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This study confirms that the teacher turnover rates in rural districts vary widely over time
and are significantly higher than in urban school districts. Additionally, there is a strong
correlation between teacher retention and student achievement. Working conditions, curriculum,
sociocultural living demands, and community integration influenced overall job satisfaction and
retention of participants. School instructional program coherence and stable relationships predict
student achievement (
White, 2008
). Interview results from this study indicate that when teachers
leave schools, previously held relationships, instructional curriculum, and school-community
integration patterns are altered and affect student achievement.
In order to become effective educators, to remain at their local schools, and be accepted
by the community, teachers need support (Fry & Anderson, 2011; Kline et al., 2013; Winters &
Cowen, 2013). In our study, educators assumed many roles related to and outside of their
teaching duties. They succeeded through individual determination, long hours at school, and
intimate professional commitment to their students. This approach is not sustainable and may be,
in fact, the formula for early attrition. Better communication patterns and shared responsibilities
between rural school districts, local administrators, teachers, community members, and
university based teacher preparation programs need to be established. Further, school district
hiring committees need to include local stakeholders and share responsibility for selecting,
mentoring, and evaluating teachers, rethinking their ideas about who is a good fit to their school
and community in light of the need for place relevant curriculum and current education policies,
which emphasize high-stakes accountability measures. Our data also indicate that state teacher
evaluation measures and increasing school demands on new teachers to immediately demonstrate
on-the-job performance encourage practices of letting teachers go instead of providing
appropriate support. Given the current national attention to teacher evaluation based on test
scores and the local demand for culturally responsive teaching, teachers new to the Arctic
communities need opportunities for ongoing professional development and induction.
The recruiting, hiring, and training of new teachers requires significant financial costs
(Barnes, Crowe, & Schaefer, 2007). These costs drain resources that might otherwise be spent on
program improvement or working conditions (Barnes et al., 2007; Darling-Hammond & Sykes,
2003). Such dynamics harm rural schools with historically underserved student populations the
most, as these schools tend to have more persistent turnover and in some cases have fewer
overall resources with which to work. Teacher retention, teacher effectiveness, and student
achievement are multilayered and complex issues shaped by the socio-cultural context of the
schools, state policies, labor market forces, and individual connections with students and
community. To develop and retain effective teachers and to increase students’ learning a
collaborative approach is needed. Turnover results in loss of institutional knowledge among
educators that is critical for supporting student learning. Though there may be cases where
turnover is actually helpful to student achievement, on average, it is harmful. Policies will
require a systems approach that entails analysis of the multiple interacting variables and
development of a blend of solutions tailored for individual school settings.
Limitations and Further Research
Current findings are limited to a four-year data collection and focus on specific rural
Arctic school locations. Findings may not generalize to other settings and continued longitudinal
data are needed to predict future trends. Our certainty about interviewees’ perspectives cannot be
complete, but we are confident that the missing information does not inordinately bias our