December 13, 2023
New NCES survey data point to retirement as a top motivation for leaving
WASHINGTON (December 13, 2023) — Eight percent of teachers in public schools exited the profession between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years a pivotal time when K-12 education was heavily impacted by the pandemic. This departure rate was unchanged from nearly a decade earlier, according to the Teacher Follow-Up Survey, a longitudinal component of the National Teacher and Principal Survey, released today by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences.
Overall, 84 percent of public school teachers remained at the same school during the 2020-21 and 2021–22 school years (“stayers”), 8 percent moved to a different school between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years (“movers”), and 8 percent left the teaching profession (“leavers”). Eighty-two percent of private school teachers remained at the same school during the 2020-21 and 2021–22 school years (“stayers”), 6 percent moved to a different school between the 2020-21 and 2021–22 school years (“movers”), and 12 percent left the teaching profession (“leavers”).
“These new data provide a snapshot of the teaching profession at a time when the U.S. education system was under incredible stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr. “And yet, these rates for teacher turnover were not statistically different from those between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, the last time these data were collected.”
For those public and private school teachers who voluntarily left K-12 teaching after the 2020-21 year, a top rationale was to retire or receive retirement benefits. This was cited as the “most important reason” by 17 percent of public and 13 percent of private school teachers. Thirteen percent of public and 24 percent of private school teachers cited “other personal life reasons (e.g. health, pregnancy/childcare, caring for family),” and 14 percent of public and 10 percent of private school teachers said a desire to pursue a position other than as a K-12 teacher. Nine percent of public and 11 percent of private school teachers identified the desire for a higher salary as their chief motivation.
Public and private school teachers who left teaching after the 2020-21 year provided further insights on their new positions, such as how the work-life balance, autonomy, and prestige compared to teaching. Former teachers reported that the ability to balance personal life and work (66 percent), autonomy or control over their own work (60 percent), manageability of their workload (58 percent), and professional prestige (58 percent) were better in their new profession than in teaching.
The report released today includes selected findings from the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), a longitudinal component of the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), which is a nationally representative survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data were collected from January 2022 through July 2022. The sample included about 8,500 public school teachers and about 1,800 private school teachers, for a total sample size of about 10,300 teachers.
The data were collected as a follow-up to the 2020-21 NTPS to provide attrition and mobility information about teachers in K-12 public and private schools. The purpose was to ascertain how many teachers from the 2020-21 school year still worked as a teachers in the same school 1 year later (“stayer”), how many had moved to become a teacher in another school (“mover”), and how many were no longer working as a principal (“leaver”).
To access the 2021-22 Teacher Follow-up Survey data and technical documentation, please visit https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2023046.
Key Findings
Trends in Teacher Attrition by Teacher Characteristics
Trends in Teacher Attrition by School Characteristics
Former Teachers in New Jobs
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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.
Follow NCES on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube and subscribe to the NCES Newsflash to receive email notifications when new data are released.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public
1 The 2012-13 TFS was only administered to public school teachers, so there are not comparable data for private school teachers.
2 Teachers in 2020–21 who were working but no longer teaching in 2021–22 included former teachers who were working for a school or school district in a position in the field of K–12 education, but not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher; former teachers working in the field of K–12 education but not in a school/district; former teachers working in the field of pre-k or postsecondary education; and former teachers working outside the field of education, including military service. Data on leavers who reported an occupational status of “other than the above” are not included.
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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.
Follow NCES on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube and subscribe to the NCES Newsflash to receive email notifications when new data are released.
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.
CONTACT:
Josh De La Rosa, National Center for Education Statistics, ARIS.NCES@ed.gov