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    26 views11 pages

    Teacher Retention - Why Do Beginning Teachers Remain in The Profession? PDF

    Uploaded by

    Dido Sujaya Perwendha

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    TEACHER RETENTION: WHY DO BEGINNING TEACHERS REMAIN IN THE PROFESSION? Dr. Duane Inman Associate Professor of Education Charter School of Education and Human Sciences Mount Berry, GA 30149 Dk. Lest Mariow Associate Professor of Education Charter School of Education and Human Sciences Mount Berry, GA 30149 As beginning teachers continue to leave the profession within the first several years of entering, educators must identify factors which cause teachers to remain in the profession, as well as fa tors related to attrition if the current teacher shortage is to be remedied. The purpose of this study was to examine the report- ed attitudes of beginning teachers in order to identify perceived positive aspects of teaching as factors which may lead to teacher retention. The sample, which comprised part of an ongoing study seeking to survey teachers within various areas within the Unit- ed States, was composed of teachers from randomly selected schools in Georgia. The Professional Attitude Survey, a 10 item survey instrument designed to gather information regarding 21 characteristics related to teacher career stability, was sent to the teachers of randomly selected schools. Teachers were requested to respond to questions related to demographics, teacher back- ground, reasons for remaining in the profession, and job satisfaction, Retention factors identified by the participants are discussed and recommendations for retention are provided for teacher education programs, administrators, and the community. Continuing concern in the education field, as well as in the United States and society at large, is centered on the high rate at which beginning teachers leave the profession. Over the years studies have revealed that most teachers who leave have fewer than 10 years of teaching experience Many reports indicate 25%-50% of begin- ning teachers resign during their first three years of teaching (Voke, 2002; Fleener, 2001; NEA, 2001; NCES, 1999; Haselko- m, 1994). Other reports state that nearly ten percent leave in their first year (Recruiting New Teachers, Inc., 2000). While accurate measures of teacher attrition are important if school systems, administrators, and potential teachers are to effectively plan for the coming years, the need to identify factors which cause teachers to remain in the profession is perhaps of greater impor- tance (see end notes). The purpose of this study was to per- form a conceptual analysis of reported current attitudes of beginning teachers in 605 606 / Education Vol. 124 No. 4 order to identify perceived positive aspects of teaching as factors which may lead to teacher retention. Attrition and Retention Previously, educational researchers have primarily examined factors such as demo- graphics, teacher background, professional environment, and lack of support systems which were identified as predictors of teacher attrition. The reasons teachers pro- vided for leaving were less often due to insufficient salaries than to a lack of pro- fessionalism, collegiality, and administrative support (Bolton, 2002; Recruitment and Retention Project, 2001; Mills, 2001; Metropolitan Life Survey of Former Teachers, 1986). Additionally, while retirement and reduction of school staff were reported reasons for some attri- tion, the more frequently cited reasons were family, personal circumstances, and job dissatisfaction (Voke, 2002). More recent- ly, disruptive students, uninvolved parents and invasive bureaucracy were identified as contributing to the demoralization of teachers (McDonough, 2003), and to influ- encing the inclination of teachers to leave the classroom. Today’s teachers face an increasing vari- ety of classroom conditions, including English Speakers of Other Languages and language immersion classrooms, inclusion and state mandated programs, as well as a need for increased knowledge and skills in such diverse areas as portfolio assess- ment, technology, cooperative learning, and a wide variety of specific instruction- al strategies (Potter, Swenk, et.al., 2001). ‘The new educational conditions, goals, and reforms are compounding, for the begin- ning teacher, what is already a complex professional challenge. Teachers just enter- ing the classroom experience “classroom or reality shock” and often mistake the uneasiness they feel as an indication that they have made a mistake in their choice of profession. Although many beginning teachers expect to stay in the profession, others view teaching as transitional to other jobs in education or in other occupations. If the positive aspects of their new job are not emphasized, many new teachers will look elsewhere (Teacher Retention Unit, 2002). The Recruitment and Retention Project (2002) identified three major classes of factors that influence teacher retention: external factors, employment factors, and personal factors. Although external factors including retirement incentives, alterna- tives outside of teaching, salary, and the availability of other teaching positions impact a teacher's decision to stay or leave the profession, personal factors and employment factors often provide many more compelling reasons. Population This sample, which comprised part of an ongoing study which seeks to survey teachers within various areas within the United States, was composed of teachers from randomly selected schools in Geor- gia. Using the State’s public school directory, each county within the state was assigned a number. Gay’s Table of Ran- dom Numbers (1996) was then used to identify 50 counties. The same procedure was then used to identify five schools per county. The principal of each selected school was contacted by mail and request- ed to provide information from 5 teachers (K-8). Principals then, according to their individual methodologies, contacted the teachers in their schools and obtained their participation in completing the surveys Instrumentation The Professional Attitude Survey, a 10 item survey instrument designed to gath- er information regarding 21 characteristics related to teacher career stability, was sent to the teachers in each participating school. Teachers were requested to respond to questions related to demographics, teacher background, reasons for remaining in the profession, and job satisfaction. The pilot study of this instrument was conducted in Fall 2000. Test-retest stability was mea- sured to determine the stability of scores over time. A group of approximately 100 teachers completed the survey, once in Sep- tember and once in November 2000. The scores from each were correlated and the coefficient of stability was calculated to be 0.90. Procedures One thousand two-hundred fifty sur- veys were sent out to participating schools. A packet of information was sent to the principal of each identified school from the random sample. A cover letter and copies of the survey instrument were included in each packet. If the principal agreed to his/her faculty's participation in the study, the principal distributed the sur- vey instrument to the teachers. The teachers independently completed the surveys and returned the self-addressed, stamped sur- veys. Only those interested participated. Forty percent of the 500 returned were clas- Teacher Retention... / 607 sified as coming from beginning teachers having fewer than ten years of experiences. For those participants or principals who wanted to know the results of the survey, such information was requested by the indi- vidual providing their name and address. All information obtained by the survey was anonymously reported in group totals only. Results Demographics. As is evidenced in Table 1, of those identified as beginning teachers, 47% had fewer than four years of teaching experi- ences with 53% having between four and 10 years of teaching experience. Of those with fewer than10 years of experience, 15% were kindergarten teachers, 47% were elementary teachers, and 38% were mid- dle school teachers. Eleven percent were male and 89% female. The cultural com- position of the group was 76% white, 13% African American, 5% Hispanic, 1% Native American and 1% Asian. 608 / Education Vol. 124 No. 4 Table 1 Demographic Information Hispanic | 5% Native American | 1% Asian 1% No 4% Response Ethnic Ongin Years) Classroom Current Teaching Gender Teaching Placement write 78%

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