From Teacher Attrition to Teacher Retention: The Role of School Principals
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Description
This quantitative study explored the role of school principals as an intervention to the teacher shortage crisis in the United States. The shortage of teachers is not a new topic in public policy and research; however, the strategies set forth in prior literature have not yielded substantive change to this stubborn problem. Using data from the 2020–2021 National Teacher and Principal Survey, this study analyzed the relationship between the perceptions of early career teachers (within the first 5 years of teaching) about behaviors of their school principals and these teachers’ intentions to remain in the teaching profession. Specifically, this study examined teachers’ perceptions of five behaviors relating to communication, vision, feedback, support, and schoolwide discipline. The analysis showed that teachers who held favorable perceptions about their principals’ behaviors in all five areas had stronger long-term intentions about remaining in teaching than teachers who reported unfavorable perceptions. The study relied on burnout theory as a means to understanding teacher burnout, which contributes to teacher attrition and subsequent teacher shortages. The data demonstrated that school principals play a critical role in interrupting this cycle by engaging in communication, feedback, vision-casting, and student disciplinary practices that teachers perceive as supportive. Keywords: teacher attrition, burnout, teacher retention, principals, communication, feedback
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
Bethel University
City
St. Paul
Disciplines
Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Balmer, Karen, "From Teacher Attrition to Teacher Retention: The Role of School Principals" (2025). Graduate Research Education Showcase. 14.
https://spark.bethel.edu/edd-showcase-2021/14