The statistics are familiar: almost 50% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years in the classroom. The challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers carries high costs for today’s schools and students. This book uncovers some of the reasons behind the elevated attrition rates in the field of education through a long-term study of beginning teachers in one urban school district. Drawing upon research conducted over a seven-year period, this book sheds light upon the role that teachers’ intentions play in shaping their later career paths. It also shares the deeply personal and professional journeys of teachers who stayed, teachers who shifted into education-related positions, and teachers who left the field altogether. Through eight in-depth case studies, this book clarifies the factors influencing teachers’ career paths and depicts the toll that teacher attrition takes on the teachers themselves. Finally, it makes an argument for placing teachers’ voices clearly at their center of their own career development as a way to enhance autonomy, satisfaction, and ultimately career longevity.

The quality retention of teachers, especially those who work in schools which serve high need communities, is a key challenge for policy makers worldwide who are serious about raising educational standards. Carol Rinke's readerly book provides nuanced and insightful accounts of the motivations of science teachers who stay, shift, and leave teaching in the first seven years of their careers. She highlights the importance of supportive working conditions, values-led leadership, healthy school cultures, and the complex connections and interactions between lives and work – the personal and the professional. In doing so, she re-affirms the key role of commitment in teaching which has become, for some, a temporary profession. This is a “must read” for all teacher educators, school leaders, and aspiring teachers. -- Christopher Day, professor of education, University of Nottingham
[This book] is so well crafted, is carefully written, and conveys important messages for teacher educators and those who hire, place, support, and supervise beginning teachers. The whole thing is exceptionally well done. This is essential reading for those concerned with the extraordinary turnover of novice teachers. -- David Imig, president emeritus AACTE and professor of practice, College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park

Carol R. Rinke, a former urban teacher, is currently an Assistant Professor of science and math education at Marist College in New York.