Key takeaways
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Teacher retention strengthens student achievement, school culture, and community trust while reducing costly turnover.
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Attrition is driven by workload, behavior challenges, low pay, and lack of appreciation.
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Leaders improve retention through teacher voice, relevant learning, recognition, clear expectations, and strong support.
Teacher retention is one of the most important factors for maintaining an effective learning environment. Keeping teachers engaged in the profession has a positive impact on students, staff, and the broader community. School leaders are often given clear guidelines for recruiting and hiring teachers, but they are left to their own devices when it comes to teacher retention. Although some reasons an educator might choose to leave are beyond the control of local leaders, such as salary or benefits, the factors with the most immediate impact occur within each school building.
A school or district that can maintain its teacher population will make more gains across the board. Students who are taught by teachers who have intentionally remained in the educational field are better equipped to grow. A school culture built upon a shared understanding and continuity of belief will make steady progress. A community that trusts the school leaders and teachers who have demonstrated their commitment with fidelity will have strong bonds. To put it simply, a lack of teacher retention leads to academic loss, an inconsistent culture, and weaker community connections. School leaders should consider teacher retention a key element of organizational success, as it is more feasible to build on momentum than to create new momentum each year.
What is teacher retention?
Teacher retention is the number of educators who choose to remain in the occupation from one school year to the next. As with any profession, turnover among employees is expected for a variety of reasons. These could include retirement, moving, or shifts within a family dynamic. When a limited number of teachers leave for predictable reasons each year, this should not be a cause for concern. All schools can create support plans and procedures to help new educators get up to speed on the school culture and learning expectations during their first years in the field.
Teacher attrition, on the other hand, is used to describe a teacher’s decision to leave the educational field altogether. Reasons given for attrition before retirement age are often linked to insufficient pay, increasing demands outside working hours, an unhealthy work-life balance, or overwhelming job expectations. Teacher retention can be a direct reflection of an individual school or a district. When educators choose to leave because of factors under internal control, leaders should pause to consider what adjustments they could make. It is important to note that insufficient salary is one of the most frequent reasons given for leaving education, but this is often not an area that local leaders can change.
From a leadership perspective, teacher retention should focus on the methods that can be implemented at the individual school or district level to keep educators in the field. An effective school will have a clear, widely shared mission and vision to guide decision-making. When teachers support these goals and remain at school, this allows for continuity of beliefs and practices. If a large number of staff members join a school each year, valuable time and other resources are wasted on acclimating these new colleagues. It is in the best interest of leaders and students to support and retain successful teachers.
Average Teacher Retention Rates
The statistics for teacher retention rates have changed drastically over the last five decades. In the 1970s, a bachelor’s degree in education represented 20% of all undergraduate diplomas. There were high numbers of teachers entering education, and those teachers planned to remain in the field until retirement. In 2020, the same degrees accounted for only 4% of the graduating classes in the United States. At the same time, 35% of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years of employment. There is a teacher shortage due to declining numbers of new educators, paired with increasing numbers of teachers leaving for other opportunities.
Less than 20% of teachers who leave education each year are retiring; they cite reasons including:
- Increasing instances of negative student behavior
- Salaries that do not reflect the amount of work required
- Additional responsibilities outside of instruction
- Loss of appreciation for the field of teaching
The diminishing number of teachers is apparent across the country. In June of 2025, 48 states reported filling teaching vacancies with applicants who were not fully qualified. When examining the positions that remain either unfilled or filled by a candidate without full credentials in the 2025-2026 school year, the number exceeds 400,000. The time to address teacher retention rates is now. Currently, approximately 8% of educators leave annually, including both novice and experienced teachers. This number has been relatively stable over the past decade, but it does not account for the cohort of teachers who entered the field in the 1990s and 2000s who will soon retire. If changes are not made, leaders will be forced to support a majority of new teachers each school year, and the number of teacher vacancies will grow.
What are the benefits of teacher retention?
The benefits of retaining good teachers can be divided into three main areas: organization, environment, and community.
Organization
Organizationally, time and money are limited resources in education. When teachers remain in the profession, it is not necessary to use financial resources in the same way each year. So the time and money can go further to help teachers enhance their skills in a variety of areas. There is a cost associated with recruiting and training new employees, regardless of the occupation. In teaching, it costs money to find substitutes to fill vacant positions, to provide materials for new classroom teachers, and to compensate trainers focused on curriculum and educational platforms for the benefit of only new teachers. This is an especially steep price to pay if these supports come at the expense of existing teachers’ needs.
Environment
A major benefit of teacher retention is stability and continuity. A school should have a clear plan for continuous improvement. Although there will be adjustments along the way, the overarching goals and practices should be reflected in staff members’ practices and methodologies. The environment impacts every minute of the school day. It is experienced through relationships, academic expectations, celebrations, and behavior. It is not feasible to build a healthy environment when the majority of staff members change every year.
Community
In the community, teacher retention speaks to a commitment to students and families. Through ongoing connection with community stakeholders, teachers build trust and lasting relationships. When these teachers remain in the school, the community is strengthened through word of mouth outside the school. The families become the biggest cheerleaders for the teachers because they have personal experience. A school’s reputation is built through interactions with students and families. Teacher retention is a foundational piece of building a school that is embraced by the community.
5 Strategies to Increase Teacher Retention
School leaders should consider ongoing teacher retention strategies at their own school. These practices must be intentional and embraced as overarching practices within the school.
Amplify Teacher Voices
Educators are professionals who have the background knowledge and training to be successful in their profession. The most direct way school leaders can demonstrate their trust in teachers and their abilities is to seek teachers’ opinions, ideas, and feedback. Teachers understand the day-to-day needs of a classroom, and that knowledge should guide organizational decision-making. Teachers should be part of a transparent process to impact student learning and success.
Provide Job-Embedded Professional Learning
Teacher PL should not be viewed as a one-time dissemination of information, but rather a variety of methods used to support teachers as they grow in their practices. This will look different at each school, but it might include professional learning communities (PLCs), microlearning, grade- or department-level common planning, or any other technique to bring teachers together with protected time, shared goals, and resources for improvement. It is important that the development be relevant to teachers’ needs and applicable in their daily practices. Professional learning should be job-embedded, meaning it occurs within working hours for purposeful improvement.
Recognize Teachers Authentically
Teachers are by far the most important resource in a school, and they must feel seen and appreciated. This goes beyond using small gifts or cliched praise as teacher retention strategies. The best practices of recognition are ongoing and authentic. There are opportunities every day to recognize teachers for their hard work, innovation, and dedication to students. Leaders should incorporate systems for formal and informal recognition into their year-long plans.
Set Clear Expectations
Effective school leaders need to identify teachers’ expectations and ensure clarity. Teacher responsibilities must align with student success. There will inevitably be additional tasks that teachers need to take on to support students, such as class meetings, data collection, and conferences. However, a teacher’s job to educate cannot be fulfilled if they are trying to hit a moving target. Teachers need to know what is expected of them and have the resources and time to realistically meet those expectations.
Demonstrate Strong Leader Support
One of the largest issues teachers report is the increase in negative student behavior. As leaders, it is imperative to support teachers without adding to their workload. School leaders, whether administrators, coaches, or interventionists, need to be in classrooms with teachers to help navigate difficult circumstances. When situations escalate outside the classroom, whether that be student consequences or parent meetings, teachers need the confidence that they are supported by their leaders.
