Entering, Staying, Shifting, Leaving, and Sometimes Returning: A Descriptive Analysis of the Career Trajectories of Two Cohorts of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers

Abstract

Background: By attracting high-achieving college graduates and professional career changers, selective alternative certification programs, such as the New York City Teaching Fellows (NYCTF), promise to address pressing teacher shortages while also improving outcomes in hard-to-staff schools. Purpose: Looking at the main patterns in their careers before, during, and after completing NYCTF, the study provides insights into the short- and long-term impacts of mathematics teachers who entered as first- and second-career teachers on NYC public schools and the people in them. Participants: The study tracked the career trajectories and decision-making of more than 600 NYCTF mathematics teachers over a 9-year period. Research design: The longitudinal analysis of the teachers’ career trajectories is illuminated by descriptive statistics and qualitative analyses of their responses to open-ended survey items. Results: The article provides a portrait of urban mathematics teachers’ career decision-making as it unfolds over time. It challenges conventional understandings by demonstrating the stochastic nature of teachers’ career decision-making and, as part of this, consequential amounts of involuntary and midyear turnover. It further shows that, although in many ways similar, the career trajectories of the career changers and recent college graduates differed in key regards. Recommendations: On their own, strategies designed to attract high-achieving recent graduates and professional career changers to teach core subjects like mathematics will not solve long-standing teacher turnover and shortage issues in in high-needs urban schools. Districts also should focus on retention strategies, including training and induction tailored to meet the different needs and career goals of first- and second-career teachers.

The first-school retention of Black and Latinx community-insiders and elite college graduates: Implications for the recruitment, selection, and training of urban mathematics teachers

“…For example, by tracking more than six hundred alternativelycertified mathematics teachers for more than five years, this study showed that the main drivers of early-career teacher retention seem to vary over time. This is consistent with research on teachers' career trajectories (e.g., Huberman, 1989) which has shown that the reasons teachers stay or leave depend on their career stage, and that as they gain experience teachers' life circumstances change (e.g., they begin families), which can influence their retention behaviors (Brantlinger, 2021;Mowday et al, 2013). There is a need for more longitudinal research on early-career teacher retention as the extant research generally only tracks teachers through their first or second year or, alternatively, collects data on their retention intentions, often at the end of a pre-service program.…”

“…NYCTF teachers were restricted to finding positions in "high needs" neighborhood schools in different regions throughout the city based on their place of residency. Most of the teachers (>75%) found their school positions through interviews with school administrators at regional job fairs while others (<20%) were placed by NYCTF in consultation with the district (Brantlinger, 2021). Most of the students in these schools were from low-income backgrounds; on average, 78.4% received subsidized (i.e., free or reduced-price) lunch.…”

“…Although our interpretation made no assumptions about the voluntariness of retention, and to some extent this was not our concern, this was most relevant to the Year 1 retention model in Table 3. In particular, drawing on survey data not used in this study, Brantlinger (2021) estimated that about 20-25% of the NYCTF mathematics teachers' first-year turnover was involuntary; in the majority of cases, it involved school administrators dismissing a first-year teacher with a few weeks remaining in the school-year. He also found that involuntary turnover fell to 10% in the teachers' second year and below 5% annually in subsequent years.…”

Demography as Destiny: Explaining the Turnover of Alternatively Certified Mathematics Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools

“…7 In addition, grouping together voluntary and involuntary turnover could bias these findings: For example, if teachers who were poor performers had more negative perceptions of their school's climate, they may also be more likely to be fired, rather than choosing to leave. Involuntary leaving was reported at low rates and these factors are often difficult to disentangle, given that poor school environments can also lead to poor performance (Rimm-Kaufman & Hamre, 2010); in our own probing of involuntary turnover, the distinction seemed contentious (in principal or administration vs. teacher report ;Brantlinger, 2021).…”

“…For instance, if leaders and policymakers only look at their annual replacement of 11% to 15% of teachers, they may fail to appreciate the cost to their school of a unstable staff. In this study, for instance, only 14% of teachers remained at their schools after 9 years, with the potential to become longtime veteran teachers at those schools (although many migrated to other schools or districts ;Brantlinger, 2021). These veteran teachers help stabilize the school organization and community and play pivotal roles in educational programs (such as mentoring) and leadership.…”