This project study addressed the problem of induction teacher attrition at a rural middle school in the Southeastern United States. The study consisted of a program evaluation of a new induction program to ascertain the program's effectiveness in reducing induction teacher attrition. The theoretical framework for this study was Social constructivism. The goals of the evaluation were to (a) examine evidence supporting the effectiveness of the program, (b) identify whether the program helped the school to meet its new-teacher retention goals, and (c) evaluate induction program processes for their possible revision and improvement at other rural middle schools. A qualitative summative program evaluation using an anonymous online survey was used to gather qualitative data from 19 induction contract teachers at the school. Text analysis was used to search and categorize responses and identify frequently used words and phrases. The results showed that the revised induction program did not influence attrition positively or negatively. However, participation in the induction program provided a positive social outlet for new teachers at the school. The evaluation report included recommendations for program improvement, including the hiring of additional staff to improve induction teacher attrition rates. Implementation of these recommendations may affect positive social change by improving rural induction programs and induction teacher retention.

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The body of research related to teacher retention continues to grow but is limited concerning middle school teachers. The focus of this study was to examine the factors of job satisfaction for middle school teachers. A portion of the study compares teacher responses with Herzberg, Mausner, and Snyderman's 1959 study of motivation. Additional components of the study provide middle school teachers' feedback on their dispositions and recommendations to administrators and others for attracting and retaining quality middle school teachers. This qualitative study includes a review of related literature and includes a historical perspective of job satisfaction and a discussion of Herzberg's Two-Factor Motivation Theory. Teacher job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, along with current trends in teacher retention efforts, complete the review of literature. Data for the findings were obtained from a demographic survey and semi-structured interviews of current and former middle school teachers. The data were then analyzed to learn what factors encourage middle school teachers to remain in the classroom or to leave. Responses related to teacher dispositions were also analyzed. Findings of this study validate the research of Gawel (1997) based on Bellot and Tutor; salary was not found to be the highest motivator as in the Herzberg study. Instead, participants identified the work itself, their enjoyment of the early adolescent student, and their relationships with co-workers to be important areas of job satisfaction and what keeps them returning to their middle school classrooms. The personal dispositions identified by participants as necessary to being successful as a middle school teacher were a good sense of humor, a love of the age group, and being energetic, flexible, organized, enthusiastic, consistent, and firm. This study will be of interest to universities and colleges with teacher preparatory programs. It will be of interest, also, to school administrators, principals, and staff development directors in their attempts to attract and retain quality middle school teachers in their schools. In addition, the study should be of interest of boards of education, state legislators who fund education, and State Departments of Education.

Over two million new K–12 teachers will be employed in the United States over this decade. Current conservative estimates state that close to thirty percent of new teachers hired to fill these positions will leave the teaching profession within the first three years. This study was designed to obtain current information about accredited teacher credentialing institutions with regards to how they affect teacher longevity in the teaching profession. Utilizing current research as a guide for determining what is needed to bolster the new teacher's ability to cope with the demands of the classroom, this research polled credentialing institutions in the state of California to determine if the elements existed within their programs. This study then presented the findings from the researcher created survey, the review of course catalogues, and follow-up interviews conducted for clarification. This research found that while ninety percent of the responses from the returned surveys agreed that teacher preparation programs do have a responsibility to affect teacher retention there are elements within all current programs surveyed that are missing.

Teacher turnover is a well-studied phenomenon, particularly in highly urbanized locales, but not well researched in a state as geographically and demographically diverse as Pennsylvania, which is a composition of two major metropolitan areas combined with smaller urban centers and expansive rural regions. Those retention studies that do exist have been mainly exclusive to the Philadelphia region, with limited research devoted to the remainder of the state. This lack of a comprehensive empirical approach that compares turnover in three distinct settings limits a nuanced understanding of the issue and, in turn, can lead to incomplete policy considerations. This study utilizes Pennsylvania Department of Education data from 2012-2017, which describes the entire public-school workforce in all local education agencies (LEAs), to study how compensation and auxiliary spending (per student spending sans instructional costs) influence teacher turnover using multiple, parallel Cox Proportional Hazards survival models. Findings suggest that despite a “one size fits all” approach to public school funding policy popular amongst politicians on both sides of the political aisle, the effects of a monetary increase in reducing the likelihood of turnover varies considerably when accounting for the region, Title I status, experience and subject matter. The study highlights how the lack of monetary investment can lead teachers to seek employment elsewhere since low pay functions as a strong demotivator. Additionally, the results suggest that while a pay raise may arrest turnover risk, it is a poor long-term motivator or cause of job satisfaction. The study concludes by offering state and LEA leaders with policy recommendations that may improve both retention and job satisfaction. To date, this is the only study in the current literature that explores teacher turnover extensively in the nation’s fifth most populous state. / Urban Education

Teacher attrition is a state and local concern. Teachers leaving the profession before they reach the age of retirement is costly to school divisions, hinders school achievement, and negatively affects student success. Studies of teacher attrition and retention state teachers are leaving the workforce and pointing to adverse working conditions of teaching in the schools as the main stressor. Increasing teacher resilience may be a pathway to increasing teacher retention in schools. The negative factors associated with teaching in high poverty elementary public schools present challenges that are driving away teachers in their beginning years as well as those with the most experience. Currently, resilience studies have taken on a profession oriented lens. Teacher resilience is how teachers overcome personal and job related challenges to become more resilient and therefore more equipped to manage stress associated with teaching in today's schools. This study uses a survey and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-25 to measure and compare the resilience of two groups of elementary teachers in Southwest Virginia. Teachers from high poverty (≥90%) and lower poverty (≤50%) elementary public schools were identified by their levels of Free and Reduced Price Lunch and qualification for the Community Eligibility Provision. The CD-RISC-25 resulted in statistically insignificant differences between the mean resilience scores between the two groups of teachers, however, the interviews with ten elementary school principals described and delineated the differences between the challenges faced by teachers in high poverty schools compared to teachers in lower poverty schools. / Doctor of Education / The number of teachers leaving the profession before reaching the age of retirement is a state and national concern. The cycle of replacing teachers who leave the classroom is costly to school divisions, negatively influences teachers' working conditions, functions as a barrier to consistent student achievement, and hinders the overall success of the school. Studies of the conditions influencing teachers who leave the profession indicate adverse working conditions as the primary concern. The negative factors associated with teaching in high poverty elementary public schools places additional stress and a litany of challenges for teachers to overcome before they are able to start the instructional day as well as maintain a status quo in the classroom. Currently resilience studies are taking on a profession oriented lens. Teacher resilience results from their capacity to overcome personal and job related challenges to become more resilient and therefore more equipped to manage stress associated with teaching in today's schools. Teachers have a complex set of internal systems (parent, spouse, daughter/son, sibling) interacting within a highly stressful professional environment ( high poverty elementary schools) using multiple skill sets (instruction, behavior management, record keeping, and counseling) at varying degrees of expertise (beginning teacher, experienced teacher, and master teacher). This study investigates the resilience of two groups of teachers working in Southwest Virginia public elementary schools. The first group of teachers were from high poverty elementary schools while the second group of teachers were from lower poverty elementary schools. A survey and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale-25 (CD-RISC-25) measured individual teachers' resilience for comparisons between the two groups of teachers. Findings showed there were no statistically significant differences between the resilience of teachers in high poverty elementary schools and lower poverty elementary schools. In addition, there were no statistically significant relationships between teacher resilience, teachers choosing to remain in the profession, and teachers deciding to leave the profession. In contrast to the survey and CD-RISC- the differences between these two groups of teachers derived from the interviews with ten elementary school principals. The comments provided an in-depth perspective to the challenges of working in a high poverty elementary school as compared to a lower poverty elementary school. Understanding the role of resilience in Southwest Virginia teachers in both the high poverty and lower elementary schools may add to plausible policies, workable practices, and engaging professional development dedicated to increasing teachers' abilities to withstand the stressors associated with teaching in a public or private school.

Teacher shortages throughout the country have been an issue for school divisions and leaders. The demand for teachers has increased, while the number of teachers entering and graduating from teacher preparation programs is decreasing (Sutcher et al., 2016). Increased teacher demands by school divisions, schools, families, and testing requirements have contributed to declining teacher job satisfaction and teacher retention. Teachers are leaving high poverty, high minority schools for more affluent schools (Hanushek et al., 2004). The challenge of retaining quality teachers affects schools with diverse populations and high poverty, thus contributing to achievement gaps between minority and non-minority groups (Garcia and Weiss, 2019). Teachers in high poverty or high minority schools, mostly categorized as Title I schools, report low teacher job satisfaction levels, translating into high teacher turnover. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify principal practices that impact teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools in a large suburban Central Virginia school division. The researcher sought to gain insight from Title I elementary teachers on the factors that they identified as impacting their job satisfaction and retention in their Title I elementary school. Title I elementary principals were interviewed and asked to identify their practices that they perceived to impact teacher job satisfaction and retention. The researcher sought to identify common factors identified by both Title I elementary principals and teachers in impacting teacher job satisfaction and retention. The intended outcome of this study was to provide Title I elementary principals and school division leaders with qualitative data to improve teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools. Data collection included five principal interviews and five teacher focus groups with 16 teachers in Title I elementary schools. An analysis of the data indicated that both teachers and principals perceived support, professional respect, relationships, climate, community, and collaboration to impact teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools. It is anticipated that this study's results could help Title I elementary principals and school divisions with high teacher turnover implement practices to impact teacher job satisfaction and teacher retention in Title I elementary schools; thereby improving consistent, quality instruction and student achievement. / Doctor of Education / Teacher shortages throughout the country have been an issue for school divisions and leaders. The demand for teachers has increased, while the number of teachers entering and graduating from teacher preparation programs, and remaining in the profession is decreasing. High poverty, high minority schools, and/or Title I schools are impacted more severely by the teacher retention challenges (Garcia and Weiss, 2019; Sutcher et al., 2016). The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify principal practices that impact teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools in a large suburban Central Virginia school division. The researcher sought to gain insight from Title I elementary teachers on the factors that they identified as impacting their job satisfaction and retention in their Title I elementary school. Title I elementary principals were interviewed and asked to identify their practices that they perceived to impact teacher job satisfaction and retention. The researcher sought to identify common factors identified by both Title I elementary principals and teachers in impacting teacher job satisfaction and retention. The intended outcome of this study was to provide Title I elementary principals and school division leaders with qualitative data to improve teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools. Data were collected from five principal interviews and five teacher focus groups with 16 teachers in Title I elementary schools. An analysis of the data indicated that both teachers and principals perceived support, professional respect, relationships, climate, community, and collaboration to impact teacher job satisfaction and retention in Title I elementary schools. It is anticipated that this study's results could help Title I elementary principals and school divisions with high teacher turnover implement practices to impact teacher job satisfaction and teacher retention in Title I elementary schools; thereby improving consistent, quality instruction and student achievement.

Teacher retention is a growing issue that plagues schools across America (Grissom, 2011). Consequently, urban high poverty, high minority schools face even greater challenges as they expect to lose approximately 50% of their teachers within their first five years on the job. According to Grissom (2011), school working conditions explain both teacher turnover and teacher satisfaction, and principal effectiveness has a significant positive impact on teacher retention, especially in disadvantaged schools. The purpose of this study was to examine leadership practices teachers and principals perceive to influence teacher retention in urban, high- poverty, high- minority schools. A basic qualitative research design was employed to gain an in-depth understanding of teachers' and principals' perceptions of how school climate and culture, instructional leadership, school mission and vision, and teacher development impact teacher retention in urban, hard- to- staff schools. Data collection included individual and focus group interview data from five principals and 17 teachers with longevity in urban, high-poverty, high-minority schools in Southeastern Virginia. An analysis of the data indicated that administrative support, principal-teacher relationships, shared leadership, clear expectations and instructional leadership are essential to teacher retention in urban, hard-to-staff schools. The results of this study may impact the recruitment and development of school leaders by both districts and school leadership programs. / Ed. D.

Teacher retention rates are staggeringly low across the United States. Nearly 20% of public school teachers leave their position from one year to the next, a majority of schools have a turnover rate of 50% every three years, and over 50% of teachers leave the education field within the first five years of employment. This retention problem impacts all type of public school systems—urban, suburban, and rural school districts. This study examined teacher retention in elementary and secondary schools in three rural school districts in eastern Kentucky. Review of district and school documents about teacher retention informed the selection of participants. School districts and specific schools in rural eastern Kentucky with higher retention rates than the average teacher retention of public schools in Kentucky were study sites. Data were collected through individual interviews with superintendents and principals and through focus-group interviews with teachers to gain their perspectives about what influenced the higher teacher retention. Analysis of data identified themes for high teacher retention. The findings suggest that a strong familial school culture among teachers and with school administrators positively impacts teacher retention. High teacher retention is also influenced by Appalachian culture and teachers' desires to contribute to the local community beyond the school building and have a positive impact on the future of the local community’s youth.

ABSTRACT SECONDARY-SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR ROLE IN THE RETENTION OF NOVICE TEACHERS Theresa J. Coker Secondary schools in the U.S. face instructional challenges due in part to novice teacher turnover. Research indicates that new teachers remain in the profession due to: supportive principal leadership, an orderly school environment, classroom autonomy, and significant professional development (Grissom, 2008). The purpose of this study was to understand how secondary-school principals perceived their role in novice teachers’ professional development and retention. Qualitative research using in-depth, semi-structured interviews included 15 secondary-school administrators from an urban district in the southeast United States. Data analysis used Eisner’s (1998) four-part approach to educational criticism—description, interpretation, evaluation, and thematics—supported by Hatch’s (2002) typological analysis. Four typologies organized description and interpretation: principals’ early experiences as educators; principals’ perceptions of the recruitment process; principals’ view of the process of professional development; and life and duties of principals. The thematics dimension of educational criticism indicated that principals’ lack of time led to their delegating leadership tasks to other staff regarding novice teachers’ professional development. Their descriptions of their interactions with novice teachers reflected a transactional leadership style and an approach of “leading from the middle” (Bolman & Gallos, 2011) to respond to both demands from above and needs at the school level. Further, these principals perceived all teachers new to their schools as novice, whether experienced or inexperienced. Implications include considering transformational leadership when working with novice teachers and clarifying hiring and retention responsibilities regarding novice teachers. Such communication among all parties would support novice teachers’ development and commitment to the profession. Further research might focus on observing the interactions of both administrators and faculty with novice teachers to understand the complexity of the process of their professional development.