The purpose of this mixed methods study was to study teacher retention in RNE charter schools in various geographic regions of the United States to determine the primary factors influencing teachers’ decisions to stay or leave these unique settings. Teachers who both stayed in and left these RNE charter schools were identified for qualitative interviews that would lend insight to the question. On the quantitative survey side of the study, teachers who participated varied in years of experience and time spent in an RNE school. This chapter will bring to light the various themes and findings that came out of the qualitative interviews with both “stayers” and “leavers”. It will also describe the process by which a survey was created and finalized based on the results of those interviews coupled with elements derived from the literature identified in Chapter 2. Finally, this chapter will conclude with an initial analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data that resulted from the teacher interviews and the distribution of the
aforementioned survey to all participating RNE schools across the country who distributed the survey to their teachers.
Participant Profile
A total of ten teachers were interviewed in the qualitative section of this study. Of the ten, six of them were categorized as “leavers” which meant that they had spent at least one year as a full-time classroom teacher in a RNE charter school before deciding to leave the classroom. In some cases, the teachers left for an administrative position within the same RNE school, while others left the school altogether. It is important to note that in both cases, they are considered “leavers” based on the definition of teacher attrition. The remaining four teachers were
categorized as “stayers”, which meant that they had taught for at least one year as a full-time classroom teacher in an RNE school and, at the point that the interview was conducted, were still employed in that same school as a full-time teacher.
The study also pulled teachers to interview from various regions of the United States, an intentional effort on the part of the author to diversify perspectives, experiences and responses. As mentioned in above, there were a total of ten teachers total that participated in the interviews, each lasting approximately thirty minutes long. While the participants themselves were born and raised in various locations across the country—including some from rural communities—their teaching experience in an RNE school occurred in either Massachusetts, North Carolina, or Arkansas, thus achieving the goal of geographic diversity in the results.
Process for Qualitative Analysis
Each of the ten interviews occurred over the phone with one exception, which took place in person. All interviews were recorded onto a computer program and carefully transcribed. Once transcribed, the interviews were analyzed for trends. Interviewee responses were categorized and quantified.
A total of eleven general themes emerged from all interviews, with some of the themes being mentioned with higher frequency than others, but all themes getting brought up by at least three of the ten participants. In addition, there were eight additional factors mentioned by the interviewees that were mentioned with less frequency. All responses were broken up into three categories: Primary Themes, Secondary Themes, and Tertiary Factors. Primary Themes were mentioned by six or more of the participants during their interview, with no theme being
mentioned by more than eight participants. Secondary Themes were mentioned by between three and five participants. Any factors related to teacher retention or attrition that were not mentioned
by at least three of the participants were collected and categorized as Tertiary Factors. A breakdown of the themes and factors are listed below:
Table 4.1. Themes and Factors Primary Themes
(Mentioned 6+ times) (Mentioned 3-5 times) Secondary Themes (Mentioned 1-2 times) Tertiary Factors • Teacher Coaching &
Support • High Expectations/The “mission” • Professional Growth Opportunities • Finding Friends/Supportive Professional Community • Work-Life Balance • School Leader Impact/Feeling Valued
• Lack of Access to City Amenities & Offerings • Feeling Isolated/Difficulty
Integrating into the Community • Dating/Relationship
Opportunities
• High Turnover/Instability • Disagreements with Top
Leadership of School or Organization
• Distance/Isolation from Family
• Compensation
• Lack of Access to Quality Healthcare
• Daycare Partnerships • Feeling of Guilt for
Leaving
• Shortening the School Day • Pre-employment
Exposure/Internships
The table above quantifies the amount of times a certain factor was mentioned in the qualitative interviews, but further clarification is needed as to who mentioned them, and in whether the mentioned factor was discussed in positive or negative terms. The table below lays out each of the factors, who mentioned it, how many times, and whether it was in positive, or negative terms. It is worth noting that this study only reports what the teachers actually said and shared. It
doesn’t mean that other issues might be present and relevant or not, they just didn’t share them during your interview and/or on the survey. I made every effort not to lead teachers to certain conclusions, even when trends started to emerge. For example, only two teachers interviewed didn’t mention anything around team chemistry or the importance of having friends at work. However, as the qualitative researcher, I stuck to the script and didn’t ask leading questions, even though doing so may have prompted both of those teachers in this example to say more about team chemistry. I let their answers speak for themselves, and cannot speak to what they didn’t say and why.
From the themes and factors above, trends for both stayers and leavers were mined for and are presented below in Table 4.2. They are listed in order of Stayers, Leavers, and then Both. A brief description of the trend will be given, followed with context and/or direct quotations from the participants’ interviews.
Table 4.2. Theme/Factor Details
Themes/Factors Stayers Leavers Both
Primary
Themes Teacher Coaching & Support 8/10 teachers mentioned positively High Expectations/The
“mission” 8/10 teachers mentioned
positively Professional Growth Opportunities 7/10 teachers mentioned 2/4 stayers and 1/6 leavers mentioned positively 4/6 leavers mentioned negatively Finding Friends/Supportive
Professional Community 8/10 teachers mentioned positively
Work-Life Balance 7/10 teachers
mentioned negatively School Leader Impact/Feeling
Valued 7/ 10 teachers mentioned
4/4 stayers mentioned positively 2/6 leavers mentioned negatively Secondary
Themes Lack of Access to City Amenities & Offerings 5/10 teachers mentioned negatively (2 stayers, 3 leavers) Feeling Isolated/Difficulty
Integrating into the Community
5/10 teachers mentioned negatively (2 stayers, 3 leavers)
Themes/Factors Stayers Leavers Both Dating/Relationship
Opportunities 4/6 Leavers mentioned negatively
High Turnover/Instability 3/10 teachers
mentioned negatively (1 stayer, 2 leavers) Disagreements with Top
Leadership of School or Organization 5/6 Leavers mentioned negatively Tertiary
Factors Distance/Isolation from Family 2/6 leavers mentioned negatively Compensation 1/4 stayers mentioned positively 1/6 leavers mentioned negatively Lack of Access to Quality
Healthcare
1/6 leavers mentioned negatively Daycare Partnerships 1/4 stayers
mentioned positively
Feeling of Guilt for Leaving 1/6 leavers mentioned negatively Shortening the School Day 1/6 leavers
mentioned positively Pre-employment Exposure/Internships 1/4 stayers mentioned positively
Themes and Factors Among “Stayers” Only
The only factors that were mentioned exclusively by Stayers were Daycare Partnerships and Pre-employment Exposure/Internships. These factors—both of which are Tertiary—were mentioned by different teachers in different schools and geographic regions. The teacher who mentioned Daycare Partnerships referenced how their school had partnered with a daycare facility to make it easier for teachers to have a family and continue to teach as opposed to
mentioned in Chapter 2 (Monahan, 2014). The teacher mentioned it in positive terms as something they were grateful that their school provided.
The other factor exclusive to Stayers was Pre-employment Exposure/Internships. A Stayer shared that having the opportunity to work at their school over the summer as a teacher assistant allowed them to get a feel for the school, its high expectations, and its culture before signing a full-time teaching contract. They talked about the experience in very positive terms, saying: “It definitely allowed me to get more of a feel for the people and the culture of the place. I got the perspective of what it would be like to work there, what it looks like to be a staff member and to collaborate with the other teachers.”
Themes and Factors Among “Leavers” Only
Among Leavers Only, there were two Secondary Themes and four Tertiary Factors that we will explore in more depth. The most common theme among the Leavers was their
disagreement with school or organizational leadership. Only one of the six leavers didn’t cite some degree of disagreement or philosophical split with top school or organizational leadership as a major influencing factor into their leaving. Said one teacher: “It was very clear that
leadership was going east, and I was going west in terms of philosophy and thoughts about the school as a community.”
It is important to note that most of these same teachers spoke in glowing terms about the general mission of these schools, which could be misinterpreted as a contradiction. But upon closer examination, the split that those five teachers spoke of was never about the mission of the school or organization, but rather how to achieve it. For example, one teacher cited
disagreements with employment policies, while another cited their school’s disciplinary practices as a wedge that drove them to leave.
The second most prominent theme among the Leavers was the lack of opportunity to date or find a romantic partner within their rural setting. Four out of the six leavers mentioned this as a factor that influenced them to leave the RNE community they were working in. Some teachers admitted to almost giving up on dating temporarily, saying things like “Well, I’m just going to have to focus on my profession for a while because there are no prospects for me here.” Several teachers lived within an hour or two of a metropolitan area and found success dating people from that pool of prospects, but that brought its own challenges. One teacher recalled:
I did date a couple of people when I was there, that I’d met in (the metropolitan area more than an hour’s drive away) who were fine commuting and vice versa. And, if either one of them had lasted, that might have changed things, I think. If they had been willing to move there or we lived in between or something like that. But I think if one of your goals in life, or something that you want, is to potentially get married and have children, I think it’s factual that your options are more limited in a rural area. And, in terms of meeting people in a rural area, being a school teacher, it was apt that they would be affiliated with the school in some way; which also could be a deterrent.
Another teacher mentioned feeling “stuck” in a rural community for a similar reason: “I think it’s hard if you’re 22, and it’s hard to feel like you’re going to find your life there. So, if you’re looking for a partner, you know, I think you’ll feel a little stuck.” Another teacher said simply, “There was no one for me date there. I was getting old. I needed to meet someone.”
Even in the age of online dating and social media, teachers in these RNE schools found it difficult to find potential partners, or even people to casually date. As one teacher put it: “We used to get on Match.com and eHarmony just to laugh about how you have one potential match within 25 miles.” The teacher then brought up another challenge even if one was lucky enough to meet someone: “In addition to that, if you want to go on a date with someone (in the
community), you’re going to see all your students.”
Beyond the challenge of actually finding a life partner, there was the additional challenge that some teachers had of already having a life partner that was either not in the rural community,
or was living in the community but was pushing to leave it. This was the case for two of the six leavers. Their significant others received offers to pursue new professional opportunities outside of the rural community, which put the teachers in the RNE schools in the difficult position of having to choose between their job or their partner.
There were four Tertiary Factors that were unique to Leavers only. The first was Distance/Isolation from Family, which was mentioned negatively twice. The teachers who brought this up in their interview talked about the remoteness of their rural community and the distance from their family and the familiar as contributing factors to their leaving. The second was Feeling Guilty for Leaving. The other two Tertiary Factors were mentioned once each: Lack of access to quality healthcare, and Shortened School Day.
Teachers who left their school felt a range of emotions throughout the process. One of the most potent emotions for at least two of the participants was guilt. One teacher talked about how feeling guilty for leaving was actually a factor that weighed on her mind has she decided whether or not to stay, something she felt was commonplace among her colleagues.
I think there is a lot of guilt that goes into leaving. I would say people felt like they needed a good reason. Or at least a reason that they [weren’t] fully responsible for. Because I think you didn’t want people to think you were quitting on the kids or quitting on the community or quitting on the mission.
The other teacher who mentioned feeling guilty for leaving talked about her core of friends with whom she had grown so close after four years of being at her RNE school. She talked of “emotional turmoil” as she considered leaving and ultimately left, knowing the difficult work and circumstances she was leaving behind, as well as the friends. While these teachers spoke of guilt, their responses also speak to the power of the mission and its impact on teachers who elect to work in these types of schools. Qualitative and quantitative data reveal that teachers
in these schools care deeply about the mission and putting low-income students on a higher life trajectory.
When it comes to access to quality healthcare, options in rural communities can be limited. One Leaver cited that as big “push” factor:
My friend had a baby and tried to have a home birth because the Regional Medical Center is notoriously terrible. She was rushed to the [city name] Emergency Room by her husband, because you can’t even depend on regional ambulances to show up. Those things are real. Those were the things that made me say, ‘I can’t do this.’ It wasn’t about the work. It wasn’t about the social life. It wasn’t about the organization. It was about some pretty basic infrastructure things that are true about [rural communities].
The last Tertiary Factor among Leavers only was the idea of a shortened school day, which was mentioned positively by one teacher who cited the difficulty of the demanding schedules of RNE charter schools. As mentioned in Chapter 2, an extended school day—and sometimes school year—is a “common characteristics” of RNE schools. The Leaver who mentioned it believed that a shorter school day would make the life and demands on teachers in these schools more manageable, and thus extending their longevity in the classroom.
Themes and Factors Among Both “Stayers” & “Leavers”
The majority of Themes and Factors were mentioned by both Stayers and Leavers. All of the Primary Themes were mentioned in interviews with both groups. We will start by reviewing the six Primary Themes mentioned by both groups, then the three Secondary Themes, and finally the one Tertiary Factor that were mentioned by both Stayers and Leavers alike.
Primary Theme #1: The Mission
The most dominant theme that emerged among the group of leavers was their belief in and commitment to the mission of the RNE schools they worked in. All of them brought up in their interviews that they had a desire to work specifically in the kind of school that was working
with a low-income population with the belief that those students could attend and graduate from college. It is the kind of educational equity work that has been widely popularized by
organizations like KIPP, Teach For America. A few of the participants even mentioned the mission and their exposure to it through representations in media with films like “Waiting for Superman,” and “The Lottery,” and books like “Work Hard. Be Nice.” By Jay Mathews. Leavers talked about “the mission” and “high expectations” as part of what originally attracted them to their RNE school and, in some cases, what kept them there. None of the leavers cited the mission in negative terms or as a factor that eventually drove them from their school. Said one teacher: “(Getting) my bachelor's degree in African-American Studies is what pushed me towards signing up for Teach for America. I found myself frustrated by inequality in the world and didn’t quite know what else to do.” Another teacher put it this way:
The rewarding part of it was relationships with kids; with the potential impact on kids. Also, the idea that there’s this huge challenge in front of you and everyday you’re leaving with skills that are sending you in the next day more equipped to solve this huge problem that will greatly impact kids.
There was a common thread of idealism through most of the interviews, and that idealism—and the way it manifested itself within a school with a predominantly marginalized student population—had a powerful impact on teachers’ perceptions of themselves, their schools, and their work. One teacher put it this way: “There were tons of great things that kept me there. And I felt like we were, not to sound cliché, but did I feel like time and time again we were proving what was possible for rural education.”
Primary Theme #2: Principal Leadership/Feeling Valued
Another striking trend in the data was the impact of principal leadership and the
important role it played in the experience of Stayers and Leavers alike. Among the Leavers, only 1/6 of them mentioned feeling supported or appreciated by their schools and/or school leaders.