LEARNER PERSISTENCE IN ADULT SCHOOLS: DO TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS MATTER?

This descriptive research explored the relationship between teacher characteristics and adult learner persistence. Using enrollment and attendance data of 10,508 students for one and half years from seven adult schools in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, this study analyzed adult learner persistence. This study matched the teachers to the students' persistence scores using a cross-sectional survey data of 47 teachers. The survey instrument consisted of a compilation of demographics questions and five pre-validated psychometric analysis tools. These tools measured teachers' dispositions for teaching, personality, grit, passion, and job satisfaction. Teachers at adult schools who were highly educated, experienced, spoke a language other than English, and had single-subject credentials were associated with higher adult learners' persistence. Teachers who scored high on extroversion and openness on the Big-5 personality test and had high grit and high passion scores were also associated with higher adult learner persistence