Teacher retention remains an issue nationally (Ingersoll & Tran, 2023). CCSD, a high-achieving school district in Tennessee, sought factors influencing teacher retention locally. This mixed-methods study examined differences in retention rates of teachers in CCSD and used interview and survey data to better understand factors related to…

Teacher retention remains an issue nationally (Ingersoll & Tran, 2023). CCSD, a high-achieving school district in Tennessee, sought factors influencing teacher retention locally. This mixed-methods study examined differences in retention rates of teachers in CCSD and used interview and survey data to better understand factors related to…

Teacher retention remains an issue nationally (Ingersoll & Tran, 2023). CCSD, a high-achieving school district in Tennessee, sought factors influencing teacher retention locally. This mixed-methods study examined differences in retention rates of teachers in CCSD and used interview and survey data to better understand factors related to…

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…

We develop a unifying conceptual framework for understanding and predicting teacher shortages at the state, region, district, and school levels. We then generate and test hypotheses about geographic, grade level, and subject variation in teacher shortages using data on teaching vacancies in Tennessee during the fall of 2019. We find that teacher…

Nobody goes into teaching to get rich, but that's no excuse not to pay teachers as professionals. Compensation is one of the most important factors in determining who enters the teaching profession and how long they stay--yet 90 percent of all U.S. school districts pay teachers without any regard for their actual performance with students,…

While most teachers in Tennessee remain in their positions for many years, it is also the case that some of the most effective teachers depart each year, either to go teach in a different school, a different district, or sometimes to leave the profession entirely. Not all of these moves are avoidable, but finding ways to retain as many high…

In 1987, the State Board of Education cited a shortage of minority teachers in Tennessee. In 1988, The Tennessee Task Force on the Supply of Minority Teachers issued several recommendations--most of which were implemented--to increase the number of minority teachers. In 1989, House Joint Resolution 36 also requested an annual report on the status…

A state-wide survey based on a representative sampling of members of the 89th General Assembly was conducted to explore attitudes concerning the quality of education in Tennessee. Areas covered by the survey included the attitudes of the General Assembly members toward teachers, teachers' salaries, and age of retirement. The survey was designed…