Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Salina M. Shrofel

Abstract

In a southern state, 22% of alternatively certified teachers enrolled in the State Alternative Certification Program (STACP) leave the teaching profession within the first 3 years. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of demographic, career, personal/family, and school satisfaction factors that influenced STACP candidates to leave the profession. The theoretical framework that grounded the study was the emerging theory of teacher attrition developed by Nguyen et al. The data for the study were collected by administrating the U.S. Department of Education Teacher Follow–Up Survey to a sample of 56 STACP candidates. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square Test of Independence and descriptive statistics to gain an understanding of demographic, career, personal/family, and school satisfaction factors. Survey results indicated that there was no statistically significant association between STACP candidates who decided to stay and STACP candidates who decided to leave the profession regarding demographic factors (subject area, educational level taught [elementary, middle, high], gender, age, years in the program, and race/ethnicity), career, personal/family, and school satisfaction factors. The findings indicated that a high percentage of STACP candidates who stated they were leaving were dissatisfied with teaching (career), change of residence (personal/family), and the heavy workload (school satisfaction). The findings can contribute to social change by providing an understanding of the reasons that STACP candidates cited for leaving the teaching profession, which STACP programs could use to decrease attrition of future STACP candidates.

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