New Study Cites Reasons Teachers Leave Profession

According to a recent report on teacher attrition by the federal National Center for Education Statistics, administrator inflexibility is one of several reasons why teachers leave the profession, reports Teacher Magazine.
Among former teachers who took noneducation jobs, 64 percent said they have more professional autonomy now than when they taught. Only 11 percent said they’d had more influence over policies at school than in their current jobs.
The survey, based on interviews with more than 7,000 current and former teachers, also found widespread problems with workloads and general working conditions, and it notes that the percentage of teachers abandoning the classroom continues to grow.
Among public school teachers, that proportion reached 8 percent in the 2004-05 school year—up from 6 percent in 1988-89. The NCES study also showed that less-experienced teachers were particularly at risk of fleeing: 20 percent of public school teachers with no prior full-time teaching experience left during 2004-05—more than double the overall rate.
 Jim Ahrens, chief operating officer at Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helps public schools hire and retain teachers in low-income communities, says new teachers need extra help. “They are still trying to adjust to the rigors of teaching. It’s a very demanding profession, and those teachers are often left unsupported,” he said.

— Teachers of Color