Arizona's Chronic Teacher Turnover: An Analysis of School-Level Factors

• In Event: Disruption, Burn, and Churn: Examining and Understanding Teacher Turnover

Abstract

Teachers continue to leave the classroom at alarming rate – a challenge which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated in the last three years. In this study we used two measures of turnover to identify characteristics of Arizona public schools with high annual or chronic turnover rates. We use fixed and random effects models to analyze annual turnover, and logistic regression to identify school characteristics associated with a probability of being in chronic teacher turnover. Across both of our measures of turnover, we find that the percentage of traditionally certified teachers and average years of experience are negatively associated with turnover. We also find that charter schools have higher rates of chronic teacher turnover before controlling for teacher characteristics.

Authors

• Jake D. Winfield, Detroit Public Schools Community District
  Presenting Author

• Margarita Pivovarova, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Jeanne M. Powers, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author