JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — A new teacher survey shows 65% would quit if they could. Another 12% are quitting when the school year is over. Teachers cited anxiety, depression, and mental health as reasons they wanted to get out of the classroom.
The study, titled Teacher Attrition in Wyoming: Factors to Consider, was conducted in March 2022 by Mark Perkins, PhD assistant professor at University of Wyoming and released last month. Over 700 teachers took part. A full report is expected in early June and submitted to peer review.
The findings indicate Wyoming is having a problem retaining good teachers and the reasons are fairly predictable.
“Wyoming needs good teachers to stay and recent indicators suggest a problem,” Perkins said.
At a glance:
- About 12% of the surveyed teachers said they were quitting teaching by the end of the school year.
- 65% of the teachers said that if they could quit, they would but cannot quit due to financial or other reasons.
- Teachers with higher levels of anxiety are more likely to want to quit teaching.
- Teachers with higher levels of depression are more likely to quit teaching.
- Community and professional support correlate with desire to quit with professional support showing stronger effects.
- The majority of teachers do not find assessment useful and as a result of the lack of variability on this, it does not distinguish between teachers who want to quit and those who want to stay.
- Teachers who score higher on items related to wellbeing are less likely to quit teaching.
- Since COVID, teachers have observed longer work hours and more incidents of aggression.
As a result of the study, its author recommends focusing on teacher mental health, building community and professional support, rethinking assessment, and seeking ways to address increased workload as ways to retain more good teachers and strengthen the future of Wyoming’s education system.
