Why Do Teachers Quit?

Liz Riggs:

Richard Ingersoll taught high-school social studies and algebra in both public and private schools for nearly six years before leaving the profession and getting a Ph.D. in sociology. Now a professor in the University of Pennsylvania's education school, he's spent his career in higher ed searching for answers to one of teaching's most significant problems: teacher turnover.

Teaching, Ingersoll says, "was originally built as this temporary line of work for women before they got their real job--which was raising families, or temporary for men until they moved out of the classroom and became administrators. That was sort of the historical set-up."

Ingersoll extrapolated and then later confirmed that anywhere between 40 and 50 percent of teachers will leave the classroom within their first five years (that includes the nine and a half percent that leave before the end of their first year.) Certainly, all professions have turnover, and some shuffling out the door is good for bringing in young blood and fresh faces. But, turnover in teaching is about four percent higher than other professions.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at October 28, 2013 2:02 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas