Teacher Shortages and Teacher Turnover in Rural Schools in the United States

• In Event: Leveraging Organizational Theory to Make Educational Systems More Effective and Racially Equitable

Abstract

This study utilizes national data to examine teacher shortages and turnover in rural schools in recent decades and compare rural schools to other locales. Our study’s primary sources of data are the nationally representative Schools and Staffing Survey, the National Teacher Principal Survey, and the Teacher Follow-Up Survey. Our analyses document that the rural teaching force has dramatically shrunk in recent decades, that rural schools face serious difficulties filling their teaching positions and that pre-retirement teacher turnover plays an important role in these staffing problems. Moreover, the data document that teacher turnover varies greatly between different kinds of schools, is especially high in high-poverty rural schools, and is closely tied to the organizational characteristics and working conditions of schools.

Authors

• Richard Ingersoll, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Henry Tran, University of South Carolina
  Presenting Author