Comparing Teacher Turnover Intentions to Actual Turnover: Cautions and Lessons for the Field

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Resisting “Janky” Practices in Teacher Education: Calling Out the Importance of Providing Novice Teachers With Adequate Support (Table 25)

Abstract

Many studies rely on teachers’ reported career intentions instead of measuring actual turnover, but research does not clearly document how these variables relate to one another. We test how measures of teacher intentions and turnover might relate to one another. Using nationally representative data on 102,970 public school teachers, we conduct a descriptive and regression analysis to probe how teachers’ turnover intentions are and are not associated with attrition. While there is some variation across measures of intent, we find evidence that intention is distinct from, but strongly related to, turnover. We advise that surveys continue to capture intention as it provides meaningful information, but we recommend intention not be used as proxy for turnover.

Authors

• Tuan D Nguyen, University of Missouri

• Elizabeth A. Bettini, Boston University

• Christopher Redding, University of Florida

• Allison F. Gilmour, American Institutes for Research