Race, Climate, and Turnover: An Examination of the Teacher Labor Market in Rural Georgia

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Sheneka Williams, Michigan State University; Walker Swain, The University of Gerogia; Jerome Graham, The University of Cincinnati

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Readme file.pdf application/pdf 78.3 KB 01/31/2021 04:53:PM
final_appendicies_submission_file_2021_jg.do text/x-stata-syntax 13.4 KB 02/20/2021 08:38:AM
final_figures_submission_file_2021_jg.do text/x-stata-syntax 19.3 KB 02/20/2021 08:28:AM
final_tables_submission_file_2021_jg.do text/x-stata-syntax 17 KB 02/20/2021 08:31:AM

Project Citation: 

Williams, Sheneka , Swain, Walker, and Graham, Jerome. Race, Climate, and Turnover: An Examination of the Teacher Labor Market in Rural Georgia. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-02-20. https://doi.org/10.3886/E131301V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Teacher turnover across the country presents a persistent and growing challenge for schools and districts, with the highest rates of turnover geographically concentrated in the American South. Research on teacher staffing and turnover problems consistently highlights two subsets of schools as struggling to attract and retain well-credentialed, effective educators—predominantly Black schools and rural schools. However, research has rarely explicitly examined the schools that meet both these criteria. We use administrative records and unique climate survey data from Georgia to examine how the intersecting roles of race, money, and school climate shape evolving teacher turnover patterns in rural schools. Findings suggest that while teacher mobility is generally less common in rural schools, considerable inequities exist within the rural space, with majority Black rural schools bearing far more of the brunt of rural teacher turnover. Among rural teachers, Black teachers have higher mobility rates—more likely to make inter-district moves and to exit rural settings for teaching opportunities in urban and suburban contexts. However, in majority-Black rural schools, higher salaries and school climate factors, such as relational climate and parental involvement, were strong predictors of retention, even after controlling for a rich set of covariates.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Teacher Retention; Rural; School Climate; Critical Quantitative Methodologies; Descriptive Analyses
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Georgia
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2011 – 2019
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; aggregate data; observational data; survey data


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V1 [2021-02-20]

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