Abstract
Teacher retention has reached crisis levels nationwide, with nearly 50% of beginning teachers leaving within five years. Teacher attrition increased to 27.3% in 2022–2023 in a large suburban school district in North Texas. This translated to over $1.1 million dollars in teacher salary expenditures alone. This Dissertation in Practice utilized mixed-methods research grounded in Improvement Science and Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles to explore five campus-level contributors to teacher retention that fell under the control of building-level administrators: job satisfaction, administrative support, professional development, campus culture, and student behavior supports. In Phase 1 a teacher intent survey (n = 63) and focus group (n = 8) established a benchmark. Multiple regression showed the five factors accounted for 49% of the variance in teachers’ intent to remain (R² = .49, p < .001), with administrative support and job satisfaction as the strongest predictors. In Phase 2, the Parent Insight Initiative provided administrators with proactive, individualized parent input about students before the school year began. Postintervention teachers (n = 35) reported significantly higher satisfaction with access to studentinstruction resources (p < .001). Regression on post-intervention data revealed that administrator–teacher relational variables, frequency of feedback, reachability, support with student needs, and encouragement of innovation predicted 90% of the variance in teacher satisfaction (R² = .90, p < .001). Focus groups produced six themes, including improved teacher– student relationships, decreased stress, and stronger home–school communication. Implications are that teacher retention is fundamentally a relationship problem; schools whose leaders provide timely, proactive, individualized support retain their best teachers.
Date of publication
Summer 6-19-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
english
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5102
Committee members
Dr. Forrest Kaiser, Dr. Gary Miller, Dr. Jennifer Waters
Degree
Doctor of Education in School Improvement
Recommended Citation
Parrott, Robert Dawson, "TEACHER RETENTION: DO JOB SATISFACTION, SUPPORT FROM ADMINISTRATORS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, STUDENT BEHAVIOR, AND SCHOOL CULTURE DIRECTLY AFFECT WHETHER A TEACHER DECIDES TO STAY AT A SCHOOL OR LEAVE?" (2026). Education Theses and Dissertations. Paper 42.
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/5102