Staying Power: Teacher Longevity at Title I Schools

• In Event: 18.031 - Leavers, Pushed-Outs, and Those Who Stay: Teacher Responses to Professional Pressures

Abstract

Much education research on job retention focuses on novices, educators in their first five years in the teaching profession. However, recent trends show that job change and turnover are nearly as common among mid-career teachers (with six to fourteen years of classroom experience). This exploratory qualitative study in Los Angeles County examined the narratives of 20 mid-career high school teachers, who have persisted in their jobs at high-poverty schools. Findings reveal factors that enable these educators to stay in their jobs, particularly highlighting aspects of teacher ideologies, comportment, and work circumstances that strengthen their commitment to serving high-need communities.

Author

• Tomoko M. Nakajima, University of California - Los Angeles