A Longitudinal Study of Persisting and Nonpersisting Teachers' Academic and Personal Characteristics

Abstract

This longitudinal study was designed to compare the academic and personal characteristics of teacher candidates who persist and do not persist through teacher preparation and the early years of teaching. The candidates' (N = 551) characteristics were collected upon commencement of teacher preparation; 7 years later the candidates were classified by degree of persistence as follows: (a) not certified as teachers, (b) certified but not teaching, (c) part-time teachers, and (d) full-time teachers. The candidates' gender, major, initial assurance about teaching, and time at which they decided to become teachers were found to be associated with their degree of persistence; their level of academic aptitude, basic academic skills, and expected effectiveness as future teachers were found not to be associated with their degree of persistence. Relationships between these findings and findings from the National Longitudinal Survey of teacher attrition are discussed, and implications for effective teacher recruitment are drawn. The authors conclude that the making of teachers appears to be a high-risk and costly business when just 29% of a class of candidates makes the transition to full-time teaching.