An examination of factors related to the retention of new teachers in the Metropolitan Nashville Tennessee School System

In recent years there has been a decided nationwide trend for teachers to leave the teaching profession early in their teaching careers. As many as 33% of new hires leave teaching altogether in their first three years, and 46% leave within the first five years. The purpose of the current study was to identify which factors were predictive of whether or not new teachers would remain in the teaching profession. Participants included 102 male and female teachers from the Metropolitan Nashville Tennessee School System who had less than five years of classroom teaching experience. After receiving approval from the Tennessee State University Institutional Review Board and the Metropolitan Nashville Tennessee School System, teachers were recruited from elementary, middle and high schools in the Metropolitan Nashville Tennessee School System. Those teachers who participated were given a survey packet which included: (1) informed consent form, (2) demographic information instrument, (3) school participant empowerment scale, (4) teacher efficacy scale, and (5) self-addressed stamped envelope. The hypotheses were that a number of independent variables including: (1) teacher preparation (field experience), (2) self-efficacy, (3) empowerment, (4) amount of support from administration, (5) effectiveness of mentors and support systems and (6) salary would be predictive of teacher retention. Results indicated that African-Americans and middle school teachers were the most likely to leave the teaching profession. Results also indicated that regardless of race, sex or type of school setting, retention of new teachers in the Metropolitan Nashville Tennessee School System was significantly influenced by: effective mentoring, support from the principal, school district and community, and the degree to which they perceived themselves as professionals (status). Additional analyses identified predictors of teacher retention by race, sex, and type of school setting