Predictors of Commitment, Job Satisfaction, and Intent to Stay in Teaching: A Comparison of General and Special Educators

TLDR

The study aimed to identify variables that influence teachers’ commitment and job satisfaction across general and special educators and to assess how these factors affect their intent to remain in teaching. Researchers administered a questionnaire based on established measures to a random sample of 558 special and 589 general educators in Virginia. Responses from 83 % of participants revealed that work‑related factors such as leadership support, role conflict, role ambiguity, and stress predict commitment and job satisfaction more strongly than demographics, with similar patterns for both educator groups.

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to identify variables that influence teachers' commitment and job satisfaction among both general and special educators. A secondary purpose was to determine the extent to which these commitment and satisfaction variables influence teachers' intent to stay in teaching. A questionnaire using primarily extant measures was sent to a random sample of 558 special educators and 589 general educators in Virginia. Completed questionnaires were received from 83% of both samples. Crossvalidated regression results suggest that workrelated variables, such as leadership support, role conflict, role ambiguity, and stress, are better predictors of commitment and job satisfaction than are demographic variables. Generally, the findings were similar for general and special educators. Implications for educational agencies are addressed.