A Study of Teachers' Interdistrict Job Changes.

This paper investigates the reasons why teachers change school districts by examining teacher characteristics and school districts as predictors of district change. The data set traces the careers of Michigan public school teachers during the 1970s. The study is restricted to districts with stable or expanding enrollments to ensure that the job changes are voluntary and not driven by layoffs. The regression models used are built on a discrete-time maximum likelihood method. Results show that a teacher's probability of changing districts increases during the first two years of teaching, then steadily decreases. Also, older teachers move less than younger ones, men move less than women, and blacks change districts more than whites. Teachers in special education and departmentalized secondary school subjects appeared to have more opportunities for job changes than other teachers. Perhaps the most important findings pertain to district characteristics as predictors. These variables suggest areas where policymakers can focus their efforts to keep schools adequately supplied with teachers as future enrollments increase. Teachers are more likely to leave districts that are small, have large numbers of low socioeconomic status (SES) students, or provide low annual salary increments. There is evidence that high annual salary increments can be used to retain teachers in low SES districts. Included are 13 endnotes. (Author/MLH)