The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to describe experiences of building-level administrators in one urban school division in Virginia regarding preparation for having a role in retaining teachers and their perceptions of how well prepared they feel for that role. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews with 15 administrators, representing 21.4% of all administrators in the subject-site division. The study investigated three research questions: (1) What beliefs do building-level administrators have regarding their role in the retention of teachers? (2) What experiences have building-level administrators undergone to prepare them for a role in retaining teachers? and, (3) How well prepared do building-level administrators perceive themselves to be for their role in retaining teachers? The study asked participants to consider principal preparation programs, principal professional development, and on-the-job experiences. Findings indicated that participants believed their role in teacher retention to be important; however, they tended not to have experienced explicit preparation for teacher retention. Though participants reported experiencing some preparation for creating workplace conditions favorable to retention, there was a notable diversity in viewpoint and few workplace conditions listed by participants aligned with those noted in prior research. Participants reported that their preparation had been acquired primarily through on-the-job experiences. Findings indicated that participants did not feel they had been well prepared for a role in teacher retention. This study proposed implications to be considered by those who develop and provide principal preparation and principal professional development, state and local educational agencies, and building-level administrators who seek skills and knowledge that promote the retention of teachers in their buildings. / Doctor of Education / The purpose of this study was to describe preparation experiences of school administrators in one urban school division in Virginia relevant to having a role in retaining teachers, as well as their perceptions of how well prepared they believe they have been for that role. The researcher interviewed 15 administrators, representing 21.4% of all administrators in the division, to answer three research questions: (1) What beliefs do building-level administrators have regarding their role in the retention of teachers? (2) What experiences have building-level administrators undergone to prepare them for a role in retaining teachers? and, (3) How well prepared do building-level administrators perceive themselves to be for their role in retaining teachers? The study found that participants believed their role in teacher retention to be important; however, they tended not to have experienced explicit preparation about retaining teachers. Though participants reported experiencing some preparation for creating workplace conditions favorable to teacher retention, there was little agreement among participants about which workplace conditions do so. Few of the workplace conditions listed by participants in this study matched those noted in previous studies by other researchers. Participants reported that their preparation for having a role in teacher retention had been acquired primarily through on-the-job experiences. Participants reported that they did not feel they have been well prepared for a role in teacher retention. This study proposed implications to be considered by those who develop and provide principal preparation programs and principal professional development, state and local educational agencies, and building-level administrators who seek skills and knowledge that promote the retention of teachers in their buildings.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/114055 |
| Date | 07 March 2023 |
| Creators | Renard-Spicer, Lisa |
| Contributors | Counselor Education, Price, Ted S., Drewry, Julie Anne, Brinkmann, Jodie Lynn, Cash, Carol S. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
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