Validating a Survey to Explore Teacher Candidates’ Intention to Teach in a Rural School

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 3:05 pm
  In Roundtable Session: Creating Possibilities: Teacher Preparation for Rural Places (Table 39)

Abstract

Schools struggle to recruit and retain teachers for science and mathematics classrooms, particularly in rural communities (Cowan & Goldhaber, 2015). While the body of research on rural staffing challenges is increasing, more research is needed about the role of place and preservice teacher preparation in teachers’ decisions about where to teach. Our research group created the Teacher Intention Survey (TIS) to collect data regarding the role of place in preservice teachers’ employment decisions. In this study, we outline the process of developing and validating the TIS instrument and the preliminary findings from three cohorts of beginning teachers at 14 institutions and discus the survey’s potential use for other scholars studying the role of place in teacher preparation.

Authors

• Jennifer G. Whitfield, Texas A&M University

• Devon G. Brenner, Mississippi State University

• Diana Cumings Outlaw, Mississippi State University