In 2007, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported in their 2004-2005 Teacher Follow-up Survey that nearly 20% of U.S. teachers leave the profession after their first year of teaching and almost 30% leave after the fourth year of teaching. These percentages are even greater for mathematics teachers. The inability of schools to…

Far too many teachers leave the profession in the early years of their career. This study explores the relationships between self-efficacy, perception of school support, commitment. Fifty teachers one year out of a Master's in Teaching program were surveyed using self-report questionnaires. Using descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and…

We examine earnings records for more than 90,000 classroom teachers employed by Florida public schools between the 2001-02 and 2006-07 school years, roughly 20,000 of whom left the classroom during that time. A majority of those leaving the classroom remained employed by public school districts. Among teachers in grades 4-8 leaving for other…

This paper examines the transition that classroom teachers experience moving into the academy as teacher educators, considering the change in professional identity and the subsequent alignment of situational and substantial selves. We outline the findings of a qualitative case study that utilised self-study and teacher narrative to explore the…

The presence of career change students in teacher education programs is neither new nor unusual. Despite this, there is a lack of research into the experiences of such people as student teachers. In this paper, the experiences of one career change student teacher, Michelle, and the ways in which she constructed her new professional identity as a…

The purpose of this study was to develop a model that may be used to estimate the financial costs of teacher turnover in urban school districts. It is estimated that 50% of the beginning teachers leave the profession within the first five years on the job (Murname, Singer, Wilett, Kemple, and Olsen 1991; Colbert and Wolff 1992; Ingersoll 2003;…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use Dr. James Stronge's taxonomy of the qualities of effective teachers to determine whether there are significant differences in the instructional efficacy between first- and second-career teachers who teach math and science. Methodology: A causal-comparative study examined the effects of variables that…

This study examined the reasons that mathematics teachers enter the teaching profession, and compared those reasons with the reasons for leaving the teaching profession. Participants in a national study were surveyed and interviewed, with results broken into categories of gender, age, ethnicity, and region of the country. Results indicated that…

The editor of "Teaching Theology and Religion" facilitated this reflective conversation with four teachers who recently moved from undergraduate institutions to seminaries and divinity schools. Three major themes emerge in the conversation: (1) developing their pedagogical craft in undergraduate settings made them better teachers in their new…

The provision and maintenance of quality teachers is a matter of priority for the profession. Moreover, teacher attrition is costly to the profession, to the community and to those teachers who leave feeling disillusioned. There is a need to investigate the experiences of early career teachers to consider how these issues contribute to decisions…

New teachers are faced with many challenges during the first few years of teaching. They have to adjust to a new work environment, interact with parents, resolve a variety of conflicts, and design stimulating lessons for their students--often with few resources at hand. The large and varied workload that teachers carry during their first few years…

Leaving information technology (IT) management positions voluntarily can have adverse effects on productivity and knowledge retention among ethnic minorities. Despite organizational efforts to leverage diversity across leadership positions and to comply with governmental laws that protect ethnic minorities from discriminatory practices, ethnic…

This study was part of a larger on-going study that is examining the Pygmalion Principle for the practicum experiences of six mature-age student-teachers. The participants are former graduates with university degrees and aged from 36 to 49. They have extensive career backgrounds unrelated to classroom teaching. For this part of the larger study,…

As America emerges from recession, certain industries are expected to grow particularly fast and will present many job opportunities for both young people and career changers. This article looks at these high-opportunity industries and the kinds of jobs they are expected to open up. In the global economy of the 21st century, many low-skill jobs…

As schools and districts seek to recruit teachers, individuals in non-teaching professions are an appealing possible pool. These potential teachers come with work experience and may have expertise that would serve them well in the classroom. While there has been substantial rhetoric assailing the virtues of teachers with prior professional…