Journal of K-12 Educational Research 43 Topic Research says Current study results Turnover Based on Years of Service Nationwide teacher turnover data revealed that 33%–50% of teachers exit their profession within their first seven years of teaching, and as many as 15% leave before year three (Glickman et al., 2018). Years of service was a significant predictor with more years served, the more likely to leave teaching. The average rating on a scale of 1 (Absolutely will leave) to 7 (Absolutely will stay) was 5.58 = teachers with less than five years of service; 5.42 = all teachers Turnover Based on Certification Route Traditionally certified have a significantly lower turnover rate of 30% compared to 40% for alternatively certified (Texas Education Agency [TEA], 2020a). Certification Route was NOT a significant predictor with the average rating of 5.43 only slightly higher for Traditional; 5.39 for Other certification routes Student Interest/Apathy Secondary teachers’ motivation for entering the profession is to increase student interest in the subject they love (Han &, 2016). Significant difference between the value and perceived presence on the item Students want to learn the subject being taught. This item was in the high priority cluster of (1) Purpose/Recognition. Need to address student apathy as part of the solution for secondary teacher retention. Teacher Stress Teaching is the most stressed occupation (Greenberg et al., 2016; The New Orleans TraumaInformed Schools Learning Collaborative, 2021). Greatest significant differences between value and perceived presence in (5) Work-Life Balance with reasonable workload, balanced life, reasonable emotional demands, flexible schedule, and reasonable performance expectations having the greatest mean differences of individual items within that factor. Contemporary Turnover Reasons “Many teachers are saying they are considering leaving the classroom for fields that will give them greater respect and control over their lives,” (Downey, 2021). Teachers’ highest values of (1) Purpose/Recognition and (5) Work-Life Balance coupled with greatest differences on these factors between value and perceived presence mirror social media comments and personal blogs of teachers nationwide. Location flexibility 54% of workers want to keep working from home after the pandemic (Parker et al., 2021). Virtual teaching positions are expected to increase with parent surveys showing a strong interest in virtual learning after the pandemic and 70% of districts planning to offer a greater variety of virtual options (Heubeck, 2021). Mean value rating for I have flexibility in my work location as the lowest item at 4.68 on a scale of 1 (Not important at all) to 7 (Must have to work there); Also, the third lowest mean value rating of 4.83 on I have opportunity to experience easy lateral movement (including building changes) within the District shows that secondary teachers do not value flexibility in work location as highly as all of the other factors. Figure 4 Implications Regarding Historical and Contemporary Teacher Turnover Reasons
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