Date of Conferral
4-11-2025
Date of Award
April 2025
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Keren Meister-Emerich
Abstract
The problem that was addressed through this study was high teacher turnover in Georgia school districts. Guided by the job demands-resources theory, the purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to investigate average teacher salary, student-teacher ratios, and the percentage of Title I schools in terms of teacher retention rates in Georgia school districts. Archival data were collected from 180 public school districts in Georgia and obtained from the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. Multiple regression and Chi-square analyses were used to examine the relationships among variables. Chi-square analysis was used due to concerns about the normality of the variables, based on their skewness and kurtosis values. Both the multiple regression and Chi-square analysis results revealed that average teacher salary was the only statistically significant predictor of teacher retention (p < .001), whereas student-teacher ratio and the percentage of Title I schools were not significant. These findings underscore the critical role of competitive teacher salaries in retention, suggesting that investment in teacher compensation should be a priority for policymakers, educational leaders, and school administrators. Improving teacher retention has the potential to generate social change by enhancing student academic outcomes, fostering educational equity in underserved communities, and strengthening school climates.
Recommended Citation
Webb, DeAnn, "Relating Average Teacher Salary, Student-Teacher Ratios, and Percent of Title I Schools to Teacher Retention Rates in Georgia School Districts" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17589.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17589
