Teacher turnover in science and mathematics is a significant and consistent challenge for K-12 education in the U.S. This paper provides: (a) an investigation of the relationship between teacher retention and several social and motivational factors; and (b) a comparison of Master Teaching Fellows (MTF) and non-MTF teachers in terms of their retention and social and motivational factors. Teachers are classified into three retention categories: (a) stayers, (b) shifters, and (c) leavers. Social and motivational factors included teaching self-efficacy, diversity dispositions, leadership skills, principal autonomy support, teacher-school fit (adapted from person-organization fit literature), and social networks related to teaching and education. Study 1 included about 250 science and math teachers from the gulf coast region of Texas. Study 2 included 167 science and math teachers across the country. Teachers completed a survey in the summer and fall of 2021. For study 1, multinomial logistics regression analyses indicate: (a) leavers have significantly higher levels of self-efficacy; and (b) shifters have significantly higher levels of leadership skills and lower levels of teacher-school fit. The second study findings indicate: (a) MTFs’ teacher leadership network and teaching self-efficacy are significantly greater than that of non-MTFs’; and (b) MTFs significantly tend to shift to a leadership position than non-MTFs do.
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The Principal-Teacher Churn: Understanding the Relationship Between Leadership Turnover and Teacher Attrition
Purpose: Principals are critical to school improvement and play a vital role in creating inclusive and high-performing schools. Yet, approximately one in five principals leave their school each year, and turnover is higher in schools that serve low-income students of color. Relatedly, high rates of teacher turnover exacerbate challenges associated with unstable learning environments. Our study examines the extent to which principal turnover influences teacher turnover. We build on past work by exploring how the relationship between teacher and principal turnover differs in urban, high-poverty settings and by examining the effects of chronic principal turnover. Research Methods/Approach: We draw on a student- and employee-level statewide longitudinal dataset from Texas that includes all public K-12 schools from school years 1999–2000 to 2016–17. We estimate teacher-level models with school fixed effects, allowing us to compare teacher turnover in schools leading up to and immediately following a principal exit, to otherwise similar schools that do not experience principal turnover. Findings: Teacher turnover spikes in schools experiencing leadership turnover, and these effects are greater among high-poverty and urban schools, in schools with low average teacher experience, and in schools experiencing chronic principal turnover. Implications: Improving leadership stability, especially in urban schools experiencing chronic principal turnover may be an effective approach to reducing teacher turnover. Principal and teacher turnover and their relationship with each other requires further investigation. The field would benefit from qualitative research that can provide important insights into the individual decisions and organizational processes that contribute to principal turnover.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1945937
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10317671
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Educational Administration Quarterly
- ISSN:
- 0013-161X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Langran, E. (Ed.)Teacher turnover in science and mathematics is a significant and consistent challenge for K-12 education in the U.S. This paper provides: (a) an investigation of the relationship between teacher retention and several social and motivational factors; and (b) a comparison of Master Teaching Fellows (MTF) and non-MTF teachers in terms of their retention and social and motivational factors. Teachers are classified into three retention categories: (a) stayers, (b) shifters, and (c) leavers. Social and motivational factors included teaching self-efficacy, diversity dispositions, leadership skills, principal autonomy support, teacher-school fit (adapted from person-organization fit literature), and social networks related to teaching and education. Study 1 included about 250 science and math teachers from the gulf coast region of Texas. Study 2 included 167 science and math teachers across the country. Teachers completed a survey in the summer and fall of 2021. For study 1, multinomial logistics regression analyses indicate: (a) leavers have significantly higher levels of self-efficacy; and (b) shifters have significantly higher levels of leadership skills and lower levels of teacher-school fit. The second study findings indicate: (a) MTFs’ teacher leadership network and teaching self-efficacy are significantly greater than that of non-MTFs’; and (b) MTFs significantly tend to shift to a leadership position than non-MTFs do.more » « less
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Teacher turnover i science and mathematics is a significant and consistent challenge for K-12 education in the U.S. This paper provides: (a) an investigation of the relationship between teacher retention and several social and motivational factors; and (b) a comparison of Master Teaching Fellows (MTF) and non-MTF teachers in terms of their retention and social and motivational factors. Teachers are classified into three retention categories: (a) stayers, (b) shifters, and (c) leavers. Social and motivational factors included teaching self-efficacy, diversity dispositions, leadership skills, principal autonomy support, teachers-school fit (adapted from person-organization fit literature), and social networks related to teaching and education. Study 1 included about 250 science and math teachers from the gulf coast region of Texas. Study 2 included 167 science and math teachers across the country. Teachers completed a survey in the summer and fall of 2021. For study 1, multinomial logistics regression analyses indicate: (a) leavers have significantly higher levels of self-efficacy; and (b) shifters have significantly higher levels of leadership skills and lower levels of teacher-school fit. The second study findings indicate: (a) MTFs' teacher leadership network and teaching self-efficacy are significantly greater than that of non-MTFs'; and (b) MTFs significantly tend to shift to a leadership position than non-MTFs do.more » « less
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Prior research has demonstrated that teacher-student relationships characterized by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict are associated with higher levels of academic achievement among children. At the same time: (a) some research suggests that the quality of teacher-student relationships in part reflects the quality of early caregiving, and (b) the observed quality of early care by primary caregivers robustly predicts subsequent academic achievement. Given the potential for associations between teacher-student relationship quality and academic achievement to thus be confounded by the quality of early parenting experiences, the present study examined to what extent children’s experiences in early life with primary caregivers (i.e., ages 3 to 42 months) and relationships with teachers during grade school (i.e., Kindergarten to Grade 6) were uniquely associated with an objective assessment of academic achievement at age 16 years in a sample born into poverty ( N = 267; 45% female; 65% White/non-Hispanic; 41% of mothers did not complete high school). Early maternal sensitivity, though a strong predictor of later academic achievement, was not reliably associated with either teacher-reports or interview-based assessments of teacher-student relationship quality in grade school. Nonetheless, early maternal sensitivity and teacher-student relationship quality were each uniquely associated with later academic achievement, above and beyond key demographic variables. Taken together, the present results highlight that the quality of children’s relationships with adults at home and at school independently, but not interactively, predicted later academic achievement in a high-risk sample.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X211051974
