Determining the Effect of Selected Variables on Teacher Retention.

Because occupational stress, burnout, and teacher attrition have become concerns in the human service and helping professions (Wisniewski & Gargiulo, 1997), much has been written about retaining teachers. Only recently have researchers discovered retention is more of a problem than recruitment. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of teacher retention to teacher education programs and state-mandated teacher certification examinations. Teacher Retention The National Center for Education Statistics reported that across the nation 9.3% of public school teachers leave before they complete their first year in the classroom, and over 1/5 of public school teachers leave their position within their first three years of teaching (Rosenow, 2005). According to Eggen (2001), up to 50% of beginning teachers exit the teaching profession within their first five years of service. With fewer people entering the profession, rising retirement numbers, and the growth of school age populations, teacher shortages have become a concern nationwide. Teacher Education Programs In order to decrease the number of teachers who are leaving the profession, Colbert and Wolff (1992) described in their article Surviving in Urban Schools: A Collaborative Model for a Beginning Teacher Support System a teacher retention program developed collaboratively between the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). Two regions in the school district were selected to implement the program because the schools were located in low socioeconomic inner-city areas characterized by annual teacher attrition that had been higher than 50%. Colbert and Wolff's research concluded that beginning teacher support must become a high priority for school districts and university teacher education programs. The authors' research recommended five steps to accomplish this important conclusion: 1. Design and implement a collaborative training program between school districts and university schools of education of administrators and experienced teachers in classroom observation and peer coaching strategies. 2. Develop creative and flexible scheduling to provide release time to peer coaches and beginners to provide opportunities to build trusting relationships that can contribute to increased career satisfaction and retention of beginning teachers. 3. Encourage experienced teachers to participate in the professional growth of new teachers. 4. University schools of education must collaborate with local school districts and welcome them as equal partners in the education business, including matching school district and university calendars to prevent conflicts between activities at the schools and in the support system. 5. Collaboration between universities, school districts, state departments of education, and teacher credentialing commissions must continue to develop, regardless of the availability of external funding. A teacher education program emphasizing quality should include performance-based and competency-based components. If professional competency is achieved by the accomplishment of stated objectives that strive to describe learning that should take place, it is necessary to translate such objectives into performance criteria when possible (Brubaker, 1976). A model for selection and retention in teacher education was developed by Brubaker that included administrative organization, roles of student personnel services in the selection-retention program, criteria for admission to the program, introduction to teacher education, provisions for probationary status, performance components in the laboratory experience, and feedback concerning program success. Research by Chapman (1984) found that student teaching was an important part of preservice teacher preparation. …