Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Salina Shrofel

Abstract

A suburban school district in the midwestern United States experienced concerning teacher attrition rates of teachers with 5 or fewer years of experience. The gap in practice addressed in this study was that district administrators had little knowledge about how newly hired teachers experienced the contextual conditions that occur at their schools and how these experiences influenced the teachers to leave or remain employed in the district. The purpose of the basic qualitative study was to provide information to district administrators that they could use to develop and apply practices, programs, and policies to provide school contextual conditions that support the district’s teaching staff and decrease teacher attrition. The conceptual framework for this study was the Boyd et al. model of school contextual influence on teacher attrition. The research question addressed newly hired teachers’ perceptions of their experiences regarding school contextual conditions and how these experiences influenced their decisions to leave or remain employed at the school district. Data were collected through individual interviews of eight district teachers with five or fewer years of service in elementary or middle schools. Data were organized using provisional and pattern codes; subthemes and themes were identified. Two key findings of the study revealed that school contextual conditions did impact newly hired teachers’ decisions to remain employed or leave the school district. More specifically, administrative support, staff relations, and facilities influenced their decisions to stay or leave the school district. Based on the study results, a project was developed to provide professional development about school contextual conditions to school principals that may promote positive social change by leading to increased retention of teachers at their schools.

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