Keeping Our Best? A Survival Analysis Examining a Measure of Preservice Teacher Quality and Teacher Attrition

Preparing, recruiting, and retaining high-quality teachers into the profession has been a concern of policy makers and practitioners for some time. Teacher attrition is problematic and costly for schools and districts. However, relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between preservice teacher quality and teacher attrition. In this study, we analyze data from an apprenticeship-style teacher preparation program to understand the relationship between a measure of preservice teacher quality—student teachers’ observational scores—and their decisions to (a) enter into the profession, and (b) stay in the profession within the first 2 years after graduation. We find that more qualified student teachers are more likely to enter into the profession and stay in the profession, even after controlling for student teachers’ demographic characteristics and their academic achievement.