WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF TEACHER SALARY LEVELS ON UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ENTERING THE TEACHING PROFESSION?
A Thesis
Presented to the faculty of the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
California State University, Sacramento
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
the requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
EDUCATION
(Educational Leadership)
by
Matthew Cordero Niblock
FALL
2012
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF TEACHER SALARY LEVELS ON UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ENTERING THE TEACHING PROFESSION?
A Thesis
by
Matthew Niblock
Approved by:
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Dr. Francisco Reveles
__________________________________, Second Reader
Dr. Geni Cowan
____________________________
Date
ii
Student: Matthew Cordero Niblock
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University
format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to
be awarded for the thesis.
__________________________, Graduate Coordinator
Dr. Geni Cowan
Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
iii
___________________
Date
Abstract
of
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF TEACHER SALARY LEVELS ON UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ENTERING THE TEACHING PROFESSION?
Matthew Cordero Niblock
Brief Literature Review
To inform this study, literature was reviewed in the areas of teacher satisfaction
and salary; student achievement and performance pay; teacher attrition and retention;
teacher unions and collective bargaining; and teacher recruitment. Most notably was the
finding of Zhang, Verstegen and Kim (2008), that salary is one of the strongest predictors
of teacher satisfaction, as well as Grissom and Strunk’s (2012) conclusion that higher
teacher salaries tied to achievement correlated strongly with better student achievement.
Statement of the Problem
This study focused on the impact of teacher salary levels on competitive
undergraduate students’ perceptions of entering the teaching profession.
Methodology
This study employed two instruments. The first was a survey that was
electronically distributed to juniors and seniors attending the prestigious University of
California. The surveys consisted of multiple choice questions on the participants’
perceptions of entering the teaching profession and yielded a sample size of 1,362. The
iv
second instrument was interviews with six University of California juniors and seniors
that were analyzed thematically.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The principle finding was that the undergraduate students resoundingly
determined teacher salary to be the dominant factor in deterring them from the teaching
profession. These students overwhelmingly expressed that teacher salaries are perceived
to be extremely lower than other professions. Additionally, the students found that
teaching is not lucrative, rewarding, or prestigious. While these students strongly
determined that teachers enjoy a high or extremely high level of job satisfaction, a strong
majority of the undergraduates will not even consider a teaching career. The chief reason
for this, as shown by the data, was their belief that teachers are significantly underpaid.
Most considerable for policy makers was that when just assessing the perceptions
of undergraduates who indicated that they would consider a teaching career, the effect of
a low salary as a prohibitive factor increased substantially. That is, the undergraduate
students most likely to consider teaching are the ones for whom low teacher salaries
serves most significantly as a deterrent. The primary recommendations would be in
addressing the reasons why teacher salaries are persistently low and how higher teacher
salaries would improve teacher recruitment and quality.
_______________________, Committee Chair
Dr. Francisco Reveles
______________________
Date
v
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my lovely wife, Janice Miyoko Fujita, as well as my
parents, Michael Niblock and Yolanda Cordero-Niblock.
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Above anyone or anything else, the successful completion of this thesis would not
have been possible without the caring support and consideration of my wonderful wife,
Janice Miyoko Niblock. In addition, I would like to sincerely express my gratitude for
the perpetual support of my family, especially my parents, Michael Niblock and Yolanda
Cordero-Niblock. Finally, I would like to extend my appreciation to my advisor, Dr.
Francisco Reveles, as well as Dr. Geni Cowan and the rest of the Educational Leadership
faculty.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication ......................................................................................................................... vi
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................ vii
List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xi
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
Background and Statement of the Problem ............................................................ 1
Definition of Terms................................................................................................. 2
Significance of the Study ........................................................................................ 2
Limitations .............................................................................................................. 3
Organization of the Remainder of the Study .......................................................... 3
2. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE ........................................................... 4
Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4
Teacher Satisfaction and Salary .............................................................................. 5
Teacher Salary, Student Achievement, and Performance Pay .............................. 10
Teacher Attrition and Retention............................................................................ 18
Teacher Unions and Collective Bargaining .......................................................... 23
Teacher Recruitment ............................................................................................. 29
Rationale for the Study ......................................................................................... 36
viii
3. METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 38
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 38
Setting of the Study............................................................................................... 38
Population and Sample ......................................................................................... 39
Data Collection ............................................................................................... 42
Instrumentation ............................................................................................... 42
4. ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ...................................................................................... 44
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 44
Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 44
Survey Findings .............................................................................................. 44
Interview Findings .......................................................................................... 50
Discussion and Interpretations .............................................................................. 55
5. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................. 59
Summary ............................................................................................................... 59
Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 60
Recommendations ................................................................................................. 61
Appendix A. Survey........................................................................................................ 66
Appendix B. Interview Questions ................................................................................... 69
References ......................................................................................................................... 71
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table
1.
Page
Question 8 Results .......................................................................................... 50
x
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
Page
1.
Question 1 Results .......................................................................................... 45
2.
Question 2 Results .......................................................................................... 45
3.
Question3 Results ........................................................................................... 46
4.
Question 4 Results .......................................................................................... 47
5.
Question 5 Results .......................................................................................... 47
6.
Question 6 Results .......................................................................................... 48
7.
Question 7 Results ...........................................................................................49
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1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Background and Statement of the Problem
Within the ongoing discussion and policy changes related to the improvement of
public education, teacher quality is consistently and heavily present as a perpetual
component of this endeavor. What constitutes teacher quality and how it can be
improved are consistently debated; however, one inextricable element of increasing
teacher quality is school districts’ ability to attract the highest caliber of applicants.
Because economic compensation is, at least, significantly considerable, and at most,
integral to any profession’s capacity to attract the most competitive applicants, the role of
salary in attracting the most competitive applicants in teaching warrants further study and
research. This study, informed by the review of literature, will be purposed to determine
the impact of teacher salary levels on undergraduate students’ perceptions of entering the
teaching profession.
In this pursuit, this study was designed to glean a pool of data from a large sample
of some of the most competitive undergraduate students who are nearing their college
graduation. School systems’ ability to successfully recruit these academically- and
occupationally-competitive students is critical for the future of the United States’ system
of public education. Thus, capturing these students’ perceptions of entering the teaching
profession on the verge of them making critical decisions as to their occupational paths is
beyond significant in determining the role of many aspects of the teaching profession.
2
Given all of this, this study seeks to shed light on these perceptions and on the specific
role of teacher compensation.
Definition of Terms
There were no specialized terms used in this study. There were also no terms that
were adjusted in their meaning to make reference to ideas other than their common
English usages.
Significance of the Study
The significance of this study lies mostly in its potential to identify the most
significant impediments for undergraduate students in deciding whether they will elect to
enter the teaching field. More specifically, this study yielded information that California
policy makers should consider in their approach towards recruiting California’s most
academically-competitive college students. Further, the results of this study carry
significance in terms of the substantial quantity of survey responses it yielded.
Specifically, the study yielded 1,362 completed surveys from University of
California students that speak to their perceptions of entering the teaching profession.
That data from this study provided insights as to these students’ perceptions about teacher
compensation, about their experience with teacher recruitment, and about their
understanding of how society views and rates the teaching profession.
3
Limitations
The first and primary limitation of this survey is that it will be conducted with
participants that only attend California universities and, thus, does not sample a nationallevel population. Further, the study is limited within California in that it only focuses on
University of California undergraduates and does not sample undergraduates from the
California State University system or the many private institutions of higher learning
within California.
Organization of the Remainder of the Study
The remainder of this study will be organized such that it first considers, reviews,
and evaluates relevant research that both contextualized and informed the purpose and
methodology of this study. Secondly, the methodology of this research, including the
population and sample that was under study, will be discussed. Following this, the
researcher will present the data generated by the survey and interview instruments
employed in this study. In light of the yielded data, the researcher will discuss, interpret,
summarize, and make conclusions about the prominent findings that were uncovered.
Finally, appendices, including copies of the instruments employed, and references will be
presented.
4
Chapter 2
REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
The role of salary as it relates to improving education has been considered to
some extent through different perspectives that have focused on issues including teacher
satisfaction, early and immerging teacher attrition, and what attracts people to the
teaching profession. These areas of study significantly inform any research on the effect
of teacher salary. Teacher satisfaction and the elements that contribute to and detract
from it provide significant insight into what contributes to the appeal and plight of the
career of teaching. Specifically, teacher satisfaction and how it is affected by salary
informs this study. A consideration of the elements that are contributing to teachers
leaving the profession also expands the depth with which one can grasp what repels
people from the teaching profession and more specifically what role, if any, salary plays.
All of these areas of study must be understood if one is to identify the extent to which
salary impacts districts’ ability to attract the most competitive teaching applicants. Thus,
the literature review will highlight the research within the areas of teacher satisfaction,
achievement, teacher attrition and retention, teacher unions and collective bargaining, and
teacher recruitment with an emphasis on the manner in which these concepts relate to
teacher salary and compensation systems.
5
Teacher Satisfaction and Salary
There are numerous elements that are involved in the construction of teacher
satisfaction. The research that has been conducted on it is extremely valuable when
examining the significance of salary within the teaching profession. Part of what makes
this research valuable is that it is not characterized by a singular perspective, but rather it
contains within it a plurality of conclusions and a complexity of approaches. There are
schools of researchers that demonstrate some consensus on the notion that salary is
integral to the construction of teacher satisfaction. However, there are other researchers
who have published studies that negate the importance of salary within teacher
satisfaction. Not committing to either extreme are researchers that published studies that
suggest that the topic is stratified and conclude that the impact of salary is complex and
highly variable based on numerous factors.
In a 2008 study focused on teacher salary and school quality, Zhijuan Zhang and
his research team investigated the effect of salary on teacher satisfaction. Zhang,
Verstegen and Kim (2008) used powerful nationwide surveys sponsored by the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) including the Schools and Staffing Survey
(SASS) and the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS). These surveys constitute the largest
national dataset about teachers, administrators, and the current nature of public education
in America. After gathering and processing this data using SPSS software, Zhang and his
team drew conclusions about teacher satisfaction, teacher salary, and other factors
affecting teaching and education. Zhang et al. (2008) conducted quantitative processes
that determined statistically significant correlations between teacher satisfaction and
6
other variables. Of these variables, they found that teacher salary and school climate
were the strongest predictors of teacher satisfaction. Other significant correlations related
to teacher salary that Zhang et al. discovered was that improved student achievement is
strongly correlated with teacher salary and school resources. Generally, this study
provided evidence that teacher salary plays a major role in teacher satisfaction for a large
sample of teachers across the nation.
In another study that investigated the Teacher Follow-up Survey, Liu and Ramsey
(2008) made conclusions about what teachers are most unsatisfied with and how these
factors affect minority teachers. Liu and Ramsey (2008) determined that teachers are
most unsatisfied with compensation and working conditions. Moreover, they found that
these factors dissatisfied minority teachers at a higher level than they did for nonminority teachers. As seen with this particular finding, Liu and Ramsey (2008)
diversified the scope with which teacher satisfaction is viewed and subsequently studied
and analyzed. Their research, while less universally applicable than that of Zhang et al.
(2008), unpacked the concept of teacher satisfaction and produced analyses that enabled a
more stratified understanding of the concept. In this way, they found through their work
that teacher satisfaction can vary and can be understood differently based on gender,
years of teaching, and career status. On one of these levels - years of teaching - the
results Liu and Ramsey found were fairly intuitive. That is, teachers who had taught
higher amounts of years continuously were more likely to be satisfied than those who had
taught for a shorter term. This higher level of satisfaction among teachers who had
taught for a longer period of time included high satisfaction with compensation.
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However, when analyzing teacher satisfaction conditionally based on gender, they found
that there are minimal if any differences between men and women teachers. On the basis
of career status, including teachers who are stayers, movers, and leavers, interesting
differences were found, including differences on satisfaction of compensation. Liu and
Ramsey (2008) used “stayers” to name teachers who remain in the profession and at the
same school, “movers” to name teachers who switch schools, and “leavers” to name
teachers who leave the profession. Interestingly, they concluded that movers, not leavers,
were the most harshly critical of teaching conditions, including being unsatisfied with
their compensation. Overall, their work contributed to the study of teacher satisfaction
and salary in providing findings that incorporate differences in teachers’ situations and
backgrounds. Generally, their work does indeed support Zhang et al.’s (2008) study that
deems salary a critical component in the satisfaction of teachers in their profession.
Like Liu and Ramsey (2008), Kearney (2008) investigated teacher satisfaction as
well as the effect of salary on a conditional basis. She investigated the factors that affect
teacher satisfaction for African American and European American teachers in urban
schools (Kearney, 2008). In this type of study, she focused on how teacher satisfaction is
influenced by racial differences. Her research in this study is characterized by the
examination of data on teachers who were hired to work in urban schools over a three
year period. The data was gathered through a survey that prompted teachers to report on
their satisfaction with various aspects of teaching. Ultimately, Kearney found that
African American teachers were generally more likely to be satisfied with the various
aspects of teaching, including salary, than European Americans. That notwithstanding,
8
she did determine that the caveat to this finding was that African American men, in this
study, were least likely to be satisfied with teacher salaries, benefits, and opportunities for
advancement (Kearney, 2008). This finding demonstrates that salary not only plays a
role in teacher satisfaction, but that it may also have implications for impacting schools’
ability to satisfy and retain teachers from minority racial and ethnic groups. Important to
consider, however, is that this study did limit its scope to urban schools, and thus the
results may or may not pertain to issues of teacher satisfaction and salary in schools
situated in rural, suburban, or other areas.
As teacher satisfaction is inextricably related to teacher attrition, there is valuable
and critical research in the area of teacher attrition, and especially early teacher attrition,
that has produced findings, constructed analyses, and proposed implications that are
integral to understanding teacher satisfaction and potential effects of salary. This is made
evident when considering the findings of Gonzalez, Brown, and Slate (2008) in their
qualitative study on teachers who left the profession. While this study is focused on
attrition in the state of Texas, it reveals important conclusions about teacher satisfaction
and salary. The study was characterized by in-depth interviews that yielded qualitative
data on the most important issues in why teachers left the profession (Gonzalez et al.,
2008). Specifically, eight persons who left the profession after one year of teaching were
contacted and ultimately interviewed. Gonzalez and her team found that the most critical
factors that contributed to the dissatisfaction of those interviewed were low salary, lack of
administrative support, and problems with student discipline. As with many of the
9
studies in this area of research, low salary was found to negatively impact teacher
satisfaction and play a role in the early attrition of teachers.
In contrast to much of the research highlighted above are studies that have yielded
results that suggest a reduced or lack of positive correlation between teacher salary and
teacher satisfaction. Notably, Perrachione, Petersen and Rosser (2008) conducted a study
in which they distributed surveys to 300 public elementary school teachers in the state of
Missouri. The survey focused on issues that relate and contribute to teacher satisfaction
(Perrachione et al., 2008). The sample that was ultimately analyzed included 201
teachers that all had five or more years of experience. From their data, Perrachione et al.
concluded that intrinsic factors, such as personal teaching efficacy and working with
students, most considerably influenced teacher satisfaction. In direct contrast with the
research discussed previously in this review, Perrachione et al. (2008) found that extrinsic
motivators, including low salary, did not have any effect on teacher satisfaction. Based
on these conclusions, these researchers suggested that the presence of intrinsic motivators
is critical to retaining highly qualified teachers and to generally decrease teacher attrition.
However, the researchers concede that their study was limited to a select set of teachers
in Missouri and limited by particularities that characterize the level of teacher
compensation, the academic standards, the nature of collective bargaining agreements,
and the prevalent school leadership modes in the state of Missouri (Perrachione et al.,
2008). As a result, this study cannot be generalized to the same extent as the others in
this area of research.
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Teacher Salary, Student Achievement, and Performance Pay
Teacher salary has certainly been an issue that has been contended and debated
from multiple lenses. One perspective that is significant is one that considers the
relationship between teacher salary and student achievement. This has become especially
critical in the design and recent prevalence of performance pay systems of compensation.
Most performance pay systems are based on the premise of tying student achievement to
teacher salary in a manner that motivates high levels of teacher effectiveness. Many
researchers have considered this relationship between student achievement and teacher
salary in a variety of contexts.
To begin, Zhang et al. (2008), noted for their findings in the area of teacher
satisfaction, made a significant and interesting correlation in the area of student
achievement and salary. They used formidable nationwide surveys sponsored by the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) including the Schools and Staffing
Survey (SASS) when concluding from his data that improved student achievement is
strongly correlated with teacher salary. This correlation was supported by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OEC) (2012a) who concluded in a multinational
study that high-achieving academic school systems do not invest limited resources in
smaller class sizes, but rather they invest in higher teacher salaries. In this publication, it
was asserted that the highest performing nations in terms of pure academic achievement
were not necessarily the wealthiest. Rather, these nations allocated their funds such that
teacher salaries were a clear priority (OEC, 2012a). This assessment of international
findings was further asserted in the United States with a national-level study that
11
considered the relative distribution of salary schedule returns to experience for highachieving novice and experienced teachers (Grissom & Strunk, 2012). In this particular
study, the researchers analyzed salary data and corresponding school-level student
performance data on math and reading achievement examinations across multiple states
(Grissom & Strunk, 2012). This allowed the researchers to produce findings that
encompassed the state-to-state variability in academic content standards and salary levels.
The overarching results showed that compensation schemes that reward high-achieving
teachers early in their careers correlate strongly with better performance in multiple
grades and throughout the achievement distribution (Grissom & Strunk, 2012).
The body of research in this field mostly supports a connection between increased
teacher salary and academic achievement in western countries, especially the United
States and Western Europe. That notwithstanding, there is a growing body of research
being done in the area of salary and academic achievement in developing eastern nations.
For example, significant findings have been drawn from a fairly massive and longitudinal
study done in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (Muralidharan, 2012). Not only does
this study consider an over five-year long randomized assessment of group and individual
teacher pay-for-performance programs employed over a large representative sample of
government-sponsored schools, but it does this in one of the largest education systems in
the world (Muralidharan, 2012). One of the significant findings derived from this study
was that the individual teacher performance pay initiative that elevated salaries based on
student achievement pervasively and extensively improved student learning outcomes
over each duration of time measured in the. When distilling the results to assess the just
12
the students who were impacted by the initiative to pay teachers more for higher
achievement levels, these students scored 0.54 and 0.35 standard deviations higher than
those in control schools in both mathematics and language examinations (Muralidharan,
2012). Making this study even more interesting is that it was also designed such that it
could measure the extent to which students were developing conceptual understanding
and not just parroting facts resulting from rote learning. In this endeavor, the research of
this Indian study had the intent of critiquing whether the initiative of higher salaries for
higher performance resulted in teacher gaming – teaching to the test – or if it resulted in
teaching conceptual understanding and critical thinking. The research referred to the
latter as “genuine additions to human capital” (Muralidharan, 2012, p. 2). The results
indicated that significant increases in achievement levels were seen in both the areas of
rote learning and conceptual development. Specifically, students who benefited from
teachers being compensated more based on performance scored substantially better on
both non-repeat and repeat questions. Further, these students fared better on freeresponse questions, multiple-choice questions, and on questions constructed to evaluate
critical thinking skills (Muralidharan, 2012).
While many of the studies considered above have illustrated a strong tie between
higher teacher salary levels and generally more desirable academic achievement, there is
other research that makes ties to more specific content areas and attributes. For instance,
in a gendered study that interrogated results yielded from the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), a strong relationship was established between specific salary levels
13
and mathematics achievement (Carnoy, Brodziak, Luschei, Beteille & Loyalka, 2009).
Generally, it was concluded that children in nations in which educators are more highly
compensated compared to male salaries in other mathematics-based occupations
demonstrate substantially higher achievement levels on mathematics knowledge tests
(Carnoy et al., 2009). Not unlike the Muralidharan study, Carnoy’s work included school
systems in developing nations. In evaluating the strong relationship, the findings showed
between paying male teachers a competitive salary compared to other mathematics-based
occupations and higher math scores, Carnoy et al. posited the potential reasoning that
high salaries in this case may have recruited teachers with higher aptitudes and skill sets
in mathematics. These noteworthy results in the area of mathematics were echoed in a
study that expanded this correlation into the area of science. In this study, country-level
performance-pay measures were considered collectively with substantial PISA
international achievement microdata to make conclusions about student-level
international achievement results (Woessmann, 2010). With this methodology, it was
found that achievement levels in nations with performance-related pay are approximately
one quarter standard deviations higher in math, science, and reading.
As necessitated by the demands of the twenty-first century job market, there has
certainly been an emphasis on increasing achievement in particular content areas in order
that students are better prepared to take on modern occupations. As the studies discussed
above made findings that support a strong relationship between higher teacher salaries
and higher student achievement in math, science, and reading, there is a study that
warrants consideration in how it expands the financial aspects of this achievement
14
equation. Specifically, it measures student achievement in math and reading that was
yielded by teachers that later exited the teaching profession for 6-8% higher earnings
outside of teaching (Chingos & West, 2012). In this effort, Chingos and West (2012)
analyzed the reported earnings of over 130,000 classroom Florida public school teachers
between the 2001-2002 and 2006-2007 school years. Of this sizable group of teachers,
approximately 35,000 of them left the teaching profession during the period of time under
study (Chingos & West, 2012). From this analysis, the potentially alarming finding was
that the teachers in Grades 4 through 8 who ultimately left the profession for high earning
potential yielded a 1 standard deviation increase in estimated value added to mathematics
and reading achievement (Chingos & West, 2012). This suggested that the teachers most
needed by our schools systems because of their ability to generate exceptional academic
achievement with our children in the core areas of mathematics and readings, were the
very teachers who leave the profession as the only way to receive a higher and perhaps
fairer level of compensation. The most troubling aspect of these findings may be that
these high-performing teachers that are integral to the nation’s school systems, exited for
a relatively low increase in earnings of six to eight percent. In this case, it must be
considered whether subtle compensation increases would have allowed the Florida public
school systems to retain these effective teachers.
This connection between student achievement and teacher salary levels have been
supported by many studies and by policies implemented by a variety of local, state,
federal, and international municipalities. That notwithstanding, there is a concern that
many school districts and school systems do not at all emphasize student achievement as
15
a factor in the design of teacher compensation methodology. For instance, in an Ohio
study, findings were purported that teacher performance and student achievement have
little to no bearing on which teachers are laid off and how teachers are compensated
(Miles & Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2012). The researchers who authored this report
contended that a teacher’s ability to yield high academic results is integral to students’
academic trajectory and, thus, should be a strong factor in compensation matters. This
finding that, in many districts and states, academic results do not play a role in
compensation systems was considered at the state-level with a socioeconomic
explanation. In this study on the fiscal equity of teacher salaries and compensation in
Oklahoma, it was found that districts situated in less affluent areas generally allocate
fewer resources to support teacher salaries and total compensation (Maiden & Evans,
2009). This results in an inability to tie education funds to desirable academic
achievement results. From these studies that consider sparser economic resources with a
growing need to create and sustain high academic achievement, the following question
emerges: how should school systems allocate limited financial resources when higher
academic achievement is critical? Previously in this review, the work of the OEC
(2012a) was considered in terms of the general tie between higher salary levels and
higher student achievements. The OEC also did an analysis that produced findings that
addressed this question of high academic achievement in the context of limited financial
resources (OEC, 2012b). It was found that in the current era of economic limitations,
increasing the salary of every teacher in a school system may not be a pragmatic solution.
However, many nations have structured their financial priorities such that they exercise
16
targeted salary increases to schools with particular needs in achievement and to schools
experiencing a shortage of quality teachers. Overall, countries have created academic
success by instilling greater local flexibility in salary distributions (OEC, 2012b).
Consequently, they are using a financial scalpel instead of a financial chainsaw to address
their needs.
While there is an abundance of studies that support the relationship between
higher teacher salaries and elevated student achievement, there are certainly some studies
that challenge this relationship in local areas. For instance, the author of a study in North
Carolina on improving teacher effectiveness argued that there is no evidence that a payfor-performance compensation scheme in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district has
or will result in substantial improvement in the achievement of North Carolina students
(Ngoma, 2011). This author went on to the state that Charlotte-Mecklenburg School
district’s system that is structured to pay for higher academic scores has not even been
properly evaluated by district administrators and that it has not been thoroughly
developed. This conclusion certainly underscores the idea that, like any effective teacher
compensation system, a pay-for-performance salary program must be thoroughly
evaluated, preemptively tested, effectively calibrated in large districts, and then carefully
implemented. There is also another study that is part of this field of research that has
challenged the idea of tying teacher salaries to improving students’ academic
achievement. In this study (Springer & Winters, 2009) a researcher from the Manhattan
Institute for Policy Research joins with an author from the National Center on
Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University to measure the short-term impact of a
17
pay-for-performance group compensation program being implemented in the New York
City Public School System. The study concentrated on 200 public schools at the
kindergarten through twelfth grade levels and began in the midst of the 2007-2008 school
year. The researchers of this study reported the finding that when analyzing the schools
that were impacted by the pay-for-performance compensation program on a short-term
basis, there was little to no impact on student proficiency or school environment
(Springer & Winters, 2009). However, the authors themselves offered the considerable
qualification that the study only measured the academic impact that occurred in less than
one school year. This should be considered in concert with the more longitudinal studies
that presented an observed relationship between merit pay systems and escalated
academic performance.
One fairly inextricable aspect of increasing teacher salaries in order to boost
student achievement results is that this requires some form of merit pay, which is also
called pay-for-performance. That is, some variety of merit pay is necessary to link higher
achievement with higher salaries. In addition to properly testing and thoroughly
evaluating merit pay systems, there is also the important consideration of how teachers
feel about them. One study actually made this notion its aim. This was an Indiana-based
study that specifically assessed the perceptions and attitudes of teachers on the idea of
pay-for-performance compensation schemes (Jackson, Langheinrich & Loth, 2012). To
generate data for this particular study, roughly 250 teachers from four different school
systems were solicited to complete surveys on the perceptions of teachers on merit pay
systems. The principle finding from the analysis of these surveys was that a majority of
18
the participants strongly disagreed with the notion of pay-for-performance systems,
indicating that they felt that teachers generally work at their maximum level of ability
while constantly pursuing ways to improve their skills (Jackson et al., 2012). Finally, the
survey responses were interpreted by the authors of the study such that respondents felt
that additional pay will do little to enhance student achievement. While the perceptions
and attitudes of teachers on merit pay systems are certainly of import, it should be noted
that there is not a substantial body of evidence to support any one sort of perception.
Moreover, it is worthwhile to note that the study published by Jackson and his research
team (2012) was based on 42 teacher responses. At best, it could be said that additional
research is needed to make conclusions about the perceptions of teachers on the nature
and value of merit pay systems.
Teacher Attrition and Retention
Another issue in which salary can play a part in combination with other factors is
teacher attrition. The field of research with respect to teacher attrition generally focuses
on benchmarks in time in which teachers leave the profession as well as the reasoning
behind why teachers exit. Additionally, it should be noted that along with teacher
attrition, teacher retention is also considered as it is the inverse of teacher attrition; thus,
these two concepts often come with overlapping data sets. The studies in this field
emphasize both state and national level data that point to multiple reasons behind teacher
attrition and retention.
19
Perhaps the best way to acquaint oneself with the concepts of teacher attrition and
teacher retention is to first consider some raw numbers and percentages that provide an
idea of the frequency with which teachers are exiting. A prominent source for this kind
of data is the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), which is a follow-up of a group of
elementary and secondary school teachers who had, in the previous school year, taken
part in the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) (Keigher, 2010). The TFS can be
particularly useful when considering teacher attrition because it collects information from
teachers who left the profession in the year after they took the SASS as well as teachers
who continued to teach. In a 2010 analysis of TFT responses, data were processed that
included information from 4,750 teachers who teach in K-12 classrooms in all 50 states.
Of these 4,750 present and former teachers, 1,260 had exited the teaching profession just
one year after they took part in the SASS (Keigher, 2010). This subset of teachers who
left the teaching profession from this data set constitutes an alarming 27% attrition rate.
The potential reasons for this level of attrition are certainly up for debate within this field
of research and will be highlighted later in this review of literature. But, before
considering the reasoning behind these figures, it will be useful to consider some more
specific findings from teacher attrition and retention surveys. In 2011, an analysis of the
attrition of exclusively new teachers was commissioned by the National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) (Kaiser, 2011). The instrument used by the NCES for this
purpose was designed to collect longitudinal data and is referred to as the Beginning
Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS). The Kaiser (2011) analysis of the BTLS is the first
report of this data and, thus, it only covers the first three sessions of data collection. One
20
of the most critical findings from this first wave of analyses is that, among the teachers
who started their teaching career in public schools in 2007-2008, roughly 10 percent had
left the teaching profession in the 2008-2009 school year and less than a calendar year
after they began teaching (Kaiser, 2011). When considering this finding in conjunction
with the finding above from the TFT, it can be seen that new teachers in these studies
exited at a rate of 10% while all teachers exited at a 27% rate in a one year time span.
Taken in sum, it can certainly be stated that, at the very minimum, public schools have a
significant problem with teacher attrition that warrants further study and that requires
rectification.
As it is fairly established within this body of research that teacher attrition is an
ongoing problem, there has long been a need for local and national studies on the
reasoning behind this trend. These studies often focus on issues from diverse
perspectives, while covering various ranges of geographical influence. For instance,
there was a pivotal study done in Iowa that focused on the state’s growing problem with
teachers leaving for other industries. In this study, it was first established that Iowa’s
teacher salary levels are well below the national average (Wang, 2002). Further, it was
noted that the methodology by which a teacher increased his salary in Iowa required
multiple years of experience. These sort of compensation schemes result in long
durations of time before newer teachers receive salary levels that are competitive with
other industries. This notion was indeed confirmed in this study, as it was found that
salary was likely the most critical component in the retention and, thus, attrition of
teachers in Iowa public schools (Wang, 2002). In another study that may have been
21
broader in its focus, this issue of salary as a factor in teacher attrition emerged again as a
part of more diverse results. This was a study conducted with more extensive interviews
that produced qualitative data on the most pivotal issues impacting teachers that decide to
leave the teaching profession (Gonzalez et al., 2008). While this study was considered
above in terms of its implications in the area of teacher satisfaction, its results also weigh
heavily within the issues of teacher attrition and retention. That is, this study yielded the
findings that the most significant factors that motivated the dissatisfaction of those
interviewed were low salary, insufficient administrative support, and stress resulting from
issues of student discipline (Gonzalez et al., 2008).
While salary does play a role in many of the studies of teacher attrition and
retention, there are also some analyses that include the issues of both race and salary.
This was exemplified in a study of the elements that impact the satisfaction and retention
of African American and European American teachers in urban public schools (Kearney,
2008). This study, as many others do in the research area of teacher attrition, was also
analyzed in terms of its findings on teacher satisfaction. It included the assessment that
African American teachers had a much higher probability of being satisfied by common
levels of teacher salary and, thus, were less likely to leave the teaching profession than
their European-American counterparts. It should also be noted that this particular study
produced stratified results in terms of gender. Specifically, the finding above carried the
qualification that African-American men, as a subgroup, tested like European-American
teachers in that they were more likely to leave the profession for the reason of low salary
(Kearney, 2008).
22
Another study that concerned the problem of teacher attrition also involved the
issue of race in its findings; however, in this study race played a different role altogether.
The first noteworthy finding from this study was that a wide range of teachers reported to
be less likely to stay in schools with higher populations of nonwhite students (Clotfelter,
Ladd & Vigdor, 2010). Making this finding even more peculiar is that this correlation
maintained its significance even after factors such as poverty were controlled for by
isolating students who qualified for free or reduced lunches. Another compelling finding
from this study was that, in considering whether or not to leave a school, teachers were
highly responsive to salary differentials (Clotfelter et al., 2010). That is, these teachers
conveyed that salary levels had the ability to significantly impact their decision in the
area of attrition. In concert, these results suggested that salary differentials are
potentially useful as a tool for retaining teachers in schools that serve higher populations
of nonwhite students. Yet, another impactful result from this study was the authors’
assessment that teachers with stronger qualifications were both more responsive to the
racial demographics in school populations and to salary differentials than their
counterparts with lesser qualifications. The myriad of conclusions from this study
(Clotfelter et al., 2010) suggested, among other evaluations, that the salary levels
necessary to retain the teachers with the strongest qualifications are more extensive than
those for less qualified teachers. This reinforces the concept that the negative impact of
teacher attrition is not only extensive, but it is both stratified and nuanced. The reasons
behind teacher attrition vary in how they impact teachers of differing levels of
23
qualifications and differing attitudes toward the schools at which they are likely to
continue teaching.
Teacher Unions and Collective Bargaining
In midst of all of the other factors that play a role in the status and current
construction of teacher compensation systems, the significant impact in this area by
teacher unions and their right to and history of engaging in collective bargaining is nearly
incontestable. Just as there has been much debate - especially over the last decade - on
whether teacher unions have had a positive overall influence on public education, there
have also been many arguments as to the effect unions have had on teacher salaries. To
begin with, it may be informative to consider some fairly straightforward studies on the
impact of teacher unions on teacher salary levels and overall compensation. Many of
these studies produced generally linear results.
For example, the research team of West and Mykerezi (2011) conducted a
relatively large study on the effect of collective bargaining on public schools’
compensation systems and pay-for-performance programs. These researchers executed a
macro analysis of large sets of data drawn from the School and Staffing Survey (SASS)
and the Teacher Rules, Roles and Rights (TR3. In their findings, they reported multiple
significant conclusions with arguably the most notable being that unions, through
collective bargaining, generally increase starting salaries for teachers. Further, they
reported that unions have the impact of escalating salary levels on the basis of teaching
experience and postgraduate education. Finally, they asserted the finding that unions
24
tend to condense the salary schedule and improve the quality of benefit packages (West
& Mykerezi, 2011). From this particular study, it can be seen that teacher unions can
have a generally positive influence on both teacher salary levels and overall
compensation.
As the research of West and Mykerezi (2011) has shown the positive impact of
collective bargaining on teacher salaries, it is worthwhile to consider and note the more
pervasive influence of collective bargaining on many public sector occupations. For
instance, it is interesting to note that in a major report on the impact of collective
bargaining since the 1990s, a significant relationship has been established between
collective bargaining and supplemental pay benefits (Briggs, Jihong, Wilson & Ling,
2008). In this study, the Law Enforcement Management Administrative Statistics
(LEMAS) survey of large police agencies was analyzed in addition to findings drawn
from the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and US Census Bureau. Using these
instruments, Briggs et al. evaluated the connection between police agencies that enable
and are impacted by collective bargaining and the extent to which these agencies offer
various forms of supplemental salary. The overarching finding from this research was
that collective bargaining did substantially improve the likelihood that agencies offered
supplemental and increased salary over the period of a decade (Briggs et al., 2008).
There is another study that underscores the results of the West and Mykerezi
(2011) study, however, this one is likely more monolithic and nuanced in its scope.
Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of this study, put forth by Cowen (2009), is
that it employs a body of data drawn from 1,000 districts in states with a combination of
25
bargaining and non-bargaining districts. Moreover, the study fashioned a nuanced
approach to analyzing the impact of collective bargain by unions, as it reported on several
indicators within a general model in which districts allocated funds to teacher salaries
conditionally based on bargaining status as well as other elements that relate to district
and state educational contexts (Cowen, 2009). Before factoring in the levels of
distillation the study exercised, the general finding was that districts affected by
collective bargaining spend more on teacher compensation, even after controlling for
variations in number of students enrolled. But, after distilling the data and accounting for
more nuanced financial considerations, it was also presented that districts impacted by
collective bargaining are sometimes affected by direct and indirect increases in district
operational costs. This can, in some ways and in some cases, have a negative impact on
teachers’ total compensations if this leaves less total district funds available for unions to
negotiate as potential salary increases. This study, among other notions, makes it clear
that teacher unions tend to increase district fund allocations to teacher salaries on a
surface level, while having a host of other complicated effects on the level of holistic
financial impact (Cowen, 2009).
While it can be strongly argued that the preponderance of findings from multiple
studies within this field of research show that teacher unions and collective bargaining
can have a positive impact on district compensation systems, there are other studies that
suggest other potentially negative effects. More specifically, there are researchers that
have considered the impact of teacher unions and collective bargaining on the emergence
of well-regarded achievement-based compensation programs. As highlighted above,
26
there is a myriad of studies that generated significant results that communicate the idea
that many merit pay compensation schemes are positively correlated to higher levels of
student achievement at local, state, federal, and even international levels. It is this very
mound of research that has informed a host studies that have sought to shed light on the
impact of teacher unions on the initiation, viability, development, and livelihood of these
compensation systems. Many of these studies have the intention to explain impediments
in the growth and successful implementation of programs that link higher teacher salaries
to high levels of student achievement.
The above prospective is exemplified by a report that investigated the
phenomenon that three US school districts in relatively large metropolitan areas,
including Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York City, planned to cease the reception of
2010 federal aid from education grants (Zubrzycki, 2012). Specifically, these large cities
had to elect to not qualify for and receive major funding from Teacher Incentive Fund
(TIF) grants that supported teacher pay-for-performance compensation systems and
teacher development programs (Zubrzycki, 2012). Ultimately, the reason for this
decision was attributed to a lack of teacher union support. Another study confirmed this
general notion that teacher unions have the tendency to serve as an obstacle in the
implementation and successfulness of performance-related pay programs for teachers.
This study investigated data about district offerings of performance-related pay systems
for teachers over the ten-year period of 1999 to 2007 (Liang & Akiba, 2011). This study
was designed so as to determine which factors are most integral in establishing the
districts most likely to offer legitimate performance-related pay systems as well as which
27
attributes are most critical in determining which districts would not offer increased salary
based on achievement. The researchers of the study were able to determine that districts
with less union influence were substantially more likely to offer performance-related pay
systems; thus, deeming teacher unions an impediment to districts in offering teachers
increased salary opportunities for increased student achievement (Liang & Akiba, 2011).
To add to this growing body of work that associates teacher unions with being an
obstacle in potentially progressive and successful teacher pay plans, there was a report in
Tennessee that a Tennessee teachers’ union is openly becoming an impediment to a
developing new teacher compensation system (M.C. & T.T., 2012). Essentially, it was
reported that an achievement-based compensation program being proposed and
developed by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam is being criticized and threatened by the
Tennessee Education Association, a state teachers' union (M.C. & T.T., 2012). Overall, it
can be observed that unions have a demonstrated history of attempting to increase teacher
salaries; however, they have also more recently deliberately opposed and even halted
compensation systems with which they disagree, even when these systems may promise
opportunities for more lucrative teacher salaries.
When considering all of the complex elements that factor into teacher
compensation systems, including and especially modern achievement-based salary
programs, it can best be concluded that unions have and will continue to play a
significant, complex, and perhaps controversial role. With that, it is important to note
that unions and the emergence of collective bargaining came to fruition in the course of
education out of necessity for compelling reasons. In one report, the historical
28
precedence, importance, and impact of teachers unions was under study. It was reported
by the authors of this study that the history and present-day significance of unions and
collective bargaining derives from the documented perception of employee fear (Cooper
& Sureau, 2008). It was argued that it was the employees’ fear of exploitation by
management in education that led to teachers fighting for the right to engage in collective
bargaining, which was done successfully in 37 states. It was through this effort that
education’s employees, as part of unions, used the instrument of collective bargaining to
develop unprecedented power in the areas of wages, benefits, and working conditions.
This led to the construction and development of two monolithic teaching unions, the
American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO) and the National Education Association
(NEA), that many argue stand in the way of modern movements and progressive
programs to improve the plight of education (Cooper & Sureau, 2008). As outlined in the
research presented above, these programs that have been at least somewhat obstructed by
the major teacher unions include the development and sustainability of initiatives to offer
higher salaries to teachers for increased student achievement. In spite of this potentially
subtractive relationship shared between achievement-based compensation systems and
teacher unions, there is research that suggests that this relationship must become
positively symbiotic in order for there to be fruitful progress in the area of total teacher
compensation. In one report, it was even concluded that the productive involvement of
major teacher unions in the formidable work of reconstructing teacher compensation
systems is a critical precondition to the betterment of the controversial teacher salary
issue (Koppich, 2010).
29
Teacher Recruitment
Amidst the maze of issues in education that figure into the teacher salary
equation, there is another element on which teacher salary has a potential significant
impact – teacher recruitment. Within this field of research it is debatable as to the extent
to which salary influences the short-term and long-term success of any given teacher
recruitment effort; however, the overarching trend from the body of research is that
recruitment plays a relatively strong role in both local and broad teacher recruitment
campaigns.
This idea that teacher salary, and more specifically increases in teacher salary, has
a noteworthy impact on the ability of school systems to attract effective teachers was
under study in research sponsored by the Society for Research on Educational
Effectiveness (Clotfelter et al., 2010). In this study, multiple countries were analyzed in
terms of how their teacher salaries were related to their likelihood to have qualified and
effective teachers under their employ as well as the subsequent performance of their
students on international assessments. In addition to the findings produced by this study
on student achievement evaluated under a previous subheading of this review, Clotfelter
et al. (2010) reported that countries with teacher shortages as a result of ineffective
recruitment could source this problem to lower and generally flat teacher salaries across
academic subjects and geographic regions. Further, these researchers asserted that
nations with lower teacher salaries have significantly higher likelihood of recruiting and
employing unqualified teachers.
30
In another study that speaks to the significance of teacher salary levels in
recruitment efforts, the notion of incentive pay systems to address recruitment difficulties
was the focus. This study underscored the idea put forth in the Clotfelter et al. (2010)
study that salary can be imperative to school systems’ ability to recruit qualified teachers.
To elucidate, this study made the assessment that school districts tend to be more willing
to offer accelerated salary options, such as incentive pay, when they are trying to contend
with difficulties in their recruitment of teachers (Martin, 2010). This study provided
further analysis on this issue in stating that increased salary options for teachers are used
especially when there are needs to provide low socioeconomic schools with teachers,
when public schools are responding to direct competition from private and charter
schools, and when it becomes difficult to find and employ qualified teachers in highdemand academic areas, such as mathematics and science (Martin, 2010). From the
results of this study, it can be argued that school districts already recognize and act on the
significance of salary levels with respect to effecting the recruitment of qualified
teachers.
In addition to prominent findings it made about the significance of teacher salary
in the area of recruitment, the Martin (2010) study also made a supplementary finding
alluding to difficulties school districts face in recruiting mathematics and science
teachers. Another study conducted by the researchers Luft, Wong, and Semken (2011)
took as its focus the deficiency the field of education has with the effective recruitment of
qualified science teachers. In this particular study, Luft et al. (2011) first established that,
compared to other academic areas, there is a shortage of science teachers. They made the
31
conclusion that, although school systems’ ability to retain science teachers has been
improved over the last several years, the shortage of science teachers is mostly related to
insufficient recruitment. In the end of this study, these researchers made the argument
and suggestion that existing science educators need to play a vital role in the recruitment
of new science teachers in order to successfully address this issue (Luft et al., 2011). In a
comparable study, the researchers of Newton, Jang, Nunes and Stone (2010) contended
that three of the top priorities in education should be the recruitment, training, and
retention of highly effective secondary mathematics and science teachers who serve
schools with socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The study supported a strategy
to address this issue, which is the notion of creating shorter and more accessible
pathways through which science and mathematics experts and professionals can reroute
their career toward teaching in at-risk schools. While success with strategies such as this
was exemplified in this study with California’s Cal Teach program (Newton et al., 2010),
critics of programs such as this would point out that these programs may reduce the
quality of teacher training while not dealing with potentially the largest impediment to
increased levels of mathematics and science teachers – salary and salary growth
opportunities. These programs have enjoyed some level of success in the recruitment of
mathematics and science-based teachers, but they have yet to be proven as a cure to the
ongoing issue of retaining and financially satisfying mathematics and science
professionals.
To compound to this issue of difficulties in recruiting highly qualified science and
mathematics teachers, there is a body of research that delineate other areas of deficiency
32
in terms of the recruitment of effective teachers. For example, there was study that
examined the considerable difficulty that school systems have faced with respect to
recruiting qualified teachers in school districts that serve rural areas (Kane, 2010). To
explore this issue, Kane (2010) designed a study that examined many potential factors,
including salary offerings, recruitment methodology, and the frequency with which
nontraditional applicants are recruited. Simultaneous to this analysis, Kane measured and
analyzed the extent to which schools being located in rural or metropolitan areas effected
and/or swayed potential applicants. After consolidating and statistically aligning all of
the potential variables being measured, Kane concluded that teacher salary and benefits
offered are the first components that employers should consider when attempting to
recruit qualified teachers to rural teachers. Perhaps the most interesting conclusion that
Kane (2010) drew was that metropolitan and urban factors had a generally neutral impact
on the likelihood of soliciting interest from qualified teachers. Not unlike the difficulties
rural school districts may experience in recruiting qualified teachers, schools that provide
career and technical education at the high school level have been the subject of research
in terms of their recruitment particularities. The researchers of one such study made the
point that the recruitment issue within this field of research is a vital one in that Career
and Technical Education (CTE) has proven to be a major source of qualified and
technically-skilled workers for the United States economy (Wilkin & Nwoke, 2011).
These authors analyzed the impact of CTE programs and went on to assess that CTE
programs often maintain high academic standards while interweaving industry-specific
technical skills into the curriculum, which has resulted in higher academic marks and
33
better economic outcomes for a substantial and growing number of high schools students.
That notwithstanding, this report concluded that one of the most severe and imminent
problems that CTE programs are facing is an inability to consistently and perpetually
recruit qualified CTE subject teachers. With consideration of an effective recruitment
campaign for CTE subject teachers in New York that included a city department and a
public university, it is clear that addressing this issue will take a multifaceted approach
that offers attractive salary and training opportunities (Wilkin & Nwoke, 2011).
When considering the reoccurrence of teacher compensation as a critical
component to successfully addressing difficulties in the recruitment of effective teachers,
it is important to consider the alternative strategies in recruitment that have been
implemented and studied. Are there ways to address the requisite recruiting needs and
severe deficiencies in demographic- and subject-specific teachers without offering more
attractive compensation options? This question is compelling, especially when
considering the specific needs present in the recruitment of mathematics and science
teachers, teachers willing to serve rural areas, and teachers who are qualified to instruct in
the increasingly important CTE subject areas. Following this notion, there have been a
throng of studies over the years that have considered international recruitment as a
strategy to cure or perhaps mitigate America’s needs in recruitment of public school
teachers. In a study put forth in 2011, Dunn, noted that while international recruitment
for US public schools has been practiced for decades, the specific strategy of recruiting
teachers internationally to diminish teacher shortages in urban and at-risk schools is
generally novel. This study centered on an analysis of the level of success and viability
34
generally achieved by this strategy of employing international recruitment to staff urban
schools with qualified teachers. The methodology of this study was such that classroom
observations as well as extensive interviews with teachers, administrators, and
recruitment agency staff members were used as the primary data sources (Dunn, 2011).
From the analysis of this data collected over a considerable period of time, it was posited
that these international recruitments efforts, while beneficial economically, have not
constituted an improvement in the way of teacher effectiveness. That is, the researcher
found that salary increases were not necessary to recruit teachers internationally, but the
teachers exhibited a lack of preparation to teach effectively in US urban public schools
(Dunn, 2011).
In another study on the viability of recruiting teachers on an international-basis in
order to address teaching needs in US public schools, some interesting findings were
made with respect to malfeasance in unregulated recruitment strategies and exploits. In
this study, it was reported that there have been increasing occurrences of international
recruiters supporting school districts in obtaining work visas and in employing
noncitizens in cases where local American teachers were available (American Federation
of Teachers, 2009). The report went on to illustrate findings that these recruiting
agencies were misrepresenting compensation packages and burdening international
teaching applicants with unsubstantiated and excessive fees. It was further approximated
that 19,000 teachers with temporary visas were being employed by US school districts
and that this trend is demonstrably increasing (American Federation of Teachers, 2009).
Findings such as these and the ones published in the study by Dunn (2011) make clear
35
that there are a host of noteworthy problems with respect to attempts to use international
recruitment as a means to rectify teacher deficiencies. From initial studies, the body of
research has suggested that these international teachers are unprepared to teach in the US
public schools that are in most need of qualified teachers.
Another presumably more modern solution that has been posed in the area of
teacher recruitment is the use of social media applications to both attract qualified
teachers and to glean more useful and topical information about the factors that impact
teacher recruitment and retention. For instance, in one recent study it was assessed that
in order to supplement and fill gaps in the field of research on teacher recruitment and
retention, new researchers will increasingly employ a social network perspective (SNP)
to isolate and study relationships that impact the employment of effective teachers,
including salary levels (Baker-Doyle, 2010). It will be particularly interesting to see how
these new methodologies within education research will shed light on the issue of teacher
salary as it pertains to the successful recruitment, employment, satisfaction, and retention
of highly effective and qualified teachers. In this modern effort to expand and clarify the
most critical factors in the employment and retention of effective teachers, the purpose of
the present study is to augment our understanding of the impact of modern teacher salary
levels by focusing on the perceptions of undergraduate students. Specifically, the present
study seeks to survey and analyze the perceptions of undergraduate students on entering
the teaching profession as a function of teacher compensation. The purpose of this study
was based on the preponderance of significant findings highlighted within this review
that repeatedly and emphatically point to teacher compensation as a crucial component in
36
the recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers. Thus, this study will focus its
lens on generally high-achieving college students who are near graduation and who
attend California’s most academically discriminating public universities – the University
of California campuses.
Rationale for the Study
The body of research reviewed above suggests many powerful connections
between teacher salary and many of the most significant factors in education. For
example, well-formulated studies (Carnoy et al., 2009; Grissom & Strunk, 2012;
Woessmann, 2010; Zhang, 2008) have drawn links between higher teacher salary and
improved and broad student achievement. Additionally, some of the most principle
studies above drew clear lines between teacher salary levels and teacher satisfaction (Liu
& Ramsey, 2008; Zhang, 2008). Considering the prominent role teacher salary has been
shown to play in public education within the literature, the researcher of this study will
attempt to uncover the specific role salary plays on the most competitive undergraduate
students’ perceptions about entering the teaching profession.
This notion of undergraduate students’ perceptions on entering the teaching
profession is considered by the researcher to be paramount because of its implications
with respect to the effective recruitment and retention of the most academicallycompetitive teaching candidates. As this study focused on the University of California, it
will be purposed to provide state policy makers will useful information relating to
recruiting competitive California undergraduates in ways that are effective and
37
responsive to their mentalities. While much research has been done pertaining to teacher
salary, a study that ties teacher salary directly to the perceptions of competitive potential
teacher candidates has not been done in a significant manner. Thus, the rationale for this
study is to attempt to supplement the body of research regarding teacher salary.
38
Chapter 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
While multiple methodologies are both available and widely used, the researcher
determined that using two instruments would be best suited for the purposes of this
research. More specifically, the implementation of two instruments that could be used to
yield differing types of data was employed. One instrument was designed to yield a high
volume of responses that were conducive to quantitative analysis. The other instrument
was structured to deliver qualitative data that could be thematically evaluated and that
would add context to the more significant high-volume data generated by the first
instrument.
Setting of the Study
The methodological approach that drives this study is essentially two-fold. The
data will be gathered from two instruments with one being more conducive to qualitative
analysis and the other being more conducive to quantitative analysis. Correspondingly,
the latter instrument was administered to a much larger sample and yielded a
comparatively larger set of data.
The purpose and process of this study can be best understood by first considering
the quantitative instrument and then considering how the qualitative instrument
supplements the results. The quantitative instrument is a purposefully brief and direct
39
survey that focuses its aim on undergraduate students’ perceptions of entering the
teaching profession. The survey consisted of a small set of clear and direct multiple
choice questions and one question which required the participants to assign rankings to
various professions.
The survey was designed to be brief, direct, and focused such that the survey
could be successfully completed in an efficient and effective manner and such that the
responses would provide clear directives as to the participants’ perceptions. Also, it was
a goal to generate a comparatively large body of results in order to establish a substantial
database.
Population and Sample
The population relevant to this study was the junior and senior undergraduate
students who attend the University of California campuses. The University of California
reports to have 181,508 undergraduate students attending its campuses; however this
study focused only on junior and senior undergraduates. The University of California
reports to have 113,492 undergraduates that have earned junior or senior standing. This
group served as the general population for this study. One of the demographic indicators
of this population is that 91.6% percent of these students are California residents.
Additionally, 96.8% of these students are full-time students. In terms of gender, 58,659
or 52% of these students are female while 54,591 or 48% of these students are male.
With respect to ethnicity, the students are 29.5% white, 15.3% Chinese, 14.8% Chicano
or Chicana, eight percent other Asian, 4.6% unknown, 4.5% Korean, 4.5% international,
40
4.5% Latino or Latina, 4.3% Filipino, 3.7% Pakistani or East Indian, 3.7% African
American, 1.9% Japanese, and 0.7% American Indian. In terms of academics, the
University of California’s Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) is met by applicants
ranked in the top four percent of their high school class. With regard to admission rate,
the University of California campuses admit an average of only 39.9% of applicants.
Finally, the University of California system admits undergraduates that bring in an
average high school Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.93. All of these academic
descriptors represent the most discriminating for any university or college system in the
state of California.
The participants for the survey instrument were defined as undergraduate students
attending University of California campuses who possessed junior or senior academic
standing. The University of California system was chosen because it is currently the
most academically discriminating public university system in California and one of the
most academically discriminating systems in the nation. While the California State
University system graduates more California teachers, the University of California
maintains California’s most academically-competitive students as a result of differences
in academic admission requirements. Because this study is particularly interested in why
California’s most academically-competitive students do not enter the teaching profession,
the University of California system was selected as the source of the target population.
The sample was defined as undergraduate students with junior or senior standing
because these students have survived the years of college in which students are most
likely to drop out and because they are most nearing graduation and their impending
41
career choice. Overall, these students generally share the qualities of being some of
California’s highest academic achievers who are also close to making professional and
life decisions that will determine whether or not they will become teachers.
Ultimately, the sample for the survey instrument included 1,362 junior and senior
undergraduate students from all nine undergraduate campuses of the University of
California. Subjects were recruited from each academic school at each University of
California campus. An equal number of students in each academic school were invited to
complete the survey through contact with their upper division professors. The same
number of professors in each academic school and within each university was enlisted to
facilitate their students' participation. A stratified sample was sought, representing each
of the nine UC campuses. Of the 4,050 invitations to participate that were distributed,
1,362 responses were received, for a response rate of 34%. The participants for the
interview instrument were defined mostly in the same manner as they were defined for
the survey instrument: junior or senior undergraduate students attending a University of
California campus. The only addition to these criteria for the interview instrument was
that the students had to have specified that they were not planning to enter the teaching
profession. Six such students participated in this portion of the study. As with the survey
instrument, the participants for the interview were inquired only if they were attending a
University of California campus and if they had junior or senior standing. But, for the
interviews the research also filtered this group by the requirement that interview
participants must have decided that they will likely not enter the teaching profession.
42
From a pool of these students, the researcher randomly selected six while not favoring
any university or academic major.
Data Collection
This survey instrument was distributed electronically to several potential
candidates that were included by the criteria that students must attend a University of
California campus and must have junior or senior standing. The students from all of the
University of California campuses that offer undergraduate programs were queried for
this survey. The surveys were distributed and completed online. They were completed in
an anonymous manner. Once they were completed, the results of the survey were
immediately available to the researcher online and could be viewed in total numbers,
viewed in percentages, or viewed after filtering all responses on the basis of whether
participants chose a particular response.
Instrumentation
The survey instrument was composed of eight questions, which included seven
multiple-choice questions. Additionally, the survey included one question in which the
participants were to rank six professions in order of one to six.
More specifically, one question asked the students to identify their status in terms
of the likelihood that they will pursue a teaching career after their college graduation.
Also, the survey asked the participants to indicate the most significant impediment that
would preclude them from pursuing a school teaching career. In a question oriented
purely in their perceptions, the students were asked to indicate how they felt teacher
salary levels compared to those of other college-educated professionals. In another
43
perception-based question, the participants were asked to judge the satisfaction level of
teachers they have had in the past. In a societal perception question, the students were
asked to rate the extent to which society finds teaching to be a lucrative and rewarding
profession. In a more personalized question, the students were asked to specify the extent
to which they have been recruited to become a teacher or to enter a teacher credentialing
program. Additionally, the students were asked to specify the range in which their
current grade point average lies. This was asked such that the researcher could consider
the academic competitiveness of the students who completed a survey response. The
survey, in its entirety, can be found in Appendix A.
The qualitative instrument employed in this study was intended to augment the
results generated by the quantitative instrument by adding context and thematic findings
from responses to open-ended questions. This instrument was an interview composed of
a small set of open-ended questions that allowed a small group of students to respond at
length on the topic of their perceptions of entering the teaching profession. The six
participating students were interviewed individually so that they would be free to develop
their ideas as extensively as they wanted while not being impacted or witness to other
students’ views and opinions. The purpose of this effort was to capture prevalent themes
on a question-by-question basis that presented themselves across multiple students’
responses.
44
Chapter 4
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
Introduction
The data derived from the two instruments employed in this study differ in their
nature as designed and specified within the Methodology chapter. Consistent with its
intent, the survey instrument did, in fact, deliver a high volume of responses; thus,
generating a considerable sample size from which to draw statically-based conclusions.
The total sample that the survey instrument yielded was 1,362 subjects. The interview
instrument, in keeping with its purpose, yielded narrative and open-ended responses from
each candidate, deconstructed below with the objective of uncovering perceivable trends.
Data Analysis
Survey Findings
Question 1 asked the undergraduate students if they would consider a teaching
career after finishing their university education.
45
Figure 1
Question 1 Results
The data indicated that 54% responded that they will not likely become a school
teacher, 21% responded that they will strongly consider becoming a school teacher, 21%
responded that they are certain that they will not become a school teacher, and four
percent responded that they definitely plan to become a school teacher.
Question 2 asked the undergraduate students what would be the most likely
reason they would not become a teacher.
Figure 2
Question 2 Results
46
The data showed that 53% selected low salary, 23% selected a general lack of
interest in education, 18% selected not wanting to work with children, and 6% selected
work schedule.
Question 3 asked the undergraduate students to indicate what they believed with
regard to the earning potential of teachers in comparison to “most other college-educated
professionals.”
Figure 3
Question 3 Results
The teachers’ responses showed that 66% believed that school teachers make less
money than most other college-educated professionals, 30% chose school teachers make
much less money than most other college-educated professionals, three percent chose
school teachers make more money than most other college-educated professionals, and
one percent chose school teachers make much more money than most other collegeeducated professionals.
Question 4 asked teachers to report their cumulative GPAs.
47
Figure 4
Question 4 Results
The data stated that 40% indicated a GPA between 3.5 and 4.0, 40% indicated a
GPA between 3.0 and 3.4, 17% indicated a GPA between 2.5 and 2.9, 3% indicated a
GPA between 2.0 and 2.5, and less than one percent indicated a GPA between 0 and 1.9.
Question 5 asked the undergraduate students to consider the teachers they have
had in the past and then to rate the teachers’ levels of job satisfaction, to the best of their
knowledge.
Figure 5
Question 5 Results
48
The data showed that 73% felt their teachers had a high level of job satisfaction,
19% felt their teachers mostly had a somewhat low level of job satisfaction, seven
percent felt their teachers mostly had an extremely high level of job satisfaction, and one
percent felt their teachers mostly had a very low level of job satisfaction.
Question 6 asked the undergraduate students to – from their perspective -- rate
society’s view of the teaching profession.
Figure 6
Question 6 Results
The responses for Question 6 show that 64% believed that society views the
teaching profession as not as lucrative and rewarding as other professions; 23% indicated
that society views the teaching profession as a lucrative and rewarding job; 11%
indicated that society views the teaching profession as not lucrative and not rewarding;
two percent indicated that society views the teaching profession as a very lucrative and
rewarding job.
49
Question 7 asked the undergraduate students to specify the extent to which they
had been recruited to enter the teaching profession or enter teacher credentialing
programs.
Figure 7
Question 7 Results
The data indicated that 53% of the students had never been recruited or
encouraged to enter the teaching profession, 25% had been recruited or encouraged to
enter the teaching profession a few times, 16% had been recruited or encouraged to enter
the teaching profession one time, and six percent had been recruited or encouraged to
enter the teaching profession many times.
Question 8 asked the undergraduate students to rank a set of professions based on
how desirable and prestigious they found them. They were instructed to assign rankings
from one to six, where one is the best possible ranking.
50
Table 1
Question 8 Results
Profession
Average Ranking
Doctor
1.95
Engineer
2.82
Lawyer
3.33
Business Owner
3.91
Architect
4.26
Teacher
4.73
When the undergraduate students ranked this set professions by desirability and
prestige, “Doctor” received the best average ranking of 1.95, “Engineer” received the
second best average ranking of 2.82, “Lawyer” received the third best average ranking of
3.33, “Business Owner” received the fourth best average ranking of 3.91, “Architect”
received the fifth best average ranking of 4.26, and “Teacher” received the lowest
average ranking of 4.73.
Interview Findings
As indicated in the discussion of the methodology of the present study, the
interviews of junior and senior undergraduate students consisted of four open-ended
questions. Further, the participants in this portion of the study were six randomly
selected individuals from a pool of willing University of California undergraduates who
have junior or senior standing and who indicated they would not likely consider a
teaching career. When the students’ responses were to be analyzed, they were typed out
51
verbatim and then dissected into each individual idea, notion, or contention. Upon
completion, the researcher created categories that would be effective in classifying
similarities or trends that existed across several participants’ responses. This process was
repeated for each question until every idea put forth had been mapped out into categories,
which made evident the existence of strong and mild trends. The questions for the
interview instrument were designed to be general and open-ended while relating directly
to the questions on the survey instrument described above. The interview questions are
in Appendix B.
For the purposes of this analysis, the interview participants will be referred to as
students A, B, C, D, E, and F. The manner in which their responses will be evaluated
will be thematically, so as to distill trends from their input. This will allow the researcher
to consider the frequency and emphasis with which given ideas and contentions arose
across the several interviews. Additionally, it will facilitate an understanding of the
relative weight that should be applied to given ideas and opinions. To this end, the
interview data will be evaluated on a question-by-question basis with responses being
filtered into the categories in which they fit.
The first question was aimed at why these particular students attending a highly
competitive university had elected not to pursue school teaching careers following their
graduation. The most prevalent trend across the interviewees’ responses for this first
question was that low teacher salary contributed to their decisions to not pursue school
teaching careers. In fact, four out of six interviewees highlighted this issue as a primary
impediment for them. Also considerable was the notion that teachers are in some way
52
perceived poorly by society, that they have a negative reputation, or that they lack
prestige. Specifically, three out of six interviewees provided responses that included
opinions that could be categorized as such. The last notable trend associated with this
question was the notion that some interviewees simply did not care to be around children
enough to substantiate an interest in becoming a school teacher. While this notion was
not emphasized with a high priority in most of the responses, it did appear in some form
in three of six responses to this question.
The second question had the intention of contextualizing the timing in which
these undergraduate students determined that they would not pursue a teaching career.
The trend that emerged from the responses to this question was that the majority of
interviewees did not make this decision with clarity until after their freshman year in
college. This trend was supported by four out of six responses, which all strongly
presented the idea that this decision was not made evident until very recently in the lives
of these students. The other responses were scattered in nature.
The purpose of the third question was to capture the undergraduate students’
perspectives on how teachers are generally perceived by society. For this question in
particular, there was a broad diversity of ideas present in each response. However, after
categorizing the diverse pool of ideas, some definitive trends emerged. The primary
categories used in this analysis included a contention that teachers are generally
perceived negatively, that teachers carry low socioeconomic status, that teachers are
underappreciated or underrated, and that teachers are respected by some niche groups
within society. The most dominant trend within the interviewees’ responses was the
53
contention that, above all, teachers are generally perceived in a negative way by society.
The notion was supported in five of six interviewees’ responses, though it was expressed
in differing ways. Student A conveyed the opinion that today’s children generally do not
respect teachers and, thus, the society has followed with a more negative view of teachers
and the teaching profession. In a more pointed response, Student E expressed that society
feels that teachers are not seriously involved in their job, that teachers are generally not
bright and are undereducated, and that there is a plurality of stories that circulate on the
topic of teacher incompetence and ignorance. Student E went on to state that the most
prevalent quote that generally dictates and captures society’s orientation toward teachers
is that “those who cannot do, teach.” This response was echoed by Student F’s
evaluation that teachers’ are perceived to have a low socioeconomic status and, therefore,
the teaching profession is dominantly considered to be negative. This particular notion
was supported by the overall trend in the responses that teachers carry a low
socioeconomic status. This notion was well-supported in four of the six undergraduate
students’ responses. With less frequency and certainly less vigor were the notions that
teachers are underappreciated and underrated and that teachers are respected by some
niche groups in society. These two contentions were each supported in just two of the
students’ responses.
The next and last open-ended question was aimed at having the undergraduate
students characterize the nature of college students who ultimately enter the school
teaching profession.
Unlike the previous set of responses, this question did not yield
dominant trends. Rather, the undergraduate students’ responses to this question lacked a
54
strong consensus of ideas. In order to continue to evaluate these responses thematically,
additional categories were used to consolidate the ideas presented within the various
responses.
The categories in place for this question were traits used by the interviewees in
classifying college students who ultimately become teachers. These traits included
students who are caring, students who love to be around and manage children, students
who have declared majors in the humanities, students who have declared majors that are
considered by the interviewees to be unchallenging, students who have failed to reside in
the upper echelons of academic achievement, and students who have considered teaching
as a contingency-based career choice.
While none of the above categories were pervasive and pronounced in all of the
students’ responses, one of them was developed in some form in a majority of responses.
This trend was the general notion that students who will later become teachers tend to
declare academic majors that are considered by many of the interviewees to be less than
challenging. This notion was supported considerably in four of six students’ responses.
With specificity, Student E delineated the reasons why college students who will later
become teachers tend to come from less challenging majors. This student argued that
students in more competitive and difficult academic majors have more options
economically and in terms of academic research opportunities. Student E posited that
because of these more lucrative and prestigious opportunities, students from more
competitive majors choose against teaching; thus, leaving largely just students from less
challenging majors to enter the teaching profession. This trend appeared to be
55
intertwined with the contention that students who ultimately become teachers largely
declare academic majors within the humanities.
Three of the four interviewees who indicated the trend detailed above about future
teachers declaring unchallenging majors also expressed the idea that future teachers
choose majors within the humanities. A less articulated and emphasized trend was the
notion that students that will become teachers often considered the teaching profession as
a backup plan. This notion was mentioned but not elaborated upon in three of the
interviewees’ responses. Another notion that was simply mentioned in three of the
interviewees’ responses was the idea that most students who become teachers have a
caring nature. Finally, the ideas that students who will become teachers, love kids and
they generally do not reside in the upper academic tiers, were each just mentioned twice
by interviewees. These notions were not well-supported by the interviewees’ responses.
Discussion and Interpretations
The primary focus of this study was on the extent to which teacher salary levels
impact undergraduate students’ perceptions of entering the teaching profession. In this
regard, the survey instrument employed in this study delivered a clear and quantitatively
solid response. The survey instrument was sent to undergraduate juniors and seniors
attending the campuses of the University of California system. The survey instrument
yielded 1,362 completed surveys from these highly competitive students nearing
graduation. When these students were asked to indicate the primary reason they would
not consider a teaching career, 718 students or 53% chose low salary as their reason.
56
This response of low salary was chosen by more students than the other three available
options combined. The responses pertaining to the teaching work schedule, not wanting
to work with children, and a general lack of interest in education were selected at the
substantially lower rates of 6%, 18%, and 23% respectively. In this survey, the students
spoke resoundingly and with clarity as to the significant extent to which teacher salary
levels serve as an obstruction to them in entering the teaching profession. This critical
finding was substantially and concretely supported and contextualized by the open-ended
interview instrument and by responses to other questions in the survey instrument. When
the students who took part in the open-ended interviews were asked to describe the
primary barriers to entering the teaching profession, the most prevalent and dominant
trend in their responses was the contention that teacher salary levels are prohibitive for
them and other students. This finding about teacher salary levels being perceived to be
low and obstructive for competitive undergraduate students was further compounded and
supplemented by additional questions and correlating data in the survey instrument. That
is, when students were asked in the survey to compare teacher salaries to that of other
college-education professions, the results were negative and resounding. The data
showed that 66% of these undergraduate students indicated that teachers earn less money
than most other college-educated professionals, while another 30% of them indicated that
teachers earn much less money than most other college-educated professionals. This
means that a sum of 96% of some of California’s most competitive undergraduates find
that teachers make less or much less money than most other college-education
professionals. Moreover, survey data from another question illustrated that 75% of these
57
undergraduate students feel that society views teaching as less lucrative and rewarding
than other professions or simply not lucrative and not rewarding at all. Thus, this sizable
sample of California’s high achieving university students are both deterred to enter the
profession because of low salary levels and convinced that society views teaching as not
lucrative and unrewarding. This was solidified when the undergraduate students were
prompted to give six professions relative rankings from one to six on the basis of each
profession’s level of desirability and prestige. The list of professions given in this
particular question was not intended to be a comprehensive catalog of available American
occupations, but rather a representative and narrow set of commonly known collegeeducated professions that would allow the teaching profession to be relatively ranked.
Therefore, the set of professions were narrowed to a more relatable and digestible set of
six. Of these six professions, the option of teacher was overwhelmingly assigned the
worst average ranking.
Overall, when considering the trends that emerged in the open-ended interviews
and the compelling data sets from the survey instrument, it can be fairly obviously
concluded that this set of California’s brightest and most competitive undergraduates find
the teaching career to be exceedingly less favorable as a result of its perception of having
poor compensation and a low level of societal prestige. What adds interest and nuance to
this finding was the data gleaned from an altogether different question posed in the
survey instrument. That is, when the undergraduate students were asked to consider their
past teachers and to rank these teachers’ apparent level of job satisfaction, 80% specified
that they perceived their teachers to have a high or extremely high level of job
58
satisfaction. This piece of data is particularly interesting when consumed in concert with
the finding that low salary represents the largest impedance to these students’ entry into
the teaching profession. With this, it can be found that, from direct encounters and
experience, these students generally find that the teaching profession brings about high
job satisfaction, but they are so deterred by the low pay levels that they will likely not
even consider becoming a teacher. The latter point was confirmed concretely when, in
the survey, the undergraduate students decisively indicated that 75% of them will either
not likely consider becoming a teacher or will definitely not consider a teaching career.
59
Chapter 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The results derived from this study were marked by clarity of response and many
instances of significant consensus. With respect to the underlying purpose of this study,
there were definitive results pertaining to teacher salary levels and their impact on the
perceptions of the undergraduate students under study. In 1,362 survey responses and in
six open-ended interviews, these undergraduate students spoke clearly and with volume
on their opinions about teacher salary and the extent to which it acts as an impediment to
them considering a career in teaching.
Summary
Overall, this study was purposed to uncover the perceptions of junior and senior
undergraduate students on entering the teaching profession. The sample consisted of
1,362 undergraduate junior and seniors attending the University of California, which
constituted a 34% response rate. These students’ responses largely indicated perceptions
that teacher salary is comparatively low, that society views teaching as unrewarding and
generally not lucrative, and that they rate the teaching career among the lowest in
desirability and prestige. Perhaps most substantially was the finding that these
undergraduate students are more deterred to enter the teaching profession by low salary
than by all other available factors combined. The results of the interview instrument,
60
most notably, supported this notion that undergraduate students are more deterred by low
salary than by any other factor when considering a teaching career.
Conclusions
Considering these findings holistically unveils the critical role teacher salary is
playing in pushing away this set of undergraduate students from the teaching profession,
despite their general consensus that their teachers enjoy a high or extremely high level of
job satisfaction. Allowing these teachers to be alienated from the teaching profession
because of issues such as salary is definitely a considerable loss, as the these University
of California students represent some of California’s most academically exceptional and
promising job competitors. The University of California is annually considered to be one
the most highly regarded, prestigious, and academically discriminating public university
systems in the nation.
The students in this survey, while attending the University of California
campuses, demonstrate academic excellence, as 40% of them have earned a grade point
average between 3.5 and 4.0 while 80% of them earned a grade point average of 3.0 or
higher. Given the achievement and desirability of these students, it is troubling that data
from the survey instrument showed that 69% of these students report to a have been
recruited or encouraged to consider a teaching career either once or not at all. This may
suggest that teacher recruitment efforts have not been effective in reaching some of
California’s most competitive undergraduates, which becomes even more critical when
61
considering the poor perceptions these students have reported in this study about the
teaching profession in terms of salary and prestige.
The overarching conclusion from the set of data generated by the instruments
used in this survey is that a substantial set of academically high-achieving university
students nearing graduation have a positive perception of teacher job satisfaction that is
undermined by their prohibitive negative perceptions about teacher salary. Perhaps, the
piece of the data that makes the strongest comment for education policy makers on this
issue is the following: when filtering all survey responses from this study such that only
students who indicated a willingness to consider the teaching profession are assessed, the
portion of these students who declare low salary as their primary barrier to entry escalates
to 73%. That is, the undergraduate students most likely to consider entering the teaching
profession are the ones for whom low teacher salary serves most significantly as a
deterrent.
Recommendations
This study generated results that showed a large sample of undergraduate students
indicated that they believe teaching is not lucrative and that low teacher salary is the most
significant reason why they would not consider a teaching career. Given these findings,
the researcher would offer the following recommendations pertaining to actions by
education policy makers and further academic research:
62

School districts and state education officials should conduct analyses to determine
how the teacher salaries within their jurisdiction compare to the salaries of
comparable college-educated professions.

Policy makers with state governments and autonomous school districts should
reconsider their budget allocations in light of the findings that low teacher salaries
are serving as the most significant deterrent in the recruitment of highly qualified
and academically excellent candidates.

It would be highly beneficial for all stakeholders in education for there to be
further university-level research on why citizens and representative state
governments generally implement teacher salary packages that are a major
deterrent for promising and occupationally-competitive undergraduate students.

It is important that diverse university-level research be conducted to glean data
about how each state compensates its teachers and what impact that has on its
most competitive undergraduate students.

Additionally, this area of research would be benefitted by further university-level
studies on society’s general perceptions on whether or not and to what extent
teachers should be paid more. This sort of research would facilitate a better
understanding of why teachers are generally paid a substantially more miniscule
salary compared to other college educated professions.

District-level finance administrators and human resources specialists should
conduct analyses of how their salary offerings are impacting their ability to attract
63
their state’s most competitive applicants. They should consider whether or not
they are commanding interest from students in the highest academic echelons.

The following question should certainly be a focus of a university dissertationquality study within this field of research: is the average teacher salary
substantially low as a result of citizens’ perceptions that this is a fair salary level
or as a result of state and federal government policies that deprioritize teacher
compensation?

One of this study’s findings was that 69% of the 1,362 undergraduate students
indicated they had been recruited only once or not at all to consider a teaching
career. Give this startling percentage of poorly recruited and highly
academically-competitive undergraduates, California school districts need to
rectify this with concerted recruitment efforts directed at California’s numerous
universities.

Considering the insufficiency in recruitment referred to in the previous
recommendation, it is clear that university teacher credentialing programs could
benefit from further recruitment of the high-achieving undergraduate students
already attending the university in which the program is situated.

Given the finding in this study that 75% of the undergraduates students surveyed
expressed that they find the teaching profession to be generally not lucrative and
unrewarding, state- and district-level education policy makers need to put forth
and implement practical strategies aimed at mitigating this overwhelmingly
negative perception of the teaching profession. The notion that this perception is
64
held in strong consensus by a group of California’s most high-achieving college
students is troubling, significantly hindering to recruitment efforts, and deserving
of immediate rectification.

Finally, further university-level research should be done on how the promise of
substantially higher teacher salaries would concretely impact the desirability of
entering the teaching profession for the most competitive undergraduate students.
These varieties of research could help inform the ongoing debate on teacher
compensation, especially for state governments, teacher unions, and all other
significant education policymakers.
65
Appendices
66
Appendix A
Survey
67
Survey
For questions 1-7, please choose just one answer.
1. Would you consider a teaching career after finishing your university education?
____ I definitely plan to become a school teacher
____ I will strongly consider becoming a school teacher
____ I will not likely become a school teacher
____ I am sure that I will not become a school teacher
2. Which of the following is most likely to be the reason you would not become a school
teacher?
____ The work schedule (hours and days worked)
____ You do not want to work with children
____ General lack of interest in education
____ Low salary
3. Based on your knowledge, which of the following do you believe to be true?
____ School teachers make much more money than most other college-educated
professionals.
____ School teachers make more money than most other college-educated
professionals.
____ School teachers make less money than most other college-educated
professionals.
____ School teachers make much less money than most other college-educated
professionals.
4. What is your cumulative GPA as of the end of last quarter?
____ 3.5 - 4.0
____ 3.0 - 3.4
____ 2.5 - 2.9
____ 2.0 - 2.4
____ 0 - 1.9
5. Think of the school teachers you have had. How would you rate their level of job
satisfaction?
____ I think they mostly had an extremely high level of job satisfaction
____ I think they mostly had a high level of job satisfaction
____ I think they mostly had a somewhat low level of job satisfaction
____ I think they mostly had a very low level of job satisfaction
68
6. In your opinion, how would you rate society’s view of the teaching profession?
____ Society views the teaching profession as a very lucrative and rewarding job
____ Society views the teaching profession as a lucrative and rewarding job
____ Society views the teaching profession as not as lucrative and rewarding as other
professions
____ Society views the teaching profession as not that lucrative and rewarding
7. To what extent have you been recruited or encouraged to enter the teaching profession
or enter a teacher credentialing program?
____ I have been recruited or encouraged to enter the teaching profession many
times
____ I have been recruited or encouraged to enter the teaching profession a few
times
____ I have been recruited or encouraged to enter the teaching profession one time
____ I have never been recruited or encouraged to enter the teaching profession
8. Please rank these professions in order of how desirable and prestigious they seem
to you (the rank of 1 is the most desirable and prestigious):
____ Engineer
____ Architect
____ Lawyer
____ Teacher
____ Doctor
____ Business Owner
69
Appendix B
Interview Questions
70
Interview Questions
Question 1
All of the participants in this group are undergraduate juniors or seniors that have
indicated that they will not enter the teaching profession. What are the primary reasons
you have ruled out being a school teacher?
Question 2
Approximately when did you know or decide you would not become a teacher?
Question 3
How do you feel teachers are perceived in our society?
Question 4
In your opinion, which college students are likely to become teachers and why?
71
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