Teacher Retention in Public Illinois Unit School Districts among Select Demographic Variables

Many school districts in the United States are facing growing concerns regarding the shortage of qualified candidates for teaching positions. This problem has existed for some time, and its deleterious effects are exacerbated in school districts that have significant teacher turnover. School districts with higher teacher retention can mitigate some of the issues that arise with underqualified teachers. A number of factors may influence teacher retention in a school district including academic achievement scores, per pupil expenditures, graduation rate, chronic absenteeism, and percentage of low-income students. This quantitative study attempted to elucidate the interrelationships between these variables and determine which predict teacher retention in Illinois public school districts via the use of descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and linear regression. The analyses indicated that statistically significant relationships existed between many of the school-based measures of interest. The data also indicated that academic achievement predicted teacher retention in public unit Illinois school districts, and that expenditures per pupil were predictive only when variance due to other factors, like teacher salary and class sizes, were co-varied. The results from this study can assist school administrators by increasing focus and allocating resources to the factors underlying teacher retention that are most likely to improve retention rates. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]