THE EFFECT OF INVOLVEMENT IN DECISION MAKING ON TEACHER RETENTION

Abstract

Retaining teachers continues to be an ongoing challenge for administrators. For a school, when teachers migrate from one school to another to teach or leave the profession all together, the school looses a teacher. A review of selected literature revealed the most frequently cited working conditions that impact teacher retention include: (a) administrative support, (b) compensation, (c) shared decision making, (d) beginning teacher support, (e) school climate, and (f) work load and resources. While research addresses decision making and teachers leaving the profession, few studies address teachers known as movers in a district and their involvement in decision making. This study addresses the impact of the working condition decision making on movers. In addition the study examines the perceptions of movers and administrators in regards to teacher involvement in decision making. A series of Fisher's exact tests revealed there were significant associations between movers and administrators perceptions of teacher involvement in decision making. The results from this study provide administrators and educational leaders with valuable and usable information in regards to decision making and teacher retention.