Teacher Mobility
Teacher Turnover in Indiana
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Population of Indiana Teachers | Analysis of Teachers Moving From, Staying In, and Leaving Indiana | Indiana Teacher Survey Results | Policy Recommendations for the Midwest Region | References
Analysis of Teachers Moving From, Staying In, and Leaving Indiana
Teaching is a field that loses many of its newly trained practitioners very early in their careers. Figure 2 illustrates, by personal characteristics, the percentages of 1994-95 teachers who moved from, stayed in, and left Indiana during their first five years of teaching. These results emphasize the importance of clearly specifying how "teacher turnover" is to be defined. If one considers the traditional definition of "teacher turnover" (i.e., the number of teachers who leave the profession altogether), no group of teachers in Indiana is statistically more likely to leave teaching. However, when both "movers" and "leavers" are considered, the results are more revealing. As shown in Figure 2, there was nuanced behavior between teachers who transferred to another school district or districts within Indiana ("movers") and those who left Indiana public school teaching and did not return ("leavers"). Teachers who were older than age 30 when they entered teaching were no more likely to leave teaching than were younger teachers. Teachers older than age 30 were much less likely than younger teachers to transfer among school districts, however.
*Includes whites as well as ethnic minority groups who numbered too few to form another representative sample.
The cumulative loss of beginning teachers from the Indiana school districts that hired them was 44 percent, consisting of 16 percent of teachers who moved to different districts and 28 percent who left teaching altogether The percentage of teachers leaving teaching in Indiana is consistent with previous national and regional findings. The percentage of novice teachers moving among districts in Indiana, though, was lower than previous national and regional findings (Ingersoll, 1995; Theobald & Michael, 2002).
Indiana teachers who began their teaching careers in the 1994-95 school year were examined further by selected professional characteristics. Figure 3 illustrates these findings. As shown in Figure 3, English, vocational, arts, and math teachers were most likely to leave teaching. Physical education teachers and secondary teachers in low-wage districts were most likely to move among districts. However, these results also emphasize the importance of looking both at teachers who transfer districts in addition to those who leave the state. As also shown in Figure 3, although special education teachers were no more likely to leave the profession than other types of teachers, they were much more likely to transfer among school districts.
*Includes whites as well as ethnic minority groups who numbered too few to form another representative sample.
Population of Indiana Teachers | Analysis of Teachers Moving From, Staying In, and Leaving Indiana | Indiana Teacher Survey Results | Policy Recommendations for the Midwest Region | References
