Why teachers stay: Lessons from high-retention districts

As part of a multiyear, multistate National Science Foundation-funded research study, Liz Carletta, Douglas B. Larkin, Suzanne Poole Patzelt, Khadija M. Ahmed, and Mayra Perna interviewed educators from districts with higher-than-average novice science teacher retention. They found six factors that can be applied at the school level to increase the likelihood of K-12 teacher retention across grade levels and subject areas. They present the framework of teacher embeddedness as a useful tool to help predict and improve retention efforts and suggest specific strategies teachers and administrators can employ to improve teacher retention in their schools.