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Abstract This study uses state‐level staffing data to analyze the five‐year career trajectories of all 231 first‐year secondary science teachers in New Jersey who began teaching during the 2010‐2011 school year. The person‐position framework for studying teacher retention is introduced in this analysis, and the authors present a case for the importance of specifying both location and duration in empirical reporting on teacher retention, as well as distinguishing between the employers’ and individual teachers’ perspectives on retention. In the cohort studied here, the 5‐year retention‐by‐employer rate was 38%, but the retention‐in‐profession rate for those actively teaching was 65%. An additional 24% of science teachers changed districts during or immediately after their first year, and were retained in their second districts for four or more years. 16% of the science teachers in the cohort identified as non‐White or Hispanic and these teachers were retained at similar rates to their White/non‐Hispanic counterparts. Alternate route preparation programs attracted many more secondary science teachers who identified as non‐White or Hispanic, but teachers from these programs had a far lower 5‐year retained‐in‐profession rate (45%) than non‐White or Hispanic traditional route teachers (75%). It was more common for science teachers in higher SES districts to transfer to lower SES districts than the reverse. The position turnover rate for science teachers was slightly lower in higher SES districts. As a category, charter schools had the lowest 5‐year science teacher retention rate (13%). There was no identifiable relationship between the age, sex, subject area certification, or starting salary of science teachers and the measures of retention used in this study. The authors discuss the characterization of retention itself in research, including the use of descriptors related to retention. Implications relating to science teacher education policy are discussed, as is the future use of state‐level data systems in retention research. 

This research reports on the results of a 5-year study undertaken in the United States to better understand the reasons for novice science teacher retention in school districts and other local educational agencies that have demonstrably high rates of such retention. The primary question investigated in this study was, “In districts that have demonstrated comparatively more successful novice science teacher retention, what are the factors that relate to such retention?” Two additional aims were to report on factors that were specific to schools or districts that were identified as “high-need” by the U.S. Department of Education. The second was to focus on the unique factors reported as relevant to the retention of novice science teachers of color. Analysis of state-level school staffing data between 2007-2018 from four U.S. states was used to identify districts with exemplary novice science teacher retention, and focus districts (n=13) were selected for qualitative site visits and case study construction. The proposed paper presents the findings of this cross-case analysis of the 13 cases. Our analysis, informed by the framework of teacher embeddedness, yielded 10 distinct categories of factors that influenced teacher retention across the case study districts: 1) support from departmental colleagues, 2) school/district-level systems and culture of support, 3) compensation, 4) teacher autonomy and agency, 5) specialness of place, 6) resources for teaching, 7) opportunity and agency for professional growth, 8) district and school-level race-consciousness, 9) affordances related to school size, and 10) personal satisfaction & rewards. Implications of specific aspects of the findings related to the retention of teachers of color and the role of mentoring and induction are discussed. 

This research reports on the results of a 5-year study undertaken in the United States to better understand the reasons for novice science teacher retention in school districts and other local educational agencies that have demonstrably high rates of such retention. The primary question investigated in this study was, “In districts that have demonstrated comparatively more successful novice secondary science teacher retention, what are the factors that relate to such retention?” Analysis of state-level school staffing data between 2007-2018 from four U.S. states was used to identify districts with exemplary novice science teacher retention, and focus districts (n=13) were selected for qualitative site visits and case study construction. The proposed paper presents the findings of this cross-case analysis of the 13 cases. Our analysis, informed by the framework of teacher embeddedness, yielded 10 distinct categories of factors that influenced teacher retention across the case study districts, including support from departmental colleagues, school/district-level systems and culture of support, compensation, teacher autonomy and agency, specialness of place, and five other factors. Implications of specific aspects of the findings related to the retention of teachers of color and the role of mentoring and induction are discussed. 

The issue of science teacher retention, with specific emphasis on the problem of retaining novice science teachers has a unique presentation in the United States, where conditions of employment vary widely across the over 18,000 local education agencies, and teachers enter the classroom through an assorted array of pathways that may or may not include teacher preparation programs. The question investigated in this study is: Across different U.S. states, are there categorical differences between teachers who are identified as being retained (i.e. stayed with an employer at least 4 out of first 5 years) and those who were not? Using state-level staffing data sets in four U.S. states, this study presents a descriptive analysis of the differences between teachers who were retained and those who were not, both in terms of characteristics and contexts. Findings include large differences between states, but very few within states, including starting salary. Wisconsin had a far higher rate of teacher retention than other states in the study. There was a higher rate of retention in districts that had a science department size of between 25-50 people as compared with smaller or larger departments. 

This paper presents a case study of a successful district effort to retain novice science teachers, drawn from a larger national project. The Mulberry School District (pseudonym) had one of the highest five-year retention rates of novice science teachers in the state for teachers hired between 2007–2012, with the majority of hires identifying as teachers of color. We conducted interviews with district teachers and administrators in this mixed methods study to identify five factors that likely influenced the high science teacher retention rate observed in the Mulberry Public School District. These were: (1) a competitive salary, (2) caring colleagues, (3) a culturally protected environment and community for teachers of color, (4) professional autonomy, and (5) opportunities for professional growth. 

In this case study, we found three primary factors that influenced the high rates of teacher retention in the Kingfisher School District. The first was that teaching was seen as both a good and available job for which the Kingfisher teachers were well-qualified. Second, having a career in their home community appeared to be important many teachers and administrators in Kingfisher. This was strongly related to teachers’ identification and sense of belonging with the local Native American tribe. There was ample evidence that teachers saw their work in schools as an extension of kinship and community ties, and that schooling in Kingfisher was not antithetical to sustaining indigenous culture, as might be the case in other public-school districts with significant indigenous populations. Finally, teachers uniformly noted that that they were provided opportunities to grow and develop through professional development. Teachers directly referenced such opportunities as factors in which they believe teachers have decided to remain in the Kingfisher School District. 

This paper theorizes teacher retention using the framework of job-embeddedness, and analyzes the case of a school district in New Jersey where science teachers have been retained at a much higher rate than most other school districts in the state during the focus period of the study (2007-2018). The research team interviewed 18 individuals in the district, including administrators, novice science teachers, mentor science teachers, retained science teachers, and the induction program coordinator. Other data collected included publicly available district documents, and documentation related to the mentoring and induction efforts provided by the district induction coordinator. The primary goal of the site visit was to better understand the factors that may have influenced teacher retention during the focus period of the data and to also investigate current practices around the mentoring and induction of new science teachers. Four factors were identified as salient to the high science teacher retention rate in the district: 1) collaborative and supportive colleagues in the science department, 2) the overall culture of the school, students, and community, 3) hiring and induction practices, and 4) ample resources for teaching and professional growth. 

This paper presents the framework of teacher embeddedness, borrowed from the theory of job embeddedness used in economics and applied psychology, and applies it to the unique circumstances of teachers in order to help better understand reasons for teacher retention. Used as a theoretical framework for studying teacher retention, teacher embeddedness consists of three components—links, fit, and assets—which are examined through the lens of both the school organization and the community. The analytic power of this framework is demonstrated with an analysis of the challenges of teacher retention during the COVID-19 global pandemic, as an example of its promise to inform supports for teachers during a time for radical change in many teachers’ work and home lives. 

Abstract: In this paper we describe the use of annual state-level school staffing reports as a data source for conducting research on teacher retention. Such staffing reports include salary, demographic information, educational attainment, and state certifications, and may be combined longitudinally to investigate questions related to teacher retention with an impressive scope and level of detail. Sample data from an ongoing National Science Foundation-funded project on teacher retention is shared, and demonstrates how such data may be used to identify cohorts of first-year teachers and track their persistence and mobility, including temporary exits from the workforce and subsequent returns. This paper concludes with suggestions for future research questions that could be investigated with the aid of these data.