Journal of Education and Human Development

Why New Career & Technical Education Teachers Leave, Why New Ones Stay and How Principals Affect Attrition and Retention Rates
Donald A. Deever, Steven Grubaugh, Greg Levitt, Gabe Gonzales

Abstract
New teacher attrition rates represent one of the largest operating costs for school districts. What may be the most significant problem concerning the profession‟s dismal new teacher retention rates is that it seriously impacts the education of students. Studies have shown that when students have a new teacher three times, altogether they lose up to a year of schooling. This study looks at the estimated numbers of new teachers who leave the profession within the first few years of teaching and does so not only for general education teachers in core curricula courses but also examines how the attrition rates of new career & technical instructors compare. Most importantly, this study looks at how the supervisory styles of principals can be seen as one of the largest contributing factors to new teacher dissatisfaction, and conversely, one of the strongest influencing factors for retaining new talent in the classroom. Concerns around teacher retention with the external contexts and challenges of COVID-19 are also raised.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v9n2a1