Turnover of early childhood education (ECE) professionals negatively impacts program costs, staff morale, and relationships with children. We determined whether the presence of work as a calling was associated with less intention to leave the ECE field. From an online survey administered to 265 ECE professionals in Pennsylvania, a calling score…

The national teacher shortage created a crisis in the educational system that caused a negative effect on students and teachers (Garcia & Weiss, 2019). School climate can influence teachers' contribution, productivity, and sense of belonging (Smith et al., 2014; Thapa et al., 2013). With the current teacher shortage, school principals navigate…

This quantitative study investigates the issue of teacher shortages, operationalized through emergency permit rates, within the broader context and specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic, while assessing the influence of leadership characteristics. Utilizing a decade of publicly available secondary data (2012-2022), the research sourced…

Last summer, the National Education Association (NEA) developed a New Business Item to explore retrenchment: "The NEA shall make a statistical study on the effect of significant faculty retrenchment at community colleges on future faculty cuts" (NBI 78, 2022). ASA Research (ASA) conducted exploratory research in an attempt to identify…

There are evident shortages with increased demands for qualified special education teachers (SETs) nationwide (Peyton et al., 2021). Although efforts have been made to reduce SET attrition and increase retention, it is still unknown what job factors influence SETs' intent to stay, transfer, migrate, pursue administrative positions, pursue…

This dissertation examines compassion fatigue (CF), secondary traumatic stress (STS), and burnout (BO) among Pennsylvania public school teachers and their intentions to leave the profession. It also explores the potential roles of compassion satisfaction (CS) and resilience while considering demographic and school characteristics. Survey data from…

This qualitative phenomenological study delved into the factors influencing the retention of special education teachers in rural Luzerne County, Pennsylvania school districts. The focus was on understanding why these educators chose to continue in their positions despite facing significant challenges such as limited resources, administrative…

This quantitative non-experimental cross-sectional study aimed to determine the cause(s) of teachers exiting their current employment to migrate to neighboring districts. To predict and alleviate the burden that the loss of experienced teachers imposes, the study examined teachers' intent to migrate by surveying teachers currently working in a…

As school systems work to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, states continue to grapple with persistent teacher shortages, a lack of teachers of color in the workforce, and high turnover rates undermining recruitment efforts. Teachers' effectiveness and their likelihood of staying in teaching are strongly influenced by the quality of preparation…

We used longitudinal staffing data from Pennsylvania to explore differences in special education personnel attrition across personnel categories, individual characteristics, and district characteristics. Special education administrators and school psychologists had the highest attrition rates among special education personnel, with special…

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), schools have a unique opportunity to play a pivotal role in addressing mental health needs in their communities (Sawyer et al., 2021). The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the impact that the utilization of a system approach has on the success and sustainability of teacher…

Principals shape the academic setting of schools. Yet, there is limited evidence on whether principal professional development improves schooling outcomes. Beginning in 2008-2009, Pennsylvania's Inspired Leadership (PIL) induction program required that newly hired principals complete targeted in-service professional development tied to newly…

Definitions of teacher experience vary by state and research study. Most states consider a teacher inexperienced if they have between 1-5 years of experience in the classroom as full-time educator. Pennsylvania's 2015 plan identified inexperienced teachers as those with one or less years of teaching experience, but the federal Civil Rights Data…

Throughout the United States, there is a persistent shortage of special education teachers. School administrators recognize this phenomenon and must work collaboratively to resolve the issue of special education teachers choosing different career paths. The literature shows that special education teachers leave the field within the first…

District leaders seeking to close schools often frame decisions as "right-sizing" or "modernizing the footprint" of the district. Historical influences such as population and economic shifts and desegregation during the civil rights era, and more recent factors like deteriorating building conditions, school performance…