ImpactofBeginningCareerScienceTeachers’SocialNetworksandSelf-

EfficacyonRetention

MeltemAlemdar,Ph.D.ChristopherCappelli,MPH

JessicaGale,Ph.D.

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AnnualMeetingoftheNationalAssociationforResearchinScienceTeaching

March2020

Portland,OR

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, grant # 1660597. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

TeacherPreparationandRetention

•  Scienceandmathematicsteachersareknowntobethemostlikelytoleavetheirschoolsortheprofessionthanteachersfromotherfields,resultinginteachershortagesintheseareas

•  Teacherpreparationprogramshavebeencreatedtoaddressthisconcern,usingvaryingstrategiestoprepareteachersforworkinpublicschoolsandaddresslong-termretention

•  TheNoyceProgram•  Providesvarioussupports,suchasinductionprograms,networkingopportunities,andmentoringforearlycareerteacherstohelpbeginningcareerteachersmanagethechallengesoftheprofession

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What Impacts Teacher Retention?

•  Somestudieshaveindicatedthatteachers’socialsupportnetworksaffectretention

•  Teachingeffectivenessandretentionareaffectedbythestrengthandnatureofteachers’collaborativenetworks,bothinsideandoutsideofschoolsettings

•  Teacherswithastrongsupportnetworkaremorelikelytoteacheffectivelyandremaininhigh-needschools

•  Teacherself-efficacyisalsoshowntoimpactretention•  Accordingtosocialcognitivetheory,becausecurrentbeliefsarethoughttopowerfullypredictfuturebehavior,teacherself-efficacymaybeabetterpredictorofretentionthanteachers’currentlevelsofeffectiveness

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SocialNetworkAnalysis•  Amethodusedtodetectandinterpretpatternsofsocialtiesamongnetworkactors,suchasteachers

•  Uniqueinthattheinterestisnotnecessarilyintheindividual,butinstead,ontherelationshipsbetweenindividuals

•  TwoadvantagesofusinganEgo-orPersonal-Networkapproachinthisstudy:1.  Nopredefinedassumptionsregarding

networkbounds2.  Flexibilityforteacherrespondentsto

definetheirindividualsupportnetworks

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ResearchQuestions

1.  Howdoscienceteachers’personalnetworksandself-efficacyaffecttheirretention?

2.  Whataretherelationshipsamongbeginningcareerscienceteachers’self-efficacy,personalnetworkstructure,schoolclimatefactors,andretention?

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StudyDesign•  TeacherPersonalNetworkSurvey(TPNS)

•  Surveyisdesignedtoelicitinformationregardingteachers’personnetworks,self-efficacy,likelihoodofretention

•  Additionalsurveyitemsareincludedregardingrespondentdemographics,schoolclimate,etc.

•  DependentVariable:Likelihoodofretention

Q: How likely is it that you will continue to be employed as a K-12 teacher in the future?

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AnalysisSample•  Overallstudysamplesize=160,represents50Noyceprogramsacross30states

•  Inthispaper,only50ofthestudyparticipantsareNoyceScholarswhoarescienceteacherswith1yearorlessofteachingexperience(i.e.,noviceteachers)

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n %

Gender Female 41 82%

Male 9 18%

Ethnicity White(Non-Hispanic) 38 76%

Black/AfricanAmerican

3 6%

Latino/Latina 3 6%

OtherEthnicity 6 12%

Age 20-25 34 68%

26-30 10 20%

31+ 6 12%

AnalysisMethod

• NetworkdataanalyzedusingE-Net•  Numerousnetworkmeasurescalculated,includingthoserelatedtonetworksize,structure,andcomposition

• Networkmeasuresexaminedinrelationtoothervariables•  Descriptivestatistics•  OLSRegression

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Results •  Moderatecorrelationsbetweenretentionvariablesandnetworkvariablesexist,butonlyforthemoregeneral,“RetentionasaTeacher”.

•  Statisticsregardingnetworkcomposition(i.e.,heterogeneity)andstructure(i.e.,effectivesize)aremoderatelycorrelatedwithretention,especiallyat3yearsand5years

•  Heterogeneity:•  Respondentswhohaveagreaterdiversityofalters(i.e.,howtheyknowtheiralter)aremorelikelytoremainteachers

•  EffectiveSize:•  Respondentswhoreceivemoreuniquesourcesofsupport(i.e.,non-redundantties)aremorelikelytoremainteachers

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Results

Model1 Model2Estimate SE Estimate SE

Intercept 1.58 1.32 1.34 1.00Heterogeneity 1.96* .73 1.83*** .67Self-Efficacy(ClassroomManagement)

.32* .14 .31* .14

SchoolSafety -.68 .37 -- --PeerandAdultRelationships .16 .25 -- --StaffConnectedness .31 .24 -- --

AdjustedR2 .30 .20n=50

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Regressionanalysispredictinglikelihoodofretentionasateacherin5years

*p<.05**p<.01.***p<.001

Network Heterogeneity and Retention Thisisanexampleofthreescienceteachers’egonetworksAsnetworkheterogeneityincreased,thelikelihoodofateacherremainingintheclassroomin5yearsalsoincreased.Incontrast,ateacherwhoislesslikelytoberetainedhaslessnetworkheterogeneity;inotherwords,theirnetworkconsistsofthesame“type”ofpeople.11

Summary of Findings •  Fornovicescienceteachers,itappearsthatthereisarelationshipbetweennetworkmeasures,self-efficacy,andretention

• Descriptively,networkcompositionandstructurehaveagenerallypositiverelationshipwithteacherretentioningeneral,butaweakerrelationshipwithretentionspecificallyinahighneedsschool

•  Generallyspeaking,themoreuniquesourcesofinformationanovicescienceteacherhasaccesstofromtheirnetworkandthemorevariedthetypesofpeopleintheirsupportnetwork,themorelikelytheyaretoremainateacher

• Boththediversityofanovicescienceteacher’snetworkandtheirself-efficacyinclassroommanagementaresignificantlyrelatedtotheirlikelihoodofremainingateacher5yearsfromthetimeofstudy

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Contact

Dr.MeltemAlemdarAssociateDirectorforEducationalResearchandEvaluation

meltem.alemdar@ceismc.gatech.edu

ChristopherCappelliSeniorResearchAssociate

chris.Cappelli@ceismc.gatech.edu

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