To learn more about the early career patterns of beginning teachers, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education undertook the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS). The ultimate purpose of this report is to develop a strategy for the longitudinal analysis…

Education reformers routinely call on school districts to stop hiring teachers based on seniority, which they argue interferes with effective staffing, especially in disadvantaged schools. The few researchers who have empirically studied the issue, however, disagree about whether seniority-based hiring is systematically associated with staffing…

According to the Carnegie Foundation, faculty job satisfaction has declined drastically over the past few decades at institutions of higher education (Shuster and Finkelstein, 2006). Researchers have also found that faculty satisfaction is critical to the vitality of colleges and universities (Clark, Corcoran, and Lewis, 1986; Farrell, 1983).…

The rate at which teachers depart the profession, especially teachers with 0-3 years of experience, is mounting. This attrition drastically impacts the quality of education public school students achieve. Therefore, this qualitative case study was designed to discover, if, and to what degree, the perceived influences of this first year experience…

The numbers are in, and they are not rosy. According to the "Schools and Staffing Survey," 64,954 public schools reported vacancies during the 2003-04 school year. Projections suggest teacher attrition rates will continue to soar, while student enrollments climb. American schools have an urgent challenge: the retention of teachers.…

In recent years, it has been reported that an alarming number of teachers are leaving the profession in the first three years after graduation from a pre-service program. This phenomenon is common in North America and it is essential that educators identify the challenges surrounding new teachers and provide supports to assist them. The vast…

Teacher retention has become a national crisis. This case study describes one principal's efforts to support new teachers and reduce the turnover rate at her school. Recognizing the problem a few years ago, the principal took what she thought were a number of proactive, decisive steps to resolve the issue--she is doing all the right things.…

The purpose of this study will be to determine if there is a relationship between Hispanic student achievement and the percentage of Hispanic teachers per district in the state of Texas. Specifically, this study will investigate the relationship between the percentage of Hispanic students per district who pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and…

The combined goals of recruiting and retaining effective teachers are often difficult to realize due to fluctuating student enrollments and class-size targets, teaching-load norms or requirements, and budgetary and resource constraints. While schools and districts market and recruit bright new teachers to the field, they too, struggle to maintain…

Literature indicates a shortage of qualified special educators in schools across the United States. This shortage is likely to grow if current trends of attrition continue. There remains an important gap in the current literature regarding the factors that influence veteran special educators to remain in their profession. This information is…

The factors that best differentiated among 1,167 AISD teachers who left the district, transferred within the district, or remained on the same campus were attachment to teaching, attachment to school, and satisfaction with the work environment. [For report I, see ED628047.]

Research suggests that substantial pre-service student teaching is essential for the preparation and retention of special educators. Using logistic regression analysis, survey responses of beginning special educators were analyzed to answer the following questions: Are beginning special educators more likely to leave the field if they have had…

Music teachers who are young, female, and of minority ethnicity are more likely to leave their school or leave the music education profession altogether, according to recent research conducted by Carl Hancock, assistant professor of music education at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Hancock's study, "Music Teachers at Risk for Attrition and…

This study examines the impact of Washington state's incentives for teachers to attain National Board Certification and to work in challenging schools. Using surveys and secondary analyses of state databases, we examine the workforce both prior to and following recent changes in the incentive program. The study considers the nature of National…

Considerable research has been conducted into teacher retention. Less is known of ex-teachers' circumstances: salary, workload, working conditions, "job prestige". For this study, telephone interviews were used to ask 21 ex-teachers about their journey from teaching, and views on their current working conditions by comparison. This paper…