Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Cha, Sung-Hyun
Author's Email Address	sunghyun.cha@gmail.com
URN	etd-03302008-121033
Title	Explaining Teachers' Job Satisfaction, Intent to Leave, and Actual Turnover: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy
Department	Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Lora Cohen-Vogel Committee Chair Betsy Becker Committee Member Jeffrey S. Brooks Committee Member Patrice Iatarola Committee Member
Keywords	Teacher Turnover Schools and Staffing Survey Working Conditions Structural Equation Model
Date of Defense	2008-03-07
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract To better understand the factors related to teachers’ turnover decisions in the face of high rates of teacher turnover, the study used a large national secondary dataset – the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey and the 2000-2001 Teacher Follow-up Survey. Through a structural equation modeling approach, the study aimed to identify the relative weights of three independent variables (i.e., salary, working conditions, and professional training experiences) on three dependent variables (i.e., teachers’ job satisfaction, turnover intention, and actual turnover). Furthermore, it examined possible mediating effects of job satisfaction and turnover intention and any variation in the structural relationships across teacher and school characteristics. Findings indicated that working conditions had more of an impact on all of the dependent variables than either salary or professional training experiences. Specifically, the impact of working conditions on job satisfaction and on actual turnover was about nine times and two times larger than that for salary, respectively. Teachers’ professional training experiences did not have a significant impact on any of the dependent variables. Perhaps this is because the SASS did not provide teachers’ perceptions about the quality of professional development programs where they participated. In addition, the association between working conditions and actual turnover was fully mediated by job satisfaction. Teachers who worked in schools with better working conditions were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and less likely to actually leave the profession. The study did not find any significant variations in the structural relationships by the selected teacher and school characteristics. These findings suggest that improving working conditions is more important for teachers to be satisfied and to be willing to stay than salary increase. Policy makers might do well to formulate and fund policies focused on improving working conditions for public school teachers, including professional development for principals and site-based management.
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