!
!
!
WHY!DO!TE ACHER S!CHOOSE!
TE A CHING!AND!REMAIN!
TE A CHING?!
Initial'Results'from'the'Educator'Career'and'Pathway'
Survey'(ECAPS)'for'Teachers'
Yongmei!Ni,!PhD!
Andrea!K.!Rorrer,!PhD!
Suggested citation for this policy report: Ni, Y. & Rorrer, A.K. (2018). Why Do Teachers Choose Teaching
and Remain Teaching: Initial Results from the Educator Career and Pathway Survey (ECAPS) for Teachers.
Utah Education Policy Center: Salt Lake City, UT.
2
Bridging Research, Policy, and Practice
The Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) is a research-based center at the University of Utah founded
in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in 1990 and administered within the College of
Education since 2007. As an integral part of the College and University's commitment to increasing
educational access and opportunities, the purpose of the UEPC is to improve the quality and
effectiveness of educational policies, practices, and leadership in public schools and higher education.
We are committed to understanding whether educational policies, programs, and practices are being
implemented as intended, whether they are effective and impactful, and how they might be enhanced
through continuous improvement, scalability, and sustainability. To do this, we provide research,
evaluation, and systems of support for improvement and change to facilitate sound and informed
decisions about educational leadership, policy, and practice.
Please visit our website for more information about the UEPC.
http://uepc.utah.edu
Andrea K. Rorrer, Ph.D., Director
Phone: 801-581-4207
[email protected]
Cori Groth, Ph.D., Associate Director
Phone: 801-581-4207
cori.[email protected]
3
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Survey Response Rates ..................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Reasons to Become a Teacher ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
Reasons to Remain A Teacher ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Satisfaction with School Factors ................................................................................................................................................ 12
Career Intentions .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Most Influential Personal Reasons for Moving or Leaving ............................................................................................. 16
Observations and Future Plans for Analyses ........................................................................................................................ 17
List of Tables
Table 1. Response Rates by Category ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Table 2. Top 10 School Factors that Stayers, Movers, and Leavers identified as Very or Extremely
Satisfied ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Table 3. Bottom 10 School Factors that Stayers, Movers, and Leavers identified as Very or Extremely
Satisfied ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Table 4. How Long Teachers Plan to Remain Teaching................................................................................................... 15
Table 5. Job Seeking of Teachers ................................................................................................................................................ 15
List of Figures
Figure 1. The Influence of Various Factors on a Teacher’s Decision to Become a Teacher ............................... 7
Figure 2. The Top 5 Factors that Influence a Teacher’s Decision to Become a Teacher ..................................... 8
Figure 3. The Influence of Various Factors Have on Teachers' Decisions to Remain a Teacher ................... 10
Figure 4. The Top 5 Factors that Influence Teachers’ Decisions to Remain a Teacher ..................................... 11
Figure 5. Satisfaction of Stayers with Various School Factors ...................................................................................... 13
Figure 6. Influence of Personal Factors for Teachers to Move to A Different School ......................................... 16
Figure 7. Influence of Personal Factors for Teachers to Leave Teaching ................................................................. 16
4
Introduction
The Educator Career and Pathway Survey for Teachers was created by the Utah Education Policy Center
(UEPC) in response to the continued concerns regarding teacher supply and demand. In partnership
with the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), the UEPC has sought to understand the contributing
factors to educator decision-making relative to their careers. Specifically, the ECAPS for Teachers
explores teachers' decisions to become a teacher; the influence of various factors on their decision to
remain in, move within, or leave education; satisfaction with working conditions; and career intentions.
i
The ECAPS for Teachers offers a unique perspective on these issues as it draws directly from the voices
and experiences of Utah's teaching core. Findings from the survey can be used to inform strategies in
recruiting, developing, and supporting teachers.
The ECAPS for Teachers survey was sent to the email addresses of all teachers in the USBE
Comprehensive Administration of Credentials for Teachers in Utah Schools (CACTUS)
database, which
contains information of all Utah educators, and who are identified as:
•
Stayers
-- taught in a public school setting in 2016-17, and teach in the same school in 2017-18
•
Movers
-- taught in a public school setting in 2016-17, and teach in a different school in 2017-18.
•
Leavers
-- taught in a public school setting in 2016-17, and did not return in 2017-18 as a
teacher.
•
New teachers
- teach in a public school setting in 2017-18 for the first time.
•
Returning teachers
- stopped out at some point in their careers but returned to teaching in
2017-18.
The survey was administered in an online survey platform. The link to the survey was distributed
initially by the USBE to the approximately 29,000 teachers who have an active CACTUS account. The
survey was launched in October 2017 and remained open for 5 weeks through November 2017. Multiple
email reminders were distributed to school principals, district superintendents, and the Utah Education
Association (UEA) in order to improve the response rate. This initial report provides descriptive
information regarding teachers’ responses to different survey questions, including stayers, movers,
leavers, new, and returning teachers. Future analyses will provide information disaggregated by teacher
and school characteristics, and study responses of open-ended questions in the survey.
Survey Response Rates
In total, 2,025 teachers responded and completed the entire survey. Another 1,356 teachers started
responding but stopped at the question that requested the respondent last name and CACTUS ID. Last
name and CACTUS ID were requested to a) minimize the length of the survey and b) complete data
analyses. No individual or identifiable data are reported here. In this brief, sample size refers to the
number of teachers who responded to a specific question. Each of the 41 school districts and the
majority of charter schools had teachers respond to the survey.
5
As
Table 1
shows, 2,025 teachers responded to the question about their teaching status in 2017-18. Of
that respondent group:
• 6% were first year
new teachers
(n=116), and
• 3% were teachers who stopped out at some point in their careers but
returned to
teaching in
2017-18 (n=53).
Both new teachers and returning teachers did not teach in Utah public schools in 2016-17, and were not
included in the 2016-17 CACTUS data.
Among all the teachers who taught in 2016-17 (n=1,852):
• 1,628 (88%) remained teaching in the same school they taught the year before (
stayers
);
• 158 (9%) taught in a Utah public school classroom in 2017-18, but in a different school (
movers
);
and
• 66 (4%) were no longer teaching in Utah public school classrooms in 2017-18 (
leavers
).
Table 1. Response Rates by Category
Teachers who taught in 2016-17
Sample Size
Percent (%)
Stayers
1628
88
Movers
158
9
Leavers
66
4
Subtotal
1852
100
New or Returning Teachers in 2017-18
Returning
53
New
116
Subtotal
169
Total
2025
6
Reasons to Become A Teacher
Teachers were asked what factors influenced their decision to become a teacher. Eighteen factors and
an “other” option were listed for teachers to rate from 1- not at all influential to 5-extremely influential.
An “other” option was included so that they could provide a written response. In total, 1,976 teachers
responded to the questions.
Figure 1
shows all the factors in the order of the combined percentages of responses of “very influential”
or “extremely influential.” The top five factors that were very influential or extremely influential in their
decision to become a teacher were:
• Desire to make a worthwhile difference in the lives of children (85%)
• Desire to contribute to the greater societal good (70%)
• Experience working with children/young adults (64%)
• Sense of personal achievement (62%), and
• Subject matter interest or expertise (59%).
The five factors with the lowest combined percentages of “very influential” or “extremely influential” in
their decision to become a teacher were:
• Retirement benefits (22%).
• Insurance benefits (18%)
• Participation in early career program during my high school years (6%)
• Lack of other available job opportunities (4%), and
• Salary (3%)
7
Figure 1. The Influence of Various Factors on a Teacher’s Decision to Become A Teacher
8
The survey then asked teachers to select 5 reasons among those 19 factors and rank them as (1) most
important reason to (5) fifth most important reason. We counted the frequency of individual factors
each time they were cited as one of the five top reasons and then ordered them from the most frequently
cited to the least frequently cited (see
Figure 2
). The most cited factors that are ranked as top five
reasons are also the most influential factors as indicated in
Figure 1
, except that the orders are slightly
different for several factors. For example, although summers off is the 7
th
among the very or extremely
influential factors that influence a teacher’s decision to become a teacher (as shown in
Figure 1
), it was
ranked 3
rd
among the all the factors for rank order (as shown in
Figure 2
).
Figure 2. The Top 5 Factors that Influence a Teacher’s Decision to Become A Teacher
9
Reasons to Remain A Teacher
All the teachers who remained as teachers in both years, including stayers and movers, were asked the
influence of 30 factors in their decisions to remain a teacher. These 30 factors include most of the 19
factors from the previous question “
What factors influenced your decision to become a teacher
,” plus
items that pertain to their working environment, including both school and teaching professional
factors. Again, an “other” option was provided. The teachers were asked to rate these 30 factors from 1-
not at all influential to 5-extremely influential. In total, 1,729 teachers responded to the question.
As
Figure 3
shows, the five factors that are very or extremely influential in teachers’ decision to remain
teaching include three of the top factors for becoming a teacher (desire to make a worthwhile difference
in the lives of children (84%); experience working with children/young adults (69%); and desire to
contribute to the greater societal good (67%)) and two new items (i.e., sense of purpose (70%) and
commitment to children/young adults (69%)).
When asked to rank these 30 factors as (1) the most important reason to (5) the fifth
most important reason, similar patterns were found (see
Figure 4
). The most cited factors that are
ranked as top five reasons to remain a teacher are also the most influential factors to remaining a
teacher, except that the orders are slightly different between for several factors. For example, summers
off ranked 2
nd
among the top five most cited reasons to remain a teacher (see
Figure 4
), while it is the
10
th
very or extremely influential factor to remain a teacher (see
Figure 3
). Relationship with peers and
colleagues ranks 5
th
among those factors that influences teachers’ decision to remain a teacher, while it
is the 9
th
very or extremely influential factor to remaining a teacher, as indicated in
Figure 3
.
10
Figure 3. The Influence of Various Factors Have on Teachers' Decisions to Remain A Teacher
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800
Lack of other available job opportunities
Salary
Available resources
Sense of personal recognition
Professional learning opportunities
Moral obligation
Too difficult to start over
Sense of empowerment
Quality of leadership
Insurance benefits
High level of responsibility
Respect and value of the profession
Retirement benefits
Professional growth
Job stability/security
School culture
Collaboration with peers and colleagues
Challenging work
Convenience of daily/weekly work schedule
Work environment
Summers off/Convenience of annual work schedule
Relationship with peers and colleagues
Subject matter interest or expertise
Level of engagement with children/young adults
Sense of personal achievement
Desire to contribute to the greater societal good
Experience working with children/young adults
Sense of purpose
Commitment to children/young adults
Desire to make a worthwhile difference in the lives of children
Not at all influential Slightly influential Somewhat influential Very influential Extremely influential
11
Figure 4. The Top 5 Factors that Influence Teachers’ Decisions to Remain A Teacher
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Available resources
Other
Sense of personal recognition
Sense of empowerment
Professional learning opportunities
Quality of leadership
High level of responsibility
Moral obligation
Lack of other available job opportunities
Professional growth
Work environment
School culture
Respect and value of the profession
Challenging work
Salary
Collaboration with peers and colleagues
Sense of purpose
Too difficult to start over
Level of engagement with children/young adults
Convenience of daily/weekly work schedule
Insurance benefits
Retirement benefits
Sense of personal achievement
Experience working with children/young adults
Commitment to children/young adults
Job stability/security
Relationship with peers and colleagues
Subject matter interest or expertise
Desire to contribute to the greater societal good
Summers off/Convenience of annual work schedule
Desire to make a worthwhile difference in the lives of children
Rank 5 Rank 4 Rank 3 Rank 2 Rank 1
12
Satisfaction with School Factors
The stayers, movers, and leavers were all asked about their levels of satisfaction with 32 factors and
conditions in their previous year’s school (i.e., assignment and classroom factors, school factors, student
performance factors, professional factors, and economic factors). In total, 1,901 teachers answered the
questions, but not all of them rated all the factors. The percentages of respondents who rated each of
the factors as “very satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” were calculated and sorted from the largest to the
smallest.
Figure 5
shows the satisfaction that stayers have with school factors at their last year’s school
(N=1,686). For stayers, their last year’s school is the same as their current year’s school. In addition,
Table 2
shows the top 10 factors that stayers, movers, and leavers were very or extremely satisfied with
in their previous year’ schools. Similarly,
Table 3
shows
the bottom 10 factors for stayers, movers, and
leavers.
As
Table 2
indicates, overall, stayers were more satisfied with their schools the previous year than were
movers and leavers. Interestingly, teachers across the three categories—stayers, movers, and leavers—
cited very similar school factors that they are very or extremely satisfied with, including colleagues,
working relationships, how ethically they were treated, and intellectual challenge. The factors that are
common among all teacher categories are highlighted in light orange.
As
Table 3
shows, several factors related to student assessment and accountability pressures, and
support provided to prepare assessments, are among the factors that stayers, movers, and leavers were
least satisfied with. The factors that are common among all three teacher categories are highlighted in
light orange. In addition, several factors are cited as least satisfied among movers and leavers, but not
stayers, including time commitment, teachers’ influence on school policies and practices, and feedback
and/or coaching on instruction to improve teaching. The factors that are common among movers and
leavers are highlighted in blue.
13
Figure 5. Satisfaction of Stayers with Various School Factors
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Colleagues
Working relationships
How ethically I was treated
Intellectual challenge
Collaboration with colleagues
My job description or assignment
Autonomy over my classroom
Expectations for my performance
Job security
Value and respect for me as a teacher
Mentoring
Professional development opportunities
Administration
Protection of my teaching time
Resources (e.g., facilities, classroom resources)
Retirement benefits
Duties and responsibilities outside my classroom
My influence on school policies and practices
My time commitment
Opportunities for professional advancement
Feedback/coaching to improve my teaching
Extracurricular activities
Student discipline and behavior
Parent engagement
Communication timelines and relevance
Salary
Insurance benefits
Student assessments/school accountability measures
Support I received to prepare my students for assessments
Impact of student assessment
Compensation or rewards tied to student performance
Reform measures
Not at all satisfied Slightly satisfied Moderately satisfied Very satisfied Extremely satisfied
14
Table 2. Top 10 School Factors that Stayers, Movers, and Leavers identified as Very or Extremely Satisfied
Rank
Stayers (n=1686)
%
Movers (n=151)
%
Leavers (n=64)
%
1
Colleagues
79
Colleagues
64
Intellectual challenge
72
2
Working relationships
74
Working relationships
57
Colleagues
71
3
How ethically I was treated
73
Autonomy over my classroom
54
Job security
70
4
Intellectual challenge
71
Intellectual challenge
51
Working relationships
69
5
Collaboration with colleagues
69
My job description or assignment
50
Collaboration with colleagues
62
6
My job description or assignment
69
Collaboration with colleagues
50
My job description or assignment
58
7
Autonomy over my classroom
68
Job security
49
Autonomy over my classroom
58
8
Expectations for my performance
64
Resources
49
How ethically I was treated
57
9
Job security
64
How ethically I was treated
42
Resources
54
10
Value and respect for me as a teacher
63
Protection of my teaching time
41
Expectations for my performance
51
Note: % means percentages of teachers who were very satisfied or extremely satisfied with a specific factor.
Table 3. Bottom 10 School Factors that Stayers, Movers, and Leavers identified as Very or Extremely Satisfied
Rank
Stayers (n=1686)
%
Movers (n=151)
%
Leavers (n=64)
%
1
Reform measures
14
My compensation, benefits, or rewards
tied to the performance of my students
9
Reform measures
8
2
My compensation, benefits, or rewards
tied to the performance of my students
17
Salary
14
My compensation, benefits, or rewards
tied to the performance of my students
14
3
Impact of assessment/ accountability on
my teaching curriculum
22
Reform measures
19
Support I received to prepare my
students for assessments
16
4
Support I received to prepare my
students for assessments
27
Support I received to prepare my
students for assessments
22
Salary
19
5
Student assessments/school
accountability measures
30
Student assessments/school
accountability measures
25
My time commitment
21
6
Insurance benefits
30
Impact of assessment/ accountability
on my teaching curriculum
27
Student assessments/school
accountability measures
24
7
Salary
31
My time commitment
28
Impact of assessment/school on my
teaching curriculum
25
8
Communication timelines and relevance
35
My influence on school policies
28
Insurance benefits
26
9
Parent engagement
36
Student discipline and behavior
29
Feedback and/or coaching on
instruction to improve my teaching
29
10
Student discipline and behavior
37
Feedback and/or coaching on
instruction to improve my teaching
32
My influence on school policies
29
15
Career Intentions
The survey also asked teachers who are new, returning to teach, or staying as teachers, how long they
plan to remain in a teaching position (see
Table 4
). There were 1,651 teachers who responded to this
question. A majority (53.2%) stated that they will remain as long as possible or until they are eligible for
retirement, and another 7% indicated that they would stay until a specific life event occurs. Another
19% of the teachers reported they were undecided at this time.
Table 4. How Long Teachers Plan to Remain Teaching
%
Response (N)
As long as I am able
34.0
562
Until I am eligible for retirement benefits from this job
19.2
317
Until a specific life event occurs
7.0
116
Undecided at this time
19.0
313
Until I get a promotion within education
5.9
97
Until I am eligible for Social Security benefits
4.0
66
Until I get a job within another field
2.7
44
Until my loans or debt are paid off
0.8
14
Until I am eligible for retirement benefits from a previous job
0.2
4
Other
7.1
118
Total
100.0
1651
Further, when asked whether they have applied for another position, 60% of the teachers answered they
did not apply for another job within education, and 69% answered that they did not apply for another
job outside of education (see
Table 5
). Among those who applied for jobs within the past 12 months,
15% applied for a position within education and 8% applied for a position outside of education. An
additional 25% of respondents indicated that they had applied for another position within education
beyond the past year, while 24% indicated that they had applied for another position outside of
education during this time period.
Table 5. Job Seeking of Teachers
Applied for another
position in
education
Applied for another
position outside of
education
Yes, in the past 12 months
15%
8%
Yes, but not in the past 12 months
25%
24%
No
60%
69%
Total (N)
1650
1650
16
Most Influential Personal Reasons for Moving or Leaving
Movers and leavers were asked what the most influential personal reasons were for them to leave their
previous year’s schools. In total, 131 movers and 56 leavers responded to the questions. As
Figure 6
and
Figure 7
show, emotional exhaustion, stress, and burnout are the number one very or extremely
influential reason for moving (51%) or leaving (62%). While 47% of movers cited location of the position
as an influential personal reason to move, only 9% of the leavers indicated that location of the position
was an influential personal reason to leave the teaching profession.
Figure 6. Influence of Personal Factors for Teachers to Move to A Different School
Figure 7. Influence of Personal Factors for Teachers to Leave Teaching
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Other
Emotional Exhaustion/ Stress/ Burnout
Location of position
A change in grade level position
Family relocation
Health
A new program
Follow an administrator
A new school opened
Not at all influential Slightly influential Somewhat influential Very influential Extremely influential
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Emotional Exhaustion/ Stress/ Burnout
Other
Better opportunities within education
Family care
To raise my children
Better opportunities outside of education
Because my salary is insufficient for childcare
Health
Retirement
Pregnancy
Seek additional degree or certification
Location of position
Family relocation
Not at all influential Slightly influential Somewhat influential Very influential Extremely influential
17
Observations and Future Plans for Analyses
There were consistent responses regarding the top influential factors that inspire individuals to both
become teachers and also remain as teachers. Given this finding in the descriptive data, it is important
to recognize that certain factors can potentially influence educators to become teachers and remain in
the profession. These include opportunities for leaders to optimize the work environment to increase
the ability for teachers to make a worthwhile difference in their students' lives, therefore contributing to
the greater societal good. Additionally, it is important to provide support and professional development
opportunities for teachers to grow in their subject matter.
As a group, stayers are more satisfied with their schools than movers and leavers. Improving teacher
satisfaction with the school may increase teacher retention, including addressing areas that they feel
are influential in their decisions to stay or go and addressing those areas that they are currently less
satisfied with. For instance, teachers noted that several factors related to student assessment and
accountability were among their least satisfied areas. Further information is necessary to understand
what aspects of these factors they are problematic, and teachers could inform this further at their local
schools, including whether or not further professional learning is appropriate or guidance on how to
further align instruction with standards and assessments, or use assessment information to make
decisions about how to improve instruction for students. Other factors that warrant further attention
include time commitment, the influence teachers may or may not have on school policies, and the
nature and frequency of feedback and/or coaching on instruction to improve teaching. These were also
among the least satisfied areas of teachers who were movers or leavers.
Teachers were asked about their career intentions and potential longevity in the field. A majority of
respondents indicate that they plan to remain a teacher as long as they can and are able. However, 19%
of the teachers indicated that they were undecided in how long they plan to remain teaching. These
initial findings suggest that opportunities are available to increase the prospects for these teachers to
remain. It is encouraging that 6% of respondents indicated that they would remain a teacher until they
received a promotion within education. As important as it is for us to retain teachers, it is also
imperative that we have a strong and deep pool of leadership talent.
In order to improve teacher retention, we are further exploring which groups of teachers are staying,
moving, and leaving and for what reasons. This analysis will provide information regarding conditions
that may prompt teachers to remain in the profession and be highly satisfied. In our upcoming research,
the UEPC will further analyze survey responses given teacher demographics and characteristics.
Findings will be disaggregated by satisfaction of school factors, career intentions, and personal reasons
for staying, moving, and leaving by teacher and school characteristics. In addition, we will analyze
responses of open-ended questions in the survey to better understand the various situations that were
not captured by current survey items. To maximize its utility, the ECAPS is designed, and available, to
be used annually to provide feedback at the school, district and state-level. The UEPC will release a
companion ECAPS for Leaders in Fall 2018.
i
We reviewed previous research on teacher retention and attrition, and existing surveys, policies, and reports from
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and other states to inform the development and design of the
ECAPS.