Abstract:

It should come as no surprise to those who follow trends in teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention in California that most areas of the state are experiencing a dramatic shortfall of qualified, effective teachers. This shortage is particularly acute in California’s large urban districts that serve significant numbers of students from high-poverty households. For example, at the start of the 2016-17 school year, urban districts unable to fill vacancies with fully-credentialed teachers staffed classrooms with individuals who held intern, temporary, provisional, and substitute permits or credentials. While this strategy may succeed as a short-term fix, it does not provide a sustainable solution for the deeper problem. The issue is compounded by another unfortunate trend—high rates of teacher turnover in California schools. In just two of the state’s largest urban districts—Los Angeles Unified and Oakland Unified—50 percent or more of teachers leave the classroom within five years. This statistic translates into approximately 11,000 teachers who are anticipated to leave Los Angeles Unified School District classrooms by 2021.

As serious as these problems are, they are not new challenges for California schools. Teacher surpluses and shortages, including high turnover rates, have waxed and waned as a result of economic recessions, boom years, and school-aged population changes. Consequently, the topic of teacher supply and demand has been studied extensively since the early 1970s. Informative as this body of research is, however, it has mainly been conducted from the perspectives of policymakers and government officials, and it infrequently considered the problems from the perspectives of those who experience them directly—teachers themselves.

Therefore, our research follows an explanatory line of inquiry based on what teachers think, feel, and believe (i.e., their perspectives) about effective and non-effective recruitment and retention practices in California school districts. We intend to gather data from newly-hired and veteran teachers employed in urban, semi-rural, and rural school districts to determine, from their point of view, what district leaders can do differently to attract and retain high-quality teachers for their schools. The study will conclude with a section of recommended strategies for accomplishing this critical goal.

Keywords:

Teacher recruitment, teacher perceptions, teacher retention.