| dc.description.abstract | This qualitative study aimed to explore and better understand the perceived factors that positively influence teacher retention rates amongst educators in a rural school district in Northeast Tennessee. Knowing that researchers have examined the recent decline in teacher retention rates, few studies have been conducted to truly assess what motivates teachers to persist in the profession, which in turn has placed limits on educational leaders concerning the necessary supports put in place by school systems across the nation to improve teacher retention. Therefore, this study determined which resources were most valuable to elementary school teachers in a rural school district in Northeast Tennessee. The theoretical framework for the study was based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model as the researcher set out to uncover which resources/factors were considered most helpful to educators when it comes to overcoming the job demands of the teaching profession. Understanding that the JD-R model suggests that increased job resources lead to greater retention of employees, the researcher utilized the data gathered from 10 one-on-one interviews with elementary school teachers who had persisted beyond the five-year mark in the field of education. The results of the qualitative interviews were coded and analyzed. The 10 interviews yielded the following themes: Opportunities and fulfillment from influencing others, relationships formed with students, families, and colleagues, family-friendly schedules, and the collaborative nature of the profession. The findings of this study provide educational leaders with resources that can be utilized to encourage greater persistence of educators in the district studied and beyond. Continued research should include teachers at the middle and high school levels, special area teachers, and teachers of those with special needs further to grasp correlations among grade bands and subject areas. Gathering data from recently retired teachers could also provide educational leaders with valuable insight regarding resources that led to persistence. Additionally, analyzing exit interviews to determine what resources were missing in the lives of those who chose not to persist in education could also be of value.
Keywords: retention, persist, demands, resources | en_US |
