The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions

Authors
Donald Boyd,
Pamela Grossman,
Marsha Ing,
Hamilton Lankford,
Susanna Loeb,
James Wyckoff
Year of publication
2011
Publication
American Education Research Journal
Volume/Issue
48(2)
Pages
303-333
This article explores the relationship between school contextual factors and teacher retention decisions in New York City. The methodological approach separates the effects of teacher characteristics from school characteristics by modeling the relationship between the assessments of school contextual factors by one set of teachers and the turnover decisions by other teachers in the same school. We find that teachers' perceptions of the school administration have by far the greatest influence on teacher retention decisions. This effect of administration is consistent for first-year teachers and the full sample of teachers and is confirmed by a survey of teachers who have recently left teaching.

Suggested Citation

Boyd, D., Grossman, P., Ing, M., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2011). The influence of school administrators on teacher retention decisions. American Education Research Journal, 48(2), 303-333