A Study to Determine How the Application of Georgia’s Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) has Influenced Teacher Retention Rates as Perceived by Current and Former Public School Teachers
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Authors
Podsen, Stephen B.
Issue Date
2019-10
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Dissertations, Academic--United States , Employee retention , Georgia. Department of Education , Teacher effectiveness
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Abstract
The stakes are continually getting higher for teachers, as more states adopt policies and procedures based on teacher evaluations. Educational accountability practices reflect an ever-growing system where schools and teachers are being held more responsible for student achievement and learning (Lavigne, 2014). According to the Georgia Department of Education (2016), two-thirds of teachers within the State of Georgia would not recommend teaching as a viable profession. Additionally, as of 2015, 44% of teachers were leaving the profession within the first 5 years at great personal expense to themselves and the state in terms of time, effort, loss of productivity, and financial costs (GaDOE, 2016). This study examined current and former teachers’ experiences to determine if the Teacher Keys Effectiveness System (TKES) has influenced teacher retention rates within the State of Georgia. A basic interpretive qualitative research approach was applied to examine six participants’ experiences. Participants were selected via purposeful and snowball sampling. Data for this study were analyzed via face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The findings indicate that inconsistent and biased observations were negatively impacting teachers’ performance ratings, lack of quality feedback was hindering teacher’s abilities to improve their teaching, and the bureaucratic nature of the TKES and teaching, in general, are contributing factors for why teachers leave the profession. The findings from this study indicate that if school leaders and policymakers begin to address the subjective and bureaucratic nature of the TKES, teacher retention rates may begin to shift in the right direction.
Keyword 1: Teacher Keys
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.