Teacher Preparation and Employment Outcomes of Beginning Teachers in Rhode Island

Because teacher turnover can adversely affect student achievement and local education budgets, many states want to better understand the extent to which teachers switch schools or leave the state public school system. Leaders at the Rhode Island Department of Education are interested specifically in understanding factors related to teacher mobility, retention, and attrition. This study examined these outcomes among beginning teachers in Rhode Island who were trained in a teacher preparation program in the state between 2012/13 and 2016/17 and who then taught for at least one year in the state public school system by the 2017/18 school year. After three years about one-third of these beginning teachers were still teaching in their initial school, one-third were teaching in another school in the state public school system, and one-third were no longer teaching in the state public school system. In general, there was no statistically significant relationship between a beginning teacher's preparation program provider and the teacher's mobility, retention, or attrition outcome. These outcomes did vary by teacher certification field. They also varied by teacher preparation program type: teachers who were trained in alternative programs (programs that permit teaching before completion of all requirements for certification) were more likely than teachers who were trained in traditional undergraduate, graduate, or nondegree programs to stay in their school after one year and more likely to leave after three years. Stakeholders can use the findings from this report to inform policies and supports for beginning teachers, especially teachers who were certified in fields with higher attrition rates and teachers who were trained in alternative programs.