Reexamining Assumptions About Measuring Teacher Retention: A Case Study of the 2010 Cohort of First-Year Science Teachers in New Jersey

• In Event: Examining Teacher Induction and Retention in STEM

Abstract

This study contributes to the teacher retention literature by providing a nuanced analysis of the career trajectories of science teachers beginning with the first year of hire. Using six years of state staffing data, the authors found that of the 251 first year New Jersey science teachers who started in 2010, only 80 of them were still teaching in the same school six years later, 37 were teaching in different districts, and over 50% of them had left NJ public schools. Science teachers of color had nearly half the retention rate of their White counterparts. Initial results also indicate that of the 62 district transfers over the six years, the majority were from high SES districts to lower SES districts.

Authors

• Douglas B. Larkin, Montclair State University

• Catherine Gaynor, Montclair Kimberley Academy