Teacher attrition is an ongoing issue in the United States and more specifically in the state of Missouri. This dissertation, using a qualitative approach, offers insights from teacher perceptions of school leadership and specific behaviors, skills, and leadership techniques that might bolster teacher retention. The research included interviews…

Teacher retention is an important factor to the school context. It governs the success of students and school organizational health. Without a healthy and committed teacher population, schools begin failing to serve the very people they aim to help. School districts and research have identified several factors that aid in teacher retention. These…

Missouri is struggling with teacher shortages. In its public schools, which serve nearly 900,000 students, shortages have typically been concentrated in urban and rural areas, and in content areas of special education, math, and science. Recently, however, shortages have begun broadly impacting more schools in more parts of the state and more…

Prior research has identified five in-school factors that impact teacher retention: positive school culture, supportive administration, strong professional development, mentoring programs, and classroom autonomy. While much of the national attention is focused on state or district-level policies to address the teacher retention crisis, this study…

Background: School district implementation of a four-day school week (4DSW) calendar has skyrocketed in recent years, despite little evidence regarding the impact on student and teacher outcomes. Between 1999 and 2019, the number of 4DSW districts increased by over 500% (Thompson et al., 2021). Since 2019, the rate of 4DSW adoption has increased…

Providing Missouri students a highly qualified, appropriately credentialed workforce has grown steadily more challenging over the past decade. Unsurprisingly, the pandemic made it even harder. Multiple surveys indicate Missouri educators' growing dissatisfaction over the last two years. These data, coupled with figures on declining enrollment in…

This mixed-method study sought to find specific factors influencing teachers in small, remote, rural school districts to continue teaching or to leave their teaching position. Additionally, this study sought to identify specific things district-level administrators could do influence teacher retention rates in small, remote, rural school…

Public school teachers retire much earlier than comparable professionals. Pension rule changes affecting new teachers can be used to close this gap in the long run, but any effects will not be observed for decades and the implications for workforce quality are unclear. This paper considers targeted incentive policies designed to deter retirement…

The academic and economic benefits of school spending are well-established, but focusing on these outcomes may underestimate the full social benefits of school spending. Recent increases in U.S. child mortality are driven by injuries and raise questions about what types of social investments could reduce child deaths. We use close school district…

The purpose of the study is to analyze disaggregate rural public teacher retention data to determine significant differences in retention by race, gender, and educational attainment. Missouri public schools in Northwest Missouri, who are considered rural through the years 2019-2021 were included in this study. ANOVA test results were analyzed to…

Salaries are one of the most powerful policy levers states and school districts can use to attract qualified, effective, and diverse teachers. What role do states play in supporting strategic use of salaries? This report examines the state teacher compensation policies that influence districts' potential strategic use of teacher pay. It analyzes…

The COVID-19 pandemic required schools to be more flexible in relation to their selection of an instructional modality, adopting virtual or hybrid schedules for instruction if face-to-face instruction was not possible (Rogers & Ishimoto, 2020). This change led to educators conducting classrooms virtually and interacting with students and…

Effective school leadership directly and indirectly influences the school setting and teacher and student outcomes (Eliophotou-Menon & Ioannou, 2016). The research of this study examined perceptions of active school teacher's perceptions of their rural superintendent's leadership to be effective in southwest Missouri schools. Kent's (2004)…

A four-day school week (4dsw) is becoming more common, especially in areas across the western United States. States with large rural areas are spearheading this change. For example, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have more than 500 districts using a 4dsw. The transition to the 4dsw and the debate over…

States and local education systems hold the primary responsibility for delivering public education in the United States. During the past several years, the quality of the American education system has become national policy priority, replete with school reform efforts designed to hold all students to high standards, increase student achievement,…