Teacher Well-Being and Retention During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Linking Survey Data With Administrative Records to Understand Stated and Revealed Preferences

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: A Focus on Teacher and Leader Well-Being and Retention (Table 20)

Abstract

Job stressors and increases in teacher turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic are well-documented in recent literature. Extant studies have not explored the relationship between working conditions, teacher well-being, and retention, in part because such analyses require linking survey and administrative records at the individual teacher level. We matched the RAND teacher well-being survey to administrative data from Washington State to assess how self-reported working conditions and feelings of burnout relate to prior and future turnover patterns. We find relational factors such as a sense of belonging are linked to both well-being and turnover, and these factors play a stronger role than many school organizational characteristics. We discuss implications for improving teaching and learning conditions in the COVID recovery period.

Authors

• David S. Knight, University of Washington

• Elizabeth D. Steiner, RAND Corporation

• Pooya Almasi, University of Washington

• Jinseok Shin, University of Texas - El Paso

• Ashley Woo, RAND Corporation