A study of the perceptions of teachers about the variables that affect the attrition and retention of teachers in the DeKalb County school system, 1997

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of teachers about the variables that affect employment attrition and retention. The study was longitudinal in nature involving a population of 526 teachers who were employed in a large metropolitan school system in Georgia. The respondents from the population of 526 teachers consisted of 303 subjects. The sample of the population was analyzed during a five year period that extended from the 1991 92 academic year through the 1995 96 academic year. There were six demographic variables and twenty two satisfaction variables in the study. The statistical procedures involved ANOVA, Scheffe tests, and t tests for Equality of Means. There were seven significant findings. The perceptions of special education teachers were significantly different from the perceptions of elementary school teachers and high school teachers in four different tests. The five year attrition rate for special education teachers was 49 percent. The highest levels of satisfaction by the 303 leavers and stayers related to the professional caliber of colleagues, salary, intellectual challenge, job security, and benefits. The negative levels of satisfaction related to influence over school policies and practices, student motivation to learn, support from parents, student discipline and behavior, and esteem of society for the teaching profession