Date of Conferral

5-3-2024

Date of Award

May 2024

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Deborah Focarile

Abstract

The problem addressed was a post-COVD-19 pandemic increase in teacher attrition at an A-rated suburban middle school in a southern U.S. state. The increased attrition placed additional strain on local schools, teachers, and district personnel and affected the academic progress of students. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore middle school teachers’ experiences with the increasing attrition and obtain recommendations for improving teacher retention. The conceptual framework was the jobs-demands-resources theory. The two research questions concerned middle school teachers’ experiences related to the increasing teacher attrition and their recommendations for improving teacher retention, respectively. The study used basic qualitative methods and multistep qualitative coding to examine data gathered from semistructured individual interviews with 13 current middle school teachers, each with a minimum of 3 years of teaching experience, 2 years in Grades 6–8 and 2 years at their current school site. The key findings of the study indicated that job demands postpandemic outweigh the resources provided to meet them, resulting in teachers feeling the onset of burnout and attrition intentions. Teacher recommendations are provided to promote the retention of quality teachers postpandemic. These included increased structure, consistent student discipline practices, fewer distractions during the school day. Recommendations for future research include the replication of the study in a more high-risk school environment to determine whether there is consistency with these findings. The social change implications of the study stem from the recommendations offered to school and district administrators on strategies to improve the physical and emotional quality of the environment for teachers to promote teacher well-being and retention.

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