Foundations of Education and Instructional Assessment/Educator as a Professional/Why Leave

Why Do Teachers Leave The Profession? by Erin M. Smither

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. The Novice Teacher 3. Financial Issues 4. Working Conditions on the job/work environment 5. Problematic Student Behavior 6. Public Perspective 7. Conclusion 8. Multiple Choice content questions

Introduction

The question as to why teachers leave the profession is multifaceted and can hold many different variables. The demographics on reported teachers are not revealed within the articles reported statistics by race, gender or ethnicity nor is the location of where they are teaching such as the inner city versus a rural area. There has been a lot of research into this question since the 1990’s, and the majority of the research I found was based on the novice teacher’s perspective. The teaching profession has been under a microscope since the 1990’s in regards to whether they decide to stay or leave the profession and the reasons why.

The common thread of data in the studies and articles I found led to several categories related to leaving the profession.  These include:  financial issues, work load and problematic student behavior.  These three categories are the three most common and statistical highly reported reasons for leaving the profession (McCoy 2003)      

The Novice Teacher The numbers of teachers leaving the profession has increased in disturbing numbers. A report by the U.S. Dept. of Education found that 20% of beginning teachers left the profession within four years (Henke, Chen, Geis & Knepper, 2000). A more recent study from the National Education Association, a teachers union reported that half of new U.S. teachers are likely to quit within the first five years of teaching (Lambert 2006) these numbers are statistically high and have caused the Federal and State Education administrations to scrutinize the reasons why this exiting is occurring among novice teachers. The reason why there is more research targeting novice teachers is two fold. The first is that younger people remain a large force in public teaching with one in three teachers 39 years old or younger (NewsMax.com 2005). The second reason is that the factors that would influence a veteran teacher leaving the profession such as looming retirement or age related health issues would be outside of the majority of the employed teachers in the United States. Financial Issues Teachers are known to be underpaid in the United States. The majority of teachers report that they are simply not paid enough to live comfortably. They budget with cheap cars, rent apartments, and often take summer jobs, evening or weekend jobs to earn a supplemental income (McCoy 2003). In addition to lower standards of living, some teachers can not afford to pay off their student loans ( Lambert 2006). As young teachers get married and start families they feel the pressure to make more money which explains the 2000 report by the Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, which said the number one reason for teacher dissatisfaction was poor salary, a reason cited by 66% of the teachers in this study who left. Glen also reported that teachers make 29% less on average than others with similar degrees (Glenn 2000). School districts do not appear to use financial incentives when they are recruiting, like other business industries. Financial incentives don’t appear to exist at all in teacher recruitment. Working conditions Poor working conditions encompasses issues such a too heavy a workload, lack of planning time, and an unsupportive administration. A teacher follow up survey of the professionals who were no longer teaching identified sixty percent of professionals stated the heavy workload was a determining factor in leaving. This ranged from oversized classes to adjunct responsibilities outside of the class, such as coaching. An important aspect of teaching is the rime to plan lessons and do assessments. Examined sources of dissatisfaction among the out of field teachers was lack of planning time. Often the lack of support from the school administrator or lack of influence on school policy influences the decision to leave the profession. Among fifty two percent of leavers nationally reported this specific dissatisfaction. (nces 2005).

Problematic Behavior by Students

Unfortunately problematic behavior is a serious issue that wears down a teacher to the point where leaving the profession seems to be their only option. Often teachers find themselves acting as frontline social workers. The disciplinary climate of a school may depend on the socioeconomic factors present among the students. Most often those students with disciplinary problems tend to come from low-income families. The results of a study conducted in public schools in the state of Texas confirmed that teachers are more likely to leave the jobs that are located in predominantly low income areas (Hanushek 2004) The data suggests that these students have certain characteristics that affect the teacher’s ability to effectively teach and control a classroom. (Hanushek 2004).

Public Perspective While public perspective did not rank in the top five reasons in the statistical studies I encountered, I believe that it warrants mention because it acts as a strong undercurrent issue that helps to shape teachers decisions to leave the profession. Participants in a nationwide survey of 11,000 novice teachers found that only “14% of the teachers surveyed were satisfied with the esteem in which society held the teaching profession” A nationwide survey of nearly 1000 teachers found that “66% of the population they surveyed maintained that they did not feel respected and appreciated, and 76% argued that teachers are made scapegoats for all the problems of education” (McCoy p.4 2003)

The case studies, reports and statistics of the novice teacher is important because it gives a clear representative slice of why teachers leave the profession. Often the more veteran teachers, because of their time spent in the classroom have acclimated and were able to move beyond the intial burden of the heaviest reported disatifactions. There is a need for further research into why so many teachers leave within the first five years of teaching. Additional case studies would be valuable in finding solutions to low fianancial compensation, poor working environments, and beahvorial issues. There has been a steadily increasing exodus of teachers, but we as a society need to evaluate and elevate this profession in order to support and retain a quality teacher in every classroom (McCoy 2003)

QUESTIONS

1.

Reference Hanushek, Eric (2004). The Revolving Door. Education Next. Vol.4, no.1

Hennke, R.R., Chen, X Geis, S. & Knepper, P. (222). Progress through the teacher pipeline: 1992-93 college graduates and elementary/secondary school teaching as of 1997.

Lambert, Lisa. “Half of Teachers Quit in 5 Years.” Washington Post May 9, 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content

McCoy, L.P. (2003). It’s a Hard Job: A Study of Novice Teacher’s Perspectives on why Teachers Leave the Profession. Current Issues in Education. http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volumes6/number7/

Nation Center for Education Statistics (2005) Special Analysis 2005. Mobility in the Teacher Workforce. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2005/analysis/