Educator Retention and Turnover Under the Midnight Sun
Examining Trends and Relationships in Teacher, Principal, and Superintendent Movement in Alaska
A group of school superintendents who are members of the Alaska State Policy Research Alliance were seeking a deeper understanding of educator turnover and retention patterns in Alaska to inform state and district policymakers’ recruitment and retention strategies. They asked the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northwest at Education Northwest to study trends in educator turnover and retention—and the relationships of those trends to educator and school characteristics—during the six-year period from 2012–2018.
The study’s findings about teacher and administrator turnover suggest that state and local policymakers may want to consider increasing the number of teachers trained in Alaska; improving teachers’ working conditions, especially in rural schools; and equipping principals to better support teachers and leverage their input to improve educator retention.
