The Impact of Teacher's Salary upon Attraction and Retention of Individuals in Teaching: Evidence from NLS-72.

This study analyzed the relationship between the occupational decisions of teachers or potential teachers and salary differences that exist between teachers and workers who are employed in alternative occupations. Occupational choice theory is reviewed, and research related to teacher salary, teacher recruitment, and teacher retention is analyzed. A conceptual model of causal relationships among variables in determining the occupational decisions of both prospective and practicing teachers is presented. A sample of teachers or potential teachers was drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72), its five follow-up surveys, the Postsecondary Education Transcript Study, and the Teaching Supplement questionnaire, resulting in 737 valid cases for the study of attraction to teaching and 495 cases for the study of retention. Findings indicate that the level of teachers' earnings relative to alternative occupations pursued by college graduates has a direct effect on occupational decisions of prospective and current teachers. Women showed a lower response to earnings than did men. The analysis confirmed the effects of various predictors of choosing and leaving teaching--gender, race, family background, the level of teaching, school type, subject specialty, and satisfaction with teaching. (Contains approximately 60 references.) (JDD)