Poster #65 - Local Labor Market Conditions and Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher Turnover

• In Event: Friday Poster Reception

Abstract

Background/Significance
Teacher retention remains a critical challenge in education policy (Harbatkin & Nguyen, 2023; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017), yet limited attention has been paid to Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. CTE educators face unique opportunity costs due to their specialized skills and access to jobs in both education and industry. Recruiting and retaining qualified CTE teachers is a growing concern. Ninety-eight percent of state CTE directors identify increasing access to industry experts in high schools as a key priority, and one hundred percent agree that it will remain an important focus in the future (Advance CTE, 2016). As CTE programs expand nationally to prepare students for the changing workforce (Dougherty, 2023), understanding the economic pressures influencing CTE teacher turnover is increasingly important.

Purpose/Research Questions
This study examines how local economic conditions relate to CTE teacher turnover using five years of administrative data from Florida. We focus on two central questions:

1. 
   

   To what extent do local labor market conditions relate to CTE teacher turnover?

   
   


2. 
   

   To what extent does this relationship vary by CTE subject area?

   
   

Given that CTE teachers often have skills in demand outside education, we expect that the relationship between local economic conditions and teacher attrition may differ by industry-specific teaching assignments.

Methods
We use statewide administrative data from the Florida Department of Education, which includes demographic and employment information on all teachers who teach at least one CTE course. Turnover is defined as leaving the public education workforce between years. To measure local economic conditions, we merge in county-level data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (GDP by industry), Bureau of Labor Statistics (unemployment), and the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators (hiring, job creation, earnings by industry). We estimate linear probability models predicting whether a teacher leaves the profession in a given year. Models include teacher covariates, district and year fixed effects, and cluster standard errors at the district level. We test each labor market measure separately and then examine interactions by CTE subject area to explore heterogeneity in response to economic change.

Results/Findings
Preliminary descriptive analysis shows that CTE teacher turnover ranges from 6-11% between 2017 and 2022. We have pulled down labor market data and begun to merge it into the statewide administrative data. By APPAM, we expect to have results from our models. 

Conclusion/Implications
This study adds to the limited literature on CTE teacher labor markets by documenting how CTE teachers respond to local economic conditions. Findings may guide school districts in supporting retention efforts by anticipating how teachers respond to labor market shifts. As interest in CTE continues to grow, ensuring a stable, skilled teaching workforce will be critical—especially in economically volatile regions. This knowledge can help inform more responsive staffing policies, such as targeted retention incentives during periods of economic disruption. It can also guide recruitment strategies by identifying which CTE subject areas are most sensitive to local labor market conditions.

Author

• Kevin Austin Ganus, Florida State University
  Presenting Author