Career Paths of Beginning Public School Teachers: Results from the First through Fifth Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study. Stats in Brief. NCES 2015-196

This report examines the career paths of beginning public school teachers and how these career paths vary by characteristics during the teachers' first year of teaching and most recent year of teaching. The career paths in this report are based on those developed for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) research and development (R&D) report "Strategies for Longitudinal Analysis of the Career Paths of Beginning Teachers: Results from the First through Fourth Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study." The purpose of the R&D report was to use Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS) data from waves 1-4 to develop a strategy for longitudinal analysis related to teacher attrition, retention, and mobility. This report extends the longitudinal analysis to all 5 years of BTLS data. The career paths are divided into the broad groups of beginning teachers who taught all 5 years and those who did not teach all 5 years. Among teachers who taught all years, three career paths are defined based on the teachers' mobility over the years. Among teachers who did not teach all years, four career paths are defined based on whether the teacher returned to teaching or was expected to return to teaching. A variety of longitudinal survey items are used to classify respondents by whether or not they are expected to return to teaching. The following are appended: (1) Standard Error Tables; and (2) Description of Variables Used. [For "Strategies for Longitudinal Analysis of the Career Paths of Beginning Teachers: Results from the First through Fourth Waves of the 2007-08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study. Research and Development Report. NCES 2013-336," see ED544179.]