Search EdWorkingPapers

Should I Stay or Should I Go (Later)? Teacher Intentions and Turnover in Low-Performing Schools and Districts Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Teacher turnover is a perennial concern that became more salient during the COVID-19 pandemic as teacher-reported intentions to leave teaching escalated. The extent to which these teacher reports may translate into actual turnover remains an open question—especially given the pandemic context. Using unique survey data from teachers in 35 districts in Michigan linked to statewide administrative data, we examine the extent to which teacher-reported intentions are predictive of actually leaving. We measure behavior one, two, and three years following reported intent. We find intent is a significant predictor of turnover and becomes increasingly predictive over time. We also find organizational commitment and school organizational conditions are important factors in teachers’ intent and, to a lesser degree, actual turnover behavior.

Keywords
teacher turnover
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/d7dh-kq82

EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:

Harbatkin, Erica, Tuan D. Nguyen, Katharine O. Strunk, Jason Burns, and Alex Moran. (). Should I Stay or Should I Go (Later)? Teacher Intentions and Turnover in Low-Performing Schools and Districts Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. (EdWorkingPaper: 23-815). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/d7dh-kq82

Machine-readable bibliographic record: RIS, BibTeX