Why Didst Thou Go? Predictors of Retention, Transfer, and Attrition of Special and General Education Teachers from a National Perspective

Abstract

In view of the paucity of national data on the associations between predictor variables and teacher retention, school transfer, and attrition in special education, we sought to provide such data from a national probability sample of 4,798 public school teachers from the 1989 Teacher Followup Survey (Faupel, Bobbitt, & Friedrichs, 1992). The analysis focused on teacher retention and turnover (i.e., school transfer and attrition) of special education teachers (SETs) in comparison with general education teachers (GETs). Results showed that teacher turnover decreased as the following variables increased: teacher age (until retirement age), the number of dependent children, the level of certification, the number of years since the last degree was earned, teaching experience and salary level. The importance of these and other relationships for designing strategies to maximize teacher retention is discussed.