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Dissertation
Middle School Teacher Attrition in a Southeastern United States School District
University of West Florida Libraries
Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida
2023
Abstract
Premature teacher attrition is detrimental to students and to school districts. To evaluate the problem, this study focused on one Southeastern United States school district in which the teacher attrition rate has far exceeded the average for the region. Annually, there is an average national attrition rate of 8%. The select school district recorded voluntary attrition rates of 16% in 2019, 13.9% in 2020, and 14.7% in 2021. Reasons schoolteachers left the select school district early included inadequate administrative support, lack of induction or mentoring programs, poor student behavior, and stress. Researchers agree that high rates of teacher attrition impede student achievement. The purpose of this qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was to explore the perceived experiences of middle school teachers who voluntarily terminated their employment with a select school district in the Southeastern United States. Grissmer and Kirby’s teacher attrition theory provided the framework for this research. Grissmer and Kirby (1987) developed a method of determining hiring needs by measuring rates of teacher attrition. The constructs of this theory include voluntary and involuntary attrition, as well as misinformation exchanged during the interview and hiring processes. The 10 participants interviewed for this study revealed why they chose to leave the select school district so early in their tenure. This study concludes that principals who show little interest or a lack of support have a higher rate of teacher attrition. Future research should explore how teacher attrition relates to grade levels, geographic location, and years of teaching experience.
Details
- Title
- Middle School Teacher Attrition in a Southeastern United States School District
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Contributors
- Mark Malisa (Committee Chair)Wisdom Mensah (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 241
- Copyright
- Unpublished work © Lindsay Anne Brinkmann
- Identifiers
- 99380178797106600
- Academic Unit
- School of Education
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- Education; University of West Florida; Doctor of Education (EDD)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Education (EDD), University of West Florida