Trust in Teachers: The Role of Relational Trust in Teacher Retention (Poster 35)

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

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of teachers for improving student outcomes, education researchers have increasingly studied the problem of teacher turnover in school contexts of persistent disadvantage. Empirical investigations over the past twenty years have found associations between a lack of resources in high need settings and elevated levels of teacher turnover. In this paper, I investigate one such important resource: the social climate of schools. More specifically, I utilize linked administrative and survey data from a statewide representative sample of 5,300 teachers and 570 principals in Indiana to test the importance of relational trust in schools for teacher retention. I find that relational trust is an important predictor of retention, particularly for black teachers. Drawing upon sociological theories of race and schools as organizations, I discuss the racialized nature of within school relationships and implications for minoritized teachers. I conclude that school leaders and policymakers ought to place a greater emphasis on the collective organizational and relational resources available within schools as important for both teacher and school outcomes.

Author

• Patrick Graff, University of Notre Dame