Making sense of early-career teacher support, satisfaction, and commitment

Most prior research measures teacher turnover as an annual event, but teachers actually leave their positions throughout the school year. We use data from North Carolina to measure teacher turnover monthly throughout the entire year and conduct an analysis of their persistence to examine the differences in early career teacher turnover. Annually, 6% of early career teachers turn over during the school year. Teachers trained in traditional, university-based programs are most likely to move schools, and alternate entry and out-of-state prepared teachers are more likely to leave teaching, both during and at the end of the school year. We discuss the implications within-year turnover has on creating disruptive learning environments, particularly in underserved schools.

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Curricular coaches’ impact on retention for early-career elementary teachers in the USA

International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education ◽

10.1108/ijmce-09-2017-0064 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 191-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David De Jong ◽

Ayana Campoli

Keyword(s):

Elementary Teachers ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Teacher Turnover ◽

Early Career ◽

Early Career Teachers ◽

Content Type ◽

Early Career Teacher ◽

The Usa ◽

Career Teachers ◽

Career Teacher

Purpose Researchers have found that curricular coaches have had an impact on student achievement by supporting classroom teachers in providing high-quality instruction. However, few studies examine the association between curricular coaches and teacher retention, especially in urban areas. Given the high cost of teacher turnover and the high percentage of early-career teachers who leave the profession each year, the purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the presence of curricular coaches in elementary schools reduces turnover among early-career teachers. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors analyzed the observational data from the 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). The SASS is a nationally representative cross-sectional survey that has been administered repeatedly to public and private kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers in the USA approximately every four years by the National Center for Education Statistics and the US Census Bureau. Findings The authors found that the presence of a curricular coach was associated with a substantial reduction in early-career teacher turnover. This finding suggests that curricular coaches could be a particular benefit to urban schools. Research limitations/implications This study was national in scope; therefore, it does not examine causes of attrition specific to local contexts. Practical implications Curricular coaches may indirectly save urban school districts thousands of dollars because of their impact on reducing early-career teacher attrition. Social implications In this study, the authors found a statistically significant and practically meaningful association between the presence of curricular coaches in schools and the retention of elementary teachers, especially in urban areas. Originality/value The model predicted that among early-career teachers, teachers in schools without curricular coaches are approximately twice as likely to leave the profession the next year compared to teachers in schools with curricular coaches.

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