Teacher Survival from the Perspective of the Training Institution. Research and Development Memorandum No. 112 [microform] / Richard J. Shavelson and Robert L. Trinchero

With the teacher surplus encouraging training institutions to raise their selection criteria, the teacher trainees (interns) in the Stanford Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) could be considered to represent future populations of teacher trainees. To help ascertain the impact of this new population of teachers on education, data on the survival of 952 interns from 1960 to 1969 were collected and analyzed to determine the extent to which this select group of trainees can be placed and retained in teaching. The effect of the following variables on survival was examined: selection (sex, age, marital status, financial need, academic aptitude, and academic achievement); training (subject-matter specialty and achievement); and posttraining (ratings of the training program). Data were interpreted from the perspective of the training institution rather than that of the school districts involved. It was concluded that the interns, as a population, probably have a higher survival rate than other populations of teacher trainees. Two personal attributes of the interns, sex and age, proved to be the best predictors of survival. In some cases, additional information was provided by analyses of the other variables and by the interns' reasons for leaving teaching. (Author/JA)