Community Matters: Teacher Retention in Rural Schools

• In Event: Reimagining the Educator Pipeline: Strengths-Based Approaches to Studying Teacher Preparation, Recruitment, Diversity, and Retention

Abstract

Pushing back against over a century of deficit-based policies, programs, and practices emanating from urban-centric education research, this paper illustrates the myriad connections between rural schools and communities and the influence of this relationship on sustaining a committed rural teacher workforce. In this study, we draw upon teachers’ professional narratives to illuminate why teachers remain committed to teaching in their rural schools. In doing so, we identify successful retention efforts based on rural community assets, and the cultural and organizational strengths of rural schools.

Distinct characteristics of rural school districts intersect with teachers’ decisions to work in their respective schools and remain committed to their profession in rural communities. Teacher satisfaction in rural areas is linked to the family-like atmosphere of small schools, positive relationships with students and their families, and small class sizes (e.g., Berry & Gravelle, 2013; Ulferts, 2016). However, due to these same characteristics, teacher dissatisfaction in rural schools is often related to taking on multiple roles during and after the school day and providing instruction across multiple grade-levels or subjects (Berry & Gravelle, 2013). Being the single teacher for a subject or grade level can be difficult for creating collaborative relationships (Hammer et al, 2005; Monk, 2007). The blurring of personal and professional spheres is also raised as a concern for attracting new teachers to small and remote schools (Biddle & Azano 2016; Rooks, 2018). In sum, characteristics that define rural communities (i.e., remoteness and low population density) also create obstacles for attracting and retaining young adults as local educators, and as rural residents.

Drawing on empirical data from a collective case study of three rural school districts in Wisconsin, this paper explores how teachers and administrators understand and experience the issue of staff recruitment and retention in the rural context. Our study relies on narrative inquiry to make a connection between meaning and context through the analysis of participant knowledge. We conducted interviews and focus groups with teachers (44) and administrators (6) to construct the three rural district cases based on the lived experiences of rural educators who work, and often live, in these communities.

Our findings illuminate the ways the school-community relationship intersects with teachers’ decisions to work in their schools and to remain committed to local teaching careers. A key component of this perspective is understanding that teachers in rural communities are often more than school-based employees - they may have leadership roles outside of school or are local entrepreneurs. Thus, community factors (e.g., housing, local industry), local cultural values (e.g., close-knit and family-like), and environmental characteristics emerged as significant in both recruitment and retention of teachers. Additionally, relationships - with students, colleagues, leadership, and community members - anchored teachers’ decisions to remain across school and community contexts.

In a field of research defined by teacher turnover in urban schools, we argue that the attention to community context in staffing rural schools offers new ways of considering the significance of environmental effects on teachers’ career decisions regardless of geographic location.

Authors

• Jennifer Laura Seelig, NORC at the University of Chicago

• Katie Mae McCabe, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs