Teacher Intra-district Migration out of Title 1 Schools: Case Study of a Midwestern Suburban School District

Abstract

Teacher migration studies show that teachers frequently transfer out of schools serving poorer, lower achieving, more diverse student populations leading some researchers to believe that teachers are dissatisfied working with poor, low achieving, and minority students. This study presents a more comprehensive evidence-based perspective that aligns with organizational theory suggesting that teachers are not leaving because of the students, they are leaving because of the working conditions and organizational structures that are failing the students. For this study, I interviewed twelve teachers who migrated out of Title 1 schools and transferred into non-Title 1 schools within the same suburban school district. The school district has been recognized on multiple occasions for its high-quality organizational and educational functioning, yet its teacher turnover rates mirror national averages and the high poverty schools consist on average of one-third more turnover and continues to increase. This study reveals teachers’ perspectives based on their lived experiences of advantages and disadvantages of teaching in Title 1 buildings compared to teaching in non-Title 1 buildings within the same award winning suburban school district. Workload and its related stress, instructional focus, scheduling autonomy, parental involvement, working conditions, and student behavior were commonly described differences between teacher experiences in Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. Teachers were asked to provide a ranked order of reasons why they left the Title 1 schools within the district and identified overwhelming student need and stress, lack of leadership, student behavior, and scheduling pull-out programs to be their top reasons for leaving their Title 1 building. Teachers also identified factors that held the potential to retain them in their Title 1 schools. Thus, this study contributes to the overall understanding of teacher turnover and specifically articulates through the voices of teachers who chose to migrate, their perceptions of differences, challenges, and benefits to teaching in Title 1 and non-Title 1 school settings within the same school district. Ultimately, this study sought to identify working conditions and organizational structures that teachers prefer that might best predict their satisfaction and retention. This study concludes with recommendations for those who seek to stabilize the staffing in these schools.