CONCLUSION
Teacher turnover is negatively affecting DCPS. High rates of turnover can contribute to low morale
and engagement amongst both staff and students of a school. Schools with high rates of turnover face more
hurdles to having a fully-staffed school than schools with low rates of turnover. This can cause disruptions to
the learning environment and should be avoided whenever possible.
A July 2019 article published by Action News Jax highlighted just how critical teacher retention is in
Duval County. Over the summer, district officials indicated that there were 400 teaching vacancies for the
2019-2020 school year (Tarancon, 2019). These vacancies were widespread, with 80% of schools having one
or more vacancy (Tarancon, 2019).
Since there are demonstrable differences between different school sites when it comes to rates of
teacher turnover, policy solutions that prioritize school-level decisions are preferable to policy solutions that
prioritize state-level or district-level solutions. Rather than pushing these data aside, a more nuanced
understanding of teacher turnover should be sought. Further analysis could include data related to job
vacancies, multiple candidate turnovers within a single job vacancy, exit survey data, and job satisfaction
surveys. Adding in surveys and other qualitative data will provide a more clearly-defined picture of DCPS
employee attitudes and perceptions. In addition, further research should examine areas of practice such as
organizational psychology or organizational culture. These areas of study may provide unique survey
methodologies or assessments that could be useful to expand this topic.
While state practices and policies are very easy to research, more research should also be completed
within Duval County Public Schools. Further research should specifically identify the areas with the greatest
potential for improvement in teacher and administrator professional development.
Study Limitations
During the five-year period of the study, the superintendent of Duval County Public Schools left
under politically charged circumstances. The researcher was unable to devise a metric to compensate for this
variable, so there may be some unmeasured effects from that transition. The researcher also
unsuccessfully attempted to deploy a survey to measure elements of organizational culture and job
satisfaction within DCPS. The researcher encountered resistance from within DCPS leadership and was
unable to obtain permission to survey employees.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendation 1: Implement Florida Model School Legislation
An ambitious plan to address teacher turnover at the state level would be a piece of legislation that
provided financial incentives to both teachers and principals for improving their school culture. In order to
develop a comprehensive and effective piece of legislation, a task force could be convened. There are
numerous programs that could be used as a guide for such legislation. One example is Teach For America’s
Schools To Learn From program. The Schools To Learn From program consists of a peer-driven school visit
program. School leaders can apply to visit a school to learn from or can choose to nominate their own school
as an exemplar. Participants receive travel, lodging, meals, and professional development during the school
visits.
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