Report Summary
Who Stays in Teaching and Why
Part 4 – School Community and Career Stages1
The Report Summary Thus Far
This summary of a review of research literature review on teacher retention in the public schools of the United Statesis divided into fourparts.
- Part 1 (RSS #24.a) focused on background issues.
- Part 2 (RSS #24.b) dealt with issues related to teacher preparation and hiring.
- Part 3 (RSS #24.c) concentrated on teacher compensation and working conditions..
- Part 4, presented here, will summarize Sections 6 and 7 of the report, sections that address the effects on retention of school community (i.e., school culture as defined by experiences with colleagues, administrative support, the role of students, and parental involvement)and career stages (stages in the teaching career and the support/opportunities that teachers seek in those stages).
Section 6: School Community
There is research on social aspects of schooling that, in retrospect, are thought to affect retention. However, many of those studies were not designed to test a connection between the social aspects of schooling and the retention of teachers. Collectively, the studies show that collegial work deepens teachers’ commitment and advances school improvement; there also is evidence that student achievement in mathematics and reading increases when teachers collaborate. The school-as-community studies reviewed in this report explore teachers’ interaction with colleagues, principals, students, and parents.
Colleagues and school leaders
Teachers’ decisions to stay, leave, or move are influenced by the quality of their work with colleagues and administrators. There are studies that examine collegiality, the importance of collaboration in school improvement, and the principal’s role in school reform, but few examine teacher retention as an outcome. Research has identified schools with a high level of professional community -- schools where teachers are “empowered with influence over school, teaching, and student policy” – to be distinguished by five elements of practice: shared values, focus on student learning, collaboration, deprivatized practice, and reflective dialogue.” They also conclude that teachers in schools where thoughts and practices are kept private pay a high price. “Whatever pride in professional autonomy teachers may take from this condition [of working alone], most feel isolated in their work and frustrated by the lack of support they get from their colleagues.”
Studies dating from the mid-1980s confirm teachers’ growing interest in collaborative collegial activities leading to increased student achievement – activities such as open discussion of classroom practices, mutual observation/critiquing of teaching, shared work in curriculum design, and joint participation in instructional improvement. In particular, novice teachers regard interactions with colleagues as essential to their work. Researchers concluded that in “high-consensus schools” – schools in which teachers work together regularly, have role in decision-making, and have ongoing opportunities for learning – teachers are induced to “remain in the workplace and contribute productively to schools.”
Research has found that the leadership provided by a principal can and does determine whether teachers are satisfied with their work and their workplace. Research has not identified specifically what principals do that positively or negatively affects teachers’ commitment to the school and the profession. However, given the value teachers place on working in concert with their colleagues, principals might increase teacher retention through actions that support collaboration and that engage teachers in school improvement. Specifically, principals can make organizational arrangements that provide meeting times for teachers and can work with teachers in defining instructional goals, selecting and inducting new teachers, determining student behavior policies, an developing evaluative criteria.
Students and parents
Multiple studies, some dating back to the 1970s, confirm that teachers’ sense that they are reaching their students is critical to their retention in the profession. Approximately 70 percent of teachers surveyed indicated that the desire to work with young people is the reason they remain in teaching. It follows that students are in a strong position to influence teachers’ decisions to stay, leave, or move. Students’ positive feedback and compliance provide the psychic rewards teachers seek; students’ misbehavior, disrespect, and disengagement leave teachers wondering if it’s worth the effort. A study of Philadelphia third-year teachers who were planning to leave cited student misbehavior as the primary factor.
Student characteristics are clearly related to teacher turnover. There are high teacher turnover rates in schools with low achievement, high poverty, high behavior problem rates, and high percentages of students of color. A 2004 study found such student characteristics “more strongly associated with teachers’ decisions to switch or leave schools than is salary.” Although there now are programs that prepare teachers to deal with high-poverty, urban, and/or diverse populations, there are few studies that evaluate the effect of those programs on teacher retention.
When teachers have high expectations for students and students fail to reach them, teachers suffer from feelings of guilt, stress, and low self-esteem. If students fail to teachers’ low expectations, teachers don’t experience the same need to leave teaching. Researchers express concern about “how easy – and how detrimental – it would be to improve retention by lowering teachers’ expectations of their students.”
Parents can contribute to teacher satisfaction – and, hence, retention. They can do this by helping teachers to understand their students, by building teacher-parent understanding and trust that leads to beneficial work, and – through involvement with the school – can motivate students to be more engaged and to place a higher value on schooling. However, researchers find that most teachers don’t know how to foster effective parental involvement; this may be a important topic for professional development.
Section 7: Career Stages
Teachers want the nature of their work to change during their careers. Although teachers’ first years in the profession are particularly difficult and are focused on their development of classroom effectiveness, novices expect to take on new roles and to expand their influence within schools over time. Many experienced teachers, beginning in about the fifth year of teaching, encounter periods of stress, burnout, boredom, and dissatisfaction. In fact, teaching “can be difficult, draining, and repetitive” and there is ample evidence that teachers “are asked to do more today than ever before.” Depending upon the state of a teacher’s career, different interventions may be effective in increasing retention.
New teachers: Mentoring and induction
New teachers decisions to stay or leave teaching are tied to their sense of teaching efficacy. Comprehensive program of mentoring and induction programs can increase that sense of efficacy.
Mentoring and induction are conceptually distinct. Mentoring typically provides one-on-one support of a novice teacher by an experienced teacher. Induction programs include mentoring as one element of a package of supports. When well conceived and carefully implemented, mentoring and induction do positively affect teacher retention.
For mentoring to be effective, the mentor and novice must be matched in terms of subject area (secondary), grade, and school. In a study involving over 3300 first-year teachers, novices who had a mentor in their field were 30 percent less likely to leave teaching at the end of the first year; however, mentoring had no significant retention effect if the mentor’s field was different from that of the novice.
Induction includes, but is not limited to, mentoring. Comprehensive induction programs (provided to only about one percent of teachers) include seven components: mentoring, supportive administrator communication, collaboration/common planning time, seminars, teacher networks, a teacher aide, reduced course load. Research conducted in 2004 showed that new teachers who had no induction had a 41 percent predicted probability of turnover; those who experienced an induction program with “bundles” of the seven components had an 18 percent predicted probability of turnover.2
Experienced teachers: Professional development
Research shows that, on average, professional development has not improved either teacher practice or student performance. The “failed” professional development programs take the form of short, isolated workshops for large groups of teachers, workshops that “preclude personalization and minimize any effect it might have on teachers’ practice.” However, there are studies that have identified the characteristics of effective development. For instance, a study of mathematics and science teachers participating in the Eisenhower Professional Development Program found professional development effective if it had an emphasis on content knowledge, opportunities to learn actively, coherence with other professional development activities, and was sustained over time. Research also suggests that recent programs of job-embedded professional development – ongoing and responding specifically to teachers’ instructional practices – may influence teacher satisfaction and retention.3,4
Experienced teachers: Differentiated roles and career ladders
Recent research indicates that some teachers want to take on new responsibilities and roles as they gain experience. Differentiated roles and career ladders are conceptually distinct responses to teachers’ interest in taking on new tasks and extended authority.
Differentiated roles give teachers expanded authority for work outside of their classrooms. The oldest and most widespread of these roles is that of department head. New roles include mentor teacher, instructional coach, literacy coach, or grade-level leader. New teachers perceive these roles to be promising future opportunities, and teachers who hold them may “experience heightened job satisfaction and increased retention.” They cite an increased sense of professionalism and commitment to teaching. However, the research on the effects of differentiated roles is mixed. Initial enthusiasm can be followed by disappointment, especially when the new role involves a heavy load of leadership responsibility without a increase in compensation or a decrease in workload.
Career ladders create a merit-based hierarchy of rewards for teachers. The research on career ladders also is mixed. Some show that access to career ladders has a positive effect on teachers’ ratings of their morale, commitment, satisfaction, and efficacy. Others find that the extra committee assignments, paperwork, and evaluation created stress and anxiety that may well reduce teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs. “Collectively, these studies suggest that if teachers do not perceive the roles created by their districts and schools as legitimate, accessible, and ‘doable,’ they are unlikely to view them favorably and, under such conditions, the roles will have little positive influence on teachers’ satisfaction or retention.”
End of Part 4 of 4 parts.
About the Publisher
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization for people age 50 and over. The National Retired Teachers Association, now called AARP’s Education Community, is a network of AARP members who share a commitment to teaching and learning. Headquarters are at AARP, 601 E Street NW, Washington, DC 20049. TEL: 1-88-687-2277. WEB: .
Caveat Emptor
This summary was prepared by Bob Kansky (), a faculty member of the Science & MathematicsTeachingCenter at the University of Wyoming. It’s one of a series summaries offered to business, education, and policy leaders who are interested in the systemic improvement of mathematics and science education. The summary does not critique the report’s assumptions, methods, or conclusions. It simply uses a somewhat standardized format to provide a brief introduction to the content of the report. Readers are encouraged to consult the original document for further information.
1Johnson, S. M., Bert, J. H., & Donaldson, M. L. (2005). Who stays in teaching and why: A review of the literature on teacher retention. Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons. 130 pages. .
2NOTE: For more on comprehensive induction programs, see RSS #23.b.
3NOTE: For more on effective professional development, see RSS items 6-8.
4Also see: Weiss, I., & Pasley, J. D. (2006). Scaling up instructional improvement through teacher professional development: Insights from the local systemic change initiative. CPRE Policy Brief (RB-44). Philadelphia, PA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education. 16 pages. .