Teacher Turnover in the Metropolitan Setting

The res reported was part of a larger study which considered the problem of total teacher supply & demand in a single state. In this attempt to understand the r's of this type of behavior on the part of teachers, it was hyp'ed that regional & Sch system diff's, both sociol'al & econ, exist & that classroom educators are attracted to other systems of employment or withdraw from the educ profession in a manner related to these disparities. Data presented were restricted to the Detroit SMSA & focus primarily on the turnover behavior evidenced during the period between Jun & Sep of a single yr. Human migration can be viewed from a variety of perspectives, but for purposes of this study it was conceptualized as a form of direct investment in people. By accepting this theoretical approach, one assumes that individual teachers employ a decision-making framework based on a consideration of the costs & related benefits when reviewing alternative employment possibilities. Theoretically at least, migration flows will increase if the total monetary & psychic returns exceed the total cost of relocation. 3 indices, including the Velocity Index of Migration Stream, the Selectivity of Migration Index, & the Attrition Index were developed as measures of turnover. A variety of multivariate statistical techniques were employed in order to identify the important econ & sociol'al r's of explanatory & predictive importance. These results were then used to generate a variety of transition matrices. As expected, results show retention rates for teachers to be closely associated with age. The Ur area was able to retain more of its teachers than was true for the state as a whole. Nevertheless, teacher losses through migration & attrition were substantial. Sex also appeared as an important predictor of turnover among young educators with F's evidencing much higher rates of withdrawal. Sch system wealth was inversely related to teacher turnover. However, while migration & attrition are clearly related to econ diff'ials, turnover patterns in the direction of such added benefits were not so clearly defined in the Ur setting as throughout the entire state. The use of lifetime earnings streams as a proxy for Sch system wealth revealed a strong relationship between teacher retention & econ benefits. Modified AA.