Date of Award

10-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

First Advisor

Tanya Vest

Second Advisor

Danny Humble

Third Advisor

Mike Evans

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed education across the United States leaving a shortage of highly qualified teachers to fill positions in classrooms (Nguyen et al., 2022; Schmitt & deCourcy, 2022). This research study utilized the theoretical framework of the Four-Capital Theoretical Model of Teacher Retention and Attrition (Mason & Matas, 2015). This qualitative study utilized open-ended survey questions and follow-up interviews to elicit the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and to determine effective strategies to the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. Sixty-two public school administrators shared their perspectives through the survey, while eight administrators participated in follow-up interviews. Administrators identified negative changes in the recruitment and retention of teachers since the COVID-19 pandemic but could not identify the pandemic as the sole source of the struggles. The top factors impacting teacher recruitment and retention were identified as the school culture, support from administrators, and compensation. These findings validate previous research and are in line with the theoretical framework that guided the study. Additional research is recommended to study the perspectives of teachers on the factors impacting recruitment and retention as well as the need for qualitative research to better understand the relationships between factors. Additionally, research is suggested to determine the impact of state and local policies on teacher recruitment and retention.

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