Following the Leader: Supportive Leadership and Teacher Retention in Child Care Settings

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

Abstract

Following the Leader: Supportive Leadership and Teacher Retention in Child Care Settings

There is very high turnover among child care teachers in the United States. In recent years, stakeholders have looked to program leadership as a potential driver of quality and stability in child care settings. Combining survey responses from 1,150 child care teachers working in 167 publicly-funded child care centers in Virginia with teachers’ employment status eight months later, this study examines the link between teachers’ perceptions of leader support at their center, their intentions to stay, and observed teacher retention. Results suggest supportive leadership is positively linked to both intentions to stay and actual retention, above and beyond a set of important teacher-, center, and leader-level characteristics. Our findings suggest leaders may be important in promoting workforce stability and quality improvement in child care.

Authors

• Justin Brian Doromal, University of Virginia

• Anna J Markowitz, University of California Los Angeles