As schools nationwide grapple with teacher shortages, recruiting and retaining educators remains a critical part of addressing students’ academic needs. According to the results from the Current Teacher and Former Teacher questionnaires of the 2021–22 Teacher Follow-up Survey, teacher attrition rates have remained steady.
A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics found that between the 2020–21 and 2021–22 school years, 84 percent of public school teachers stayed at the same school while 8 percent left the profession and 8 percent changed schools. Among those who left the profession, retirement was the most commonly cited reason (16 percent), followed by health issues or child care needs (15 percent). Others said they left to pursue a new field (13 percent) and because they wanted or needed a higher salary (9 percent).
Understanding why teachers leave or stay is critical to improving retention rates across schools.
Other key findings:
- Among newer teachers — those with three years or less experience in the classroom — 80 percent remained at the same school during the 2021–22 school year, 13 percent moved to another school and 7 percent left teaching. About 86 percent of teachers with 15 or more total years of experience remained at the same school during the 2021–22 school year, 6 percent moved to another school and 9 percent left teaching.
- Teachers in higher-income schools where less than 35 percent of students were approved for free or reduced-price lunch in the 2020–21 school year were more likely to remain in their schools than those teaching at schools where 75 percent or more of the students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch (85 percent compared to 82 percent). Teachers in higher-income schools were also less likely to move schools compared to those in lower-income areas (7 percent and 9 percent respectively) or leave the profession (8 percent compared to 9 percent).
- Among teachers who moved schools in 2020–21, 51 percent moved to a school in the same district, 46 percent moved to another public school district and 4 percent moved to a private school. Twenty percent of those who moved reportedly did so because they wanted a job that was more conveniently located or because they had moved, 10 percent indicated that their most important reason was because they wanted the opportunity to teach at their current school, and 9 percent indicated that their most important reason for moving was because they wanted or needed a higher salary. About 6 percent of teachers indicated their most important reason for moving was because they were dissatisfied with the way their school or district supported them during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Close to 40 percent of those no longer teaching in the 2021–22 school year (and had taught in the 2020–21 school year) were working for a school or district in in some other capacity. Among those who left the public K-12 field entirely, 66 percent indicated the ability to balance personal life and work was better in their current position than in teaching; 60 percent indicated that autonomy or control over their own work was better in their current position than in teaching; and 58 percent indicated that both manageability of their workload and professional prestige were better in their current position than in teaching.
- Among teachers who reported agreeing somewhat or strongly with the statement that they were generally satisfied being a teacher at their school in the 2020–21 school year, 86 percent remained at the same school in the 2021–22 school year, 7 percent moved to a different school, and 8 percent left the teaching profession. Similarly, of those who reported having a moderate or great deal of control over various areas of planning and teaching in their classrooms in the 2020–21 school year, most (84 to 85 percent for the various areas of planning and teaching) remained at the same school in the 2021–22 school year, 6 to 8 percent moved to another school and 8 percent left the teaching profession.
