The Urban Brain Drain: Examining Academic and Nonacademic Factors That Influence Teacher Perceptions of Assessments and Accountability Policy

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

The retention of both new and experienced teachers, particularly in large urban districts, is a great challenge schools and administrators face throughout the United States. Assessment and accountability policy has become a significant concern for many public school educators and leaders due to the mandated “high stakes’ tests attached to assessments (Linn, 2000) and accountability policy requirements established by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2001) to monitor them. Teachers must cope with the impact of policy as it pertains to working with diverse family dynamics, cultural, environmental, and socio-economic factors, and increased accountability while striving to provide quality instruction with limited resources. There are academic and non-academic factors which may influence how middle-school teachers perceive assessment and accountability policy, and subsequently make career decisions. It is imperative to explore these factors to understand the role that those factors play in their decision making if administrators and policy makers hope to avert a drain of its true brain trust; teachers.
This study will use an explanatory sequential (QUAN/qual) mixed methods approach to explore whether there are additional factors which may not have been addressed in the context of teacher decision making. Phase I of the study will use quantitative data compiled from the National Center for Education Statistics’ 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) to conduct a secondary analysis of factors related to teacher perceptions. Phase II of the study will focus on capturing the perspectives of nine middle-school teachers using open-ended, individual interviews using the information collected during Phase I to identify common ideas or themes which emerge during the interviews.
It is hoped that this research will provide information school districts can use to understand how assessment and accountability policy affects teachers’ decision making; and incorporates teacher input in developing strategies to support and retain highly qualified, highly effective teachers. Potential benefits of this study include the generation of (a) feedback from middle-school testing teachers who have done well about their experiences with accountability; (b) feedback with leaders and policymakers to increase their understanding of how successful teachers work under the constraints of state and federally mandated accountability systems; and (c) strategies that can be used by other teachers to better navigate state and federally mandated assessment and accountability policy.

Author

• Carol A. Moye, Howard University