Chemistry Teacher Retention, Migration, and Attrition

The chemistry teacher pipeline has experienced considerable loss of teachers due to turnover. High turnover rates create localized staffing problems and a revolving door of novice teachers, particularly in the sciences and in urban and rural locales, which impacts student learning and achievement. This non-experimental longitudinal study examined patterns in teacher turnover (retention, attrition, and migration) of one cohort of chemistry teachers (n = 2410) over a five-year period between 2012 and 2017. The theoretical framework for the study incorporated teacher and school-level characteristics in predicting teacher career satisfaction and behaviors. Of the 2410 teachers, 196 retired from teaching during the five-year period. Descriptive statistics were generated for the remaining 2214 chemistry teachers, and data revealed that 79.4% of the chemistry teachers (n = 1757) stayed in their school districts, 11.6% (n = 256) left public school teaching (preretirement), and 9.1% (n = 201) moved to other school districts. Of the teachers who migrated to different locales, 61% moved from urban or rural schools to suburban schools. A multinomial logistic regression model revealed that professional age (years since certification), urban and rural locale, course load taught in chemistry, certification in chemistry, and teaching in isolation were all predictors of chemistry teacher attrition. The model also indicated that chemistry teacher migration was predicted by professional age, student chemistry performance, and teaching in isolation. The overall model had a large effect size. These findings have implications for the preparation and support of chemistry teachers, particularly novice teachers in urban and rural locales and those teaching in isolation.