Date of Conferral

8-18-2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Robert Flanders

Abstract

The problem that was addressed through this study is that teachers are leaving the profession in an Arizona high school district (AHSD, a pseudonym), which might be due to a lack of administrator support. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of reasons they chose to remain in their positions as well as administrators’ perceptions on the support they provide to encourage teacher retention at AHSD. Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory, semistructured interviews were conducted with six administrators and 10 teachers from AHSD. Saldana’s pattern coding was used with the following themes emerging: Teachers based their decision to stay in the profession on support with student discipline, meaningful feedback, and opportunities for positive relationships with peers and administrators. Administrators corroborated that these concerns were important for teacher retention. This study may lead to positive social change by reinforcing the necessary support provided by administrators. If teachers are supported and stay in their profession, students benefit from continuity provided by content teachers.

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