Educational Defectors

Teacher retention has become a policy issue of considerable concern; it is, however, a more complex topic than is generally recognized. The fifth follow-up of the National Longitudinal Study, 1972, completed in 1986, included a supplemental questionnaire that was sent to past and present elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as to those who had been trained but had never taught. The data permit the first analysis of teacher attrition based on a national sample that has been followed for a decade or more of professional experience. These data suggest that retention among teachers has increased during the last decade and that the ability and qualifications of teachers have not declined over time. Moreover, former teachers are more likely to have left relatively good schools, in favorable locations, rather than problem schools. Paradoxically, although enhancing teachers' professional status and improving public schools are indisputably worthwhile goals, they may not reduce teacher attrition.