or involuntarily in the form of retirement, resignation, transfer, dismissal, redeployment, ill-health and death, affecting the teaching and learning process in a negative way. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of female principals on teacher attrition. The study was conducted in the public schools of Tshwane West District of Gauteng Province. Transformational leadership theory and ethics of care theory underpinned this qualitative study positioned within the constructivist paradigm. A case study design was used to explore the case of teacher attrition. Purposive sampling was used to select the female principals to participate in this study. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews, observation and document analysis. Qualitative content analysis was employed for data analysis. The study found that teacher attrition affects schools negatively. It disrupts and destabilises the schools, affecting the morale of the teachers as well as affecting learner performance and discipline as it takes place throughout the academic year. The female principals employ various strategies to address the issue of teacher attrition and to motivate for teacher retention. The study recommended that female principals be empowered to enable them to cope with their role of managing teacher attrition. / Educational Management and Leadership / Ph. D. (Education (Educational Management and Leadership))

Abstracts in English, Zulu and Afrikaans / A qualitative study was conducted on the causes of teacher attrition from urban schools in the Gauteng and Western Cape provinces of South Africa. Besides identifying the causes of attrition, the study intended to determine what needs to be changed to entice teachers who have left the profession to return. The rationale of the study was founded on the teacher shortage in South Africa and the alarming rate of teacher attrition from the profession, coupled with the growing number of learners needing education. Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, with a consideration of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, formed the conceptual framework of the research. Fourteen participants, comprising seven teachers who have left the profession from each province, were interviewed using semi-structured interviews to inform the findings. From the data analysis, five factors were identified as the main causes of attrition. Recommendations on what should be done to encourage a return to the profession were based on the identified causes of teacher attrition and input from the participants. / Kwenziwe ucwaningo lwe-qualitative ngezimbangela zokuncipha kothisha ezikoleni zaseGauteng kanye naseNtshonalanga Kapa eNingizimu Afrika. Nangaphandle kokubheka izimbangela zokuncipha kothisha, ucwaningo belunenhloso yokubheka izinguquko ezidingekayo ukuhuha othisha abashiye iprofeshini ukubuyela ezikoleni. Isizathu socwaningo bekuwukusweleka kothisha eNingizimu Afrika kanye nezinga eliphezulu lokuncipha kwabo ezikoleni okuhambisana nenani elikhulayo labafundi abadinga imfundo. Ithiyori ka-Albert Bandura ye-self-efficacy kanye ne-Maslow's hierarcy of needs zibe wuhlaka lomqondo wocwaningo. Kwenziwa ama-interview nababambiqhaza abayishumi nane, abebequka othisha abayisikhombisa asebeshiye iprofeshini kwiprovinsi ngayinye ebalulwe ngenhla, ngokusebenzisa ama-semistructured interview ukuthola imiphumela. Ngokulandela ulwazi oluhlaziyiwe, kuphawulwe izinto ezinhlanu njengezimbangela ezinkulu zokuncipha kothisha. Kwenziwe izincomo ngokuthi yini okumele kwenziwe ukukhuthaza othisha ukubuyela kwiprofeshini ngokulandela izimbangela zokuncipha kothisha kanye nemibono evela kulabo ababambe iqhaza. / Daar is ’n kwalitatiewe studie uitgevoer oor die oorsake van natuurlike poste-afname van onderwysers in stedelike skole in die provinsies van Gauteng en die Wes-Kaap in Suid-Afrika. Buiten om die oorsake van natuurlike poste-afname te identifiseer, was die doel van die studie om te bepaal watter veranderinge nodig is om onderwysers wat die beroep verlaat het, oor te haal om terug te keer. Die beweegrede vir die studie was die tekort aan onderwysers in Suid-Afrika en die skrikwekkende tempo van die natuurlike poste-afname van onderwysers, tesame met die toenemende aantal leerders wat onderrig benodig. Albert Bandura se selfdoeltreffendheidsteorie en Maslow se hiërargie van behoeftes het die konseptuele raamwerk van die navorsing gevorm. Daar is onderhoude gevoer met ’n totaal van 14 deelnemers, bestaande uit sewe onderwysers wat die beroep verlaat het in elkeen van die bogenoemde provinsies. Halfgestruktureerde onderhoude is gebruik om die bevindings mee te deel. Uit die dataontleding is daar vyf faktore geïdentifiseer as die hoofoorsake van natuurlike poste-afname. Aanbevelings oor wat gedoen kan word om ’n terugkeer na die beroep aan te moedig is gebaseer op die geïdentifiseerde oorsake van natuurlike poste-afname en insette van die deelnemers. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)

The Diploma thesis focuses on the drop-out of beginning teachers. Theoretical part elaborates on the phenomenon of drop-out, it describes the reasons why the beginning teachers leave and why they are the group of teachers which is the most threatened by drop-out. Furthermore, this part describes problems that beginning teachers have to deal with and the most frequent reasons for leaving the profession, their rate and consequences of drop-out. The end of the theoretical part presents options and suggestions that would help solve this problem. The empirical part of the thesis is realized by an on-line questionnaire and in-depth interviews. The research focuses on four main aspects: 1 - the motivation to study the teaching and to practise it, 2 - the main reasons for new teachers to leave, 3 - the possibilities to prevent drop-out and 4 - whether the respondents continue to work with children or not. Last but not least, the research focuses on the possibilities that would help respondents to stay in the profession. The results of the research confirm the reasons for quiting as described by literature. The qualitative description of the reasons for drop-outs provides a deeper understanding of how they interact in an institutional, interactive and cultural level. KEYWORDS Induction period, teacher...