Beginning Teacher Satisfaction With Employment In Southwest Florida: R

The United States Department of Education predicts that the nation will need more than one million new teachers by the year 2010 (U.S.DOE, 1996). At the same time, 43% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years of employment. Southwest Florida is experiencing a tremendous growth rate. This growth rate pattern has been predicted to continue through the year 2010. The school districts of Southwest Florida find themselves scrambling to build new schools in order to keep pace with the growth. These new schools must be staffed with qualified teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 coupled with the Class Size Reduction Amendment IX, has also increased the demand for qualified teachers. A child's teacher, next to the family, is the single most influential entity in their educational experience. A competent, caring, qualified teacher will make a lifelong impact on both the learning and development of a child. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that caused dissatisfaction for beginning teachers, and to determine if there was a relationship to attrition. A total of 99 full-time Southwest Florida teachers participated in this study. The number of teachers from Charlotte County was 20, the number of teachers from Hendry County was 17, and the number of teachers from Lee County was 62. Data regarding dissatisfaction factors were analyzed to determine if a significant difference was observable between the three counties. In addition, the study addressed the racial and gender variables between counties as it related to dissatisfaction factors. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the dissatisfaction factors between the races and counties. Analysis of the data suggested that there was no significant difference between race and county for any of the six factors. A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also used to compare the dissatisfaction factors between the gender and counties. Analysis of the data suggested that there was no significant difference between gender and county for five of the factors but there was a significant difference observed in factor 3, Safe Equipment, for gender. The results of this study indicate that there are distinct factors that cause dissatisfaction for beginning teachers. The results presented in the current study offer implications that although a single factor cannot be directly linked to teacher attrition, it does suggest that a combination of factors may lead to attrition. This data can inform educators that supervise beginning teachers of areas of concern. Decreasing the number of dissatisfaction factors can increase the probability that beginning teachers will not leave the profession within their first five years of employment.

Author dc:creator

• Donnell, Derrick

Contributors dc:contributor

• Holt, Larry

• beginning teachers
• satisfaction
• employment
• southwest florida
• relationship
• attrition
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Education

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

CFE0000214

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1180