Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS)

1. Overview

The Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS) is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education and was conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. BTLS is a longitudinal study of a nationally representative cohort of beginning public school teachers who were initially interviewed as part of the 2007–08 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). For BTLS, “beginning public school teachers” were teachers who began teaching in 2007 or 2008 in a traditional public or public charter school that offered any of grades K–12 or comparable ungraded levels. The study was conducted on a yearly basis through academic year 2011-12, and it followed the same group of individuals as they moved in and out of elementary- and secondary-level teaching.

Purpose

The purpose of BTLS was to collect data that could enable researchers to determine the rate of beginning teachers’ attrition from, and reentry into, the K–12 teaching profession as well as the characteristics of those who stayed in the teaching profession, moved from one school to another, left the profession, or returned to the teaching profession. BTLS also collected data on the activities and occupations of those who left the teaching profession and data on the career patterns of those who remained in the profession. BTLS allows for an in-depth examination of the career development of the teachers in the cohort as they continued with elementary- or secondary-level teaching or transitioned into a different career.

Components

The first wave of data collection was conducted as part of the 2007–08 SASS (see the SASS chapter for details). Although SASS was administered to a sample of teachers across the United States, only respondents who indicated that their first year of teaching was in 2007 or 2008 were included in BTLS. The second wave of data collection was conducted as part of the 2008–09 Teacher Follow-Up Survey (TFS; see the TFS chapter for details). The third, fourth, and fifth waves of data collection are known as BTLS and represent a stand-alone study, separate from SASS and TFS.

Base year (wave 1). The first wave of BTLS was administered using the Teacher Questionnaire of the 2007–08 SASS. The purpose of the SASS Teacher Questionnaire was to obtain information about teachers’ education and training, teaching assignment, certification, workload, and perceptions and attitudes about teaching. The 2007–08 SASS Teacher Questionnaire had nine sections: (1) general information about teaching status, teaching experience, and other professional experience; (2) class organization, such as class enrollments, students with an Individualized Education Program, students of limited-English proficiency, organization of classes, and subjects taught; (3) educational background, including academic degrees, teacher assessments, and teacher preparation programs; (4) types of teaching certification, and content area and grades covered by the certification (for new teachers, information was collected on their attitudes toward preparation for teaching, participation in an induction program, and mentoring); (5) professional development activities and their impact; (6) working conditions, including information on hours worked, money spent on classroom supplies without reimbursement, and methods used to communicate with parents or students outside of the regular school day; (7) school climate and teacher attitudes (for example, attitudinal information on teacher influence on planning and teaching, collaboration between teachers, satisfaction with teaching, student problems, and school safety); (8) general employment and background information, including information about teacher salary, supplemental income, union affiliation, gender, age, and race/ethnicity; and (9) contact information for teachers, as well as contact information for two people who would be able to reach them if they relocated before the mailing of the TFS.

First follow–up (wave 2). The second wave of BTLS was conducted using the longitudinal versions of the Questionnaire for Current Teachers and the Questionnaire for Former Teachers of the 2008–09 TFS. The major objectives of the TFS questionnaires for current and former teachers were to measure the attrition rate of K–12 teachers, examine the characteristics of teachers who stayed in the teaching profession and those who changed professions or retired, obtain activity or occupational data for those who left the teaching profession, obtain reasons for moving to a new school or leaving the teaching profession, and collect data on job satisfaction.

The TFS questionnaires for current and former teachers are described below.

TFS Questionnaire for Current Teachers. The Questionnaire for Current Teachers obtained information on respondents to the previous year’s SASS who continued to teach students in any of grades pre–K–12 in the current school year. This included teachers who continued to teach in the same school as in the previous year and those who changed schools. The questionnaire collected information on teachers’ current teaching assignment, satisfaction with teaching, reasons for moving to a new school (if applicable), current teaching position in relation to their position in the previous year, and demographic characteristics that may have changed since the previous year.

The 2008–09 Questionnaire for Current Teachers had seven sections: (1) assignments at current school, full–time/part–time status, grades taught, main teaching assignment, class organization, and Highly Qualified Teacher status; (2) information about the teaching position in the 2007–08 school year; (3) information about changes from the previous school year to the current school year (e.g., on whether or not the teacher was teaching at the same school as in the previous year and, if the teacher changed schools, information about the new school and factors that influenced the decision to leave the previous school); (4) current school conditions and experiences, including ratings of the current teaching position relative to the previous year’s teaching position, overall satisfaction with being a teacher at the current school, and assignment to a mentor; (5) general employment information, such as earnings from summer school, non–teaching jobs, and non–school jobs; various additional forms of compensation received during the 2008–09 school year; base teaching salary; and receipt of a teacher pension; (6) background information, including information about work history, citizenship status, renting/owning a residence, family household income, marital status, and how many people the respondent and spouse/partner supported; and (7) contact information.

TFS Questionnaire for Former Teachers. The Questionnaire for Former Teachers obtained information about teachers who left the position of a K–12 teacher after the previous school year. It obtained information about respondents’ present occupation or activity, reasons for leaving teaching, a comparison of their current position to teaching, and demographic characteristics that may have changed since the previous year.

The 2008–09 Questionnaire for Former Teachers had six sections: (1) employment status, including general information about employment, salary, pension from a teacher retirement system, and retirement incentives; (2) information about the factors that influenced the respondent’s decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher and about whether or not the respondent applied for the position of a K–12 teacher for the 2008–09 school year; (3) information about aspects of the respondent’s current position relative to teaching (e.g., salary, benefits, professional development and advancement opportunities, recognition, safety, and job security); (4) data on year and month when the respondent first began to teach at the elementary or secondary level, being assigned a mentor, and characteristics of an alternative certification program (if applicable); (5) background information, such as information about work history, citizenship status, renting/owning a residence, family household income, marital status, and how many people the respondent and spouse/partner supported; and (6) contact information.

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Third, fourth, and fifth follow-ups (waves 3, 4, and 5). The third, fourth, and fifth waves of BTLS were administered separately from SASS or TFS. The major objectives were to measure the attrition rate of beginning teachers; examine the characteristics of teachers who continued to stay in the teaching profession and those who returned to teaching after leaving the year before; obtain activity or occupational data for those who left the position of a K–12 teacher; obtain reasons for moving to a new school or leaving or coming back to the K–12 teaching profession; and obtain data on the development of teachers’ educational and professional credentials.

The 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 BTLS questionnaires had three paths–for former teachers, current teachers, and returning teachers–each of which is discussed below.

Former teachers. The BTLS questionnaire path for former teachers obtained information on employment status, ratings of various aspects of teaching and the respondent’s current job, information on the decision to leave teaching, and ratings of various strategies for retaining more teachers. It had five sections: (1) employment status including general information about employment, salary, pension from a teacher retirement system, and retirement incentives; (2) information on leaving the teaching profession and future plans; (3) information on education and training (e.g., on renewal of teaching certificate and course enrollment during the current school year); (4) background information (e.g., work history, citizenship status, renting/owning a residence, family household income, marital status, and how many people the respondent and spouse/partner supported); and (5) contact information.

Current teachers. The BTLS questionnaire path for current teachers obtained information about teaching status and assignments, ratings of various aspects of principal support, and reasons that influenced teachers’ decision to change schools (if applicable). It had seven sections: (1) information about the current school, including location, grade level, and perception of principal support; (2) information about changes from the previous school year to the present school year (e.g., whether or not the teacher was teaching at the same school as in the previous year and, if the teacher changed schools, about the new school and factors that influenced the decision to leave the previous school); (3) information on assignments and activities at the current school including full–time/part–time status, grades taught, main teaching assignment, class organization, highly qualified teacher status, and activities and leadership roles; (4) information on education and training (teaching certificates, courses enrolled in during the current school year, and assignment as a mentor); (5) general employment information including information about earnings from summer school, non–teaching jobs, and non–school jobs; various additional forms of compensation received during the current school year; base teaching salary; and receipt of a teacher pension; (6) background information (e.g., work history, citizenship status, renting/owning a residence, family household income, marital status, and how many people the respondent and spouse/partner supported); and (7) contact information.

Returning teachers.The BTLS questionnaire path for returning teachers obtained information on teaching status and assignments and ratings of various aspects of teaching and returning to teaching. It had seven sections: (1) information about the current school, including location, grade level, and perception of principal support; (2) information about returning to K–12 teaching, including factors that influenced the decision to return; (3) assignments and activities at the current school, including information on main activity, full–time/part–time status, grades taught, main teaching assignment, class organization, Highly Qualified Teacher status, and activities and leadership roles; (4) information on education and training (teaching certificate, courses enrolled in during the current school year, and assignment as a mentor); (5) general employment information (earnings from summer school, non–teaching jobs, and non-school jobs; various additional forms of compensation received during the current school year; base teaching salary; and receipt of a teacher pension); (6) background information, such as work history, citizenship status, renting/owning a residence, family household income, marital status, and how many people the respondent and spouse/partner supported; and (7) contact information.

Periodicity

The first wave of BTLS data collection was conducted in the 2007–08 school year as part of the 2007–08 SASS. The second wave of BTLS data collection was conducted during the 2008–09 school year as part of the 2008–09 TFS. The third, fourth, and fifth waves of BTLS data collection were conducted yearly thereafter. The fifth wave was the final wave for the 2007–08 cohort of BTLS. Research is being conducted on the 2011–12 SASS to determine the feasibility of launching a second cohort for BTLS from the 2015–16 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), which is a redesign of SASS.

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