The primary goal of this quantitative case study is to identify concrete reasons why new teachers tend to leave their profession in the United States. The main question here is whether these reasons are mostly of subjective or objective character. The former might include such aspects as alternatively certified education or sense of professional agency (Redding and Smith, 2016; Heikonen et al., 2016), while the latter may contain test-based accountability policies or poor administrative support (Ryan et al., 2017; Redding et al., 2019; Sutcher et al., 2016). The target population will consist of two halves – teachers who have entered their position from six months to a year before this case study implementation, and teachers who have left their profession. They will be interviewed via the online platform Zoom. Recognized educational establishments will be contacted in order to obtain the lists of potential participants and formulate the sampling needed. The latter will include 100 teachers in 17 districts across six states.
Data collection method that will be applied is an interview via the Zoom online platform. This interview will be designed in such a manner that the participants could focus their answers on reasons they consider crucial for the potential or undertaken leave of the profession. After these answers are obtained, these reasons will be sorted to subjective and objective. Then, the ratio will be calculated using a simple percentage-calculating method. Depending on the results, the suggestion on which kind of administrative or governmental interference is more appropriate will be made. If there are more objective reasons, it might be proper to make changes to the educational system as a whole. If there are more subjective reasons, it might be appropriate to implement some particular initiatives aimed at solving concrete issues. If the distinction is insignificant, both radical and specific changes will be required.
References
Heikonen, L., Pietarinen, J., Pyhältö, K., Toom, A., & Soini, T. (2016). Early career teachers’ sense of professional agency in the classroom: Associations with turnover intentions and perceived inadequacy in teacher–student interaction. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 45(3), 250-266. Web.
Redding, C., & Smith, T. M. (2016). Easy in, easy out. American Educational Research Journal, 53(4), 1086-1125. Web.
Redding, C., Booker, L. N., Smith, T. M., & Desimone, L. M. (2019). School administrators’ direct and indirect influences on middle school math teachers’ turnover.Journal of Educational Administration, 57(6), 708-730. Web.
Ryan, S. V., von der Embse, N. P., Pendergast, L. L., Saeki, E., Segool, N., & Schwing, S. (2017). Leaving the teaching profession: The role of teacher stress and educational accountability policies on turnover intent.Teaching and Teacher Education, 66, 1-11. Web.
Sutcher, L., Darling-Hammond, L., & Carver-Thomas, D. (2016). A coming crisis in teaching? Teacher supply, demand, and shortages in the US. Web.