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Newly hired teachers in Alaska typically lack understanding about place relevant
curricula, Native culture, and community values. New teachers are often expected to patiently,
quickly, and successfully assimilate into unfamiliar schools, and community cultures. Those
expectations are more challenging in small rural schools, where the inevitable scrutiny of a new
face is more likely to extend beyond the school walls (McCracken & Miller, 1988).
Methodology
This study uses a mixed methods approach to identify and understand factors that
contribute to teacher retention in Alaska’s public K-12 schools (Creswell, 2007; Kleinsasser,
2000; Miles & Huberman, 1994). Archival data was retrieved from the Alaska Department of
Education & Early Development (EED, 2013) and analyzed by descriptive statistics to document
teacher retention in ten rural school districts and to compare data to three Alaskan urban districts
(Table 1). Interviews with educators were conducted to gather qualitative data to inform results,
and identify factors related to teacher retention (Creswell, 2007). This report focuses on a subset
of data and is part of a larger study on teacher retention and effectiveness in rural Alaska.
Participants
Institutional approval and participant informed consent from school districts and
interviewees were obtained prior to data collection. In addition to archival data, 15 semi-
structured interviews were conducted with employees during the 2011-2013 school years. The
researchers sought a diversity of participants from across the target school districts of this study
(6 male, 9 female, ages 22 to 62), with at least one interview conducted in each of the target
school districts with less than 100 teachers, and two interviews conducted in districts with more
than 100 teachers. Possible participants were selected from the current district employee
database and contacted by e-mail before researches traveled to the school sites. The interviews
were scheduled at a suitable time during school visits by the researchers. Interviewees were
divided into categories based on their current job (e.g., class room teacher, administrator), with
particular attention to “stayers” or “leavers” and years of teaching experience within categories.
Among the 15 participants, three were Alaska Native teachers, two were administrators, and four
were first year teachers new to Alaska. Five participants had between two and four years of
teaching experience, and six had more than four years of teaching experience in Alaska. Four
participants stated intent to leave the district at the end of the school year, five were unsure about
their future career plans, and six planned to return for the following school year.
Data Collection
Archival data on teacher retention from the Alaska Department of Education & Early
Development (EED) for school years (SY) 2010 through 2013 were collected. Reading and
Mathematics proficiency scores were based on Alaska Standard Based Assessment (SBA) results
between 2010 and 2013, which were reported to the public by EED on the yearly report cards
(EED, 2014).
Interviews were semi-structured to allow for flexibility (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995;
King, 1994) and lasted approximately thirty minutes each. All interviews were conducted in
person, tape-recorded, and were supplemented by written notes following the end of the
interview. The questions focused on: (a) working conditions; (b) curriculum and teaching; (c) job