Author: Donaldson Morgaen
Publisher: Routledge Ltd
ISSN: 1066-5684
Source: Equity & Excellence in Education, Vol.42, Iss.3, 2009-07, pp. : 347-370
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
This retrospective, longitudinal study compares the career paths of graduates of Harvard University's master's-level teacher education program (TEP) before and after it adopted an urban emphasis in 2001. I surveyed all graduates of TEP, 1985-2006, which yielded a sample of 636. Using discrete-time survival analysis, I examined where respondents taught and whether, when, and why they left teaching. I found that graduates of TEP's urban-focused program were more likely to teach in urban schools than the comparison cohorts but less likely than prior cohorts to stay in teaching. However, compared to the non-urban cohort members that were working in urban schools, urban cohort members were no more likely to exit. I further found that Whites and males in the urban cohorts were more likely to exit than members of these groups in previous cohorts, whereas females of color who prepared for urban settings were much less likely to leave than their counterparts who had received more general preparation. A large number of urban cohort members who left teaching identified “lack of community support for the school” as a key factor in their decision to leave teaching. At the same time, they felt drawn into other roles, such as principal, or professions, such as law, that, in their view, enabled them to have greater impact on urban schooling.
Related content
By Carter Andrews Dorinda Donaldson Morgaen
Equity & Excellence in Education, Vol. 42, Iss. 3, 2009-07 ,pp. :
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 57, Iss. 3, 2013-06 ,pp. :