Many studies rely on public sector employees' reported career intentions instead of measuring actual turnover, but research does not clearly document how these variables relate to one another. We develop and test three ways in which measures of employee intentions and turnover might relate to one another: (a) intention may measure the same…

With a goal of contextualizing teacher job dissatisfaction during the first full school year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we contrast teachers' experiences to the decade and a half leading up to the pandemic. We draw on nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and National Teacher and Principal Survey from the 2003-04 to…

With a goal of contextualizing teacher job dissatisfaction during the first full school year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we contrast teachers' experiences with the decade and a half leading up to the pandemic. We draw on nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and National Teacher and Principal Survey from the 2003-04 to…

Effective teaching contributes to student growth. Quality teaching requires experienced teachers. Yet teachers continue to leave the profession at an increasing rate. This study presents moderate to large differences in 22 reasons for attrition among five levels of teacher experience. Data from the 2011-12 School and Staffing Survey and the…

Research shows teacher influence in school decision-making is related to improving individual job satisfaction and professional commitment. However, few empirical studies investigate how different domains of school decision-making may have a distinct relationship with both individual teacher job satisfaction and professional commitment. Using the…

Using six waves of the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey that span two decades, our study explores the differences between urban charter and traditional public school teachers and how those differences become more or less pronounced over time. During this time frame, the charter sector experienced…

We used five waves of nationally representative data over 16 years from the Schools and Staffing Survey, National Teacher Principal Survey, and Teacher Follow-up Survey to descriptively examine how the roles, responsibilities, preparation, and supports for special educators have changed over time. We then used regression to investigate how these…

Purpose: This article examines the relationship between teacher unionization and the academic performance of students in districts of varying socioeconomic status (SES). We aim to answer the following research questions: Do union effects vary with the SES of districts? Are these effects more (or less) pronounced in high-SES, mid-SES, or low-SES…

We estimate the effects of Race to the Top (RTTT) on teacher qualifications, work environments, and job attitudes. Drawing on the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey, we create a nationally representative data set of public school teachers from 1988 to 2018. We adopt an event study difference-in-differences…

There is scant evidence on the level of arts education available in U.S. public schools and how this has changed over time. In this paper, I present new evidence on broad trends in arts education in U.S. public schools from 1988 through 2018 using nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the National Teachers…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) sponsors the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education in order to collect data on public and private schools, principals, and teachers in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts the survey for NCES. The NTPS provides data on the…

Attracting and retaining teachers may be a problem in many rural school districts. According to previous research, teacher attrition is greater in rural regions due to various demographic and other factors. Retention was also cited as a key issue in these rural school districts. The number of teachers quitting their professions before they can…

Stagnating teacher salaries and the widening gap between public school teachers and similar workers have led to growing concerns that teachers will seek out additional employment--possibly impacting their instructional practice in the process. Using data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and the National Teacher and Principal Survey from…

The goal of this article is to provide guidance on teacher attrition rates that can inform power analyses. The subjects were a nationally representative sample of teachers responding to the National Center for Education Statistics Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher Follow-Up Survey (2011-2013). The findings indicate that at the national…

This article summarizes the results of an exploratory research project that investigated what demographic trends and changes have, or have not, occurred in the elementary and secondary teaching force in the U.S. over the past three decades, from 1987 to 2018. Our main data source was the Schools and Staffing Survey and its successor, the National…