How Principals Affect Early-Career Teacher Turnover

• In Event: 52.021 - Generating Teacher Job Satisfaction: Leadership Makes a Difference

Abstract

This study examines how different aspects of principal leadership affect early career teacher (ECT) turnover over time. There are few studies about how different aspects of principal leadership affect ECTs’ turnover during their first five years in the field. Our study draws on nationally representative longitudinal data from the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Survey (BTLS) and the School and Staffing Survey (SASS), and applies discrete-time survival analysis. In terms of our results, we found that when a teacher perceived his/her principal as a strong leader with regard to student management and creating a supportive culture during his/her first year, he/she was less likely to leave the school, while principals’ instructional leadership did not have a significant association with teacher turnover.

Authors

• Jihyun Kim, Lehigh University

• Peter A. Youngs, University of Virginia