Purpose: The evidence is strong that the instability of teacher rosters in urban school settings has negative consequences for student learning, but our concern is with the opposite phenomenon--What is the value added to the organization when a school's teaching roster is stable over time? Our theory of teacher corps stability hinges on the claim…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of urban Nebraska teachers to understand why they have remained in the classroom. This study, conducted through the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, parallels a study of rural educators. Using narrative inquiry, six teachers were selected from urban Nebraska school…

Available evidence suggests that inequities exist in the distribution of qualified teachers within high-poverty urban schools, and further, that such inequities adversely affect student achievement in these schools. This paper highlights the role of teacher education in addressing this challenge by describing the findings of a study of the…

Alternative certification programs provide a potential solution for teacher shortages in high-needs settings and content areas. These programs often attract career changers, who bring a passion for their content area and a desire to make it relevant to students. Research suggests that support during the first year is critical, but little is known…

The negative impacts of high teacher turnover are widely documented, with particular impact on low-income, high-minority schools. Turnover can be especially widespread in science education, where teachers are in high demand. Although teacher retention is predicated on job satisfaction, which is in turn fostered by opportunities for professional…

With support from the William Penn Foundation, RFA sought to further examine and understand Black teacher attrition and retention in Philadelphia, and promising strategies and initiatives that can promote the retention of Black teachers in the city and elsewhere. In totality, the project includes qualitative research that centers the perspectives…

We examine how teachers from two alternative preparation programs--Teach for America (TFA) and Kansas City Teacher Residency (KCTR)--contribute to the teacher labor market in and around Kansas City, Missouri. We show that TFA and KCTR teachers are more likely than other teachers to work in charter schools, and more broadly, in schools with high…

Racial battle fatigue (RBF) has been operationalized as the psychological, emotional, and physiological toll of confronting racism. In this article, RBF is used to analyze the toll of racism on teachers of Color who work within a predominantly White profession. We present counterstories of justice-oriented, urban, teachers of Color who demonstrate…

Teacher turnover in urban high-poverty schools is detrimental to students' achievement. In fact, one of the most prevalent social justice issues today is the unequal distribution of experienced teachers to urban high-poverty schools. Researchers suggest that experienced teachers are more effective at raising student performance than new or early…

This study examines the degree of agreement between three Haberman Foundation-trained facilitators' interviews and pre-service teachers' self-evaluations of behavioral attributes associated with successful urban teaching. Using a quasi-experimental design research approach, data for this investigation was collected from 17 subjects who are all…

Attracting and retaining high-quality teachers is especially challenging in urban districts. It is in these communities where teacher candidates must begin their preparation. This article provides a conceptual framework and programmatic examples used to develop a community-based urban teacher preparation model within a third hybrid space where…

This research addresses the problem of teacher shortages in urban, high-needs schools. A grounded theory methodology was used to expand insights related to teacher recruitment and retention by collecting and analyzing qualitative (interview and observational) data from nine successful urban teachers. A two-part model of recruitment and retention…

Teachers in urban schools experience significant stressors that can impact their effectiveness, well-being, retention, and ability to meet the needs of their students. The current mixed methods study explored 160 urban teachers' thoughts and feelings in response to challenging classroom situations, factors that predicted the prevalence of these…

Recognizing that low teacher retention in high-needs schools is a pressing problem, this qualitative study explores how two different post-baccalaureate teacher education programs at the same state university prepare their graduates to persist in the profession. Through interviews with fourth-year teachers who are alumni of the two programs, it…

In 2011, the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) received an Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant through the U.S. Department of Education. UAF applied for the grant to expand the predominantly rural-serving Alaska Statewide Mentor Project (ASMP) to urban settings. ASMP is a professional development initiative that supplies fully released, highly…