Term of Award

Spring 2025

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Committee Chair

Dr. Juliann McBrayer

Committee Member 1

Dr. Antonio Gutierrez

Committee Member 2

Taylor Norman

Abstract

Teacher attrition has long been a concern in the K-12 educational sector, driven by various factors such as low salaries, lack of administrative support, increased teacher workload and responsibilities, and teacher stress and burnout. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, these existing pressures intensified. The abrupt transition to remote learning placed additional stress on teachers, who had to rapidly adapt their teaching strategies and engage students in virtual learning environments. As educators faced heightened expectations and were given additional duties, many chose to leave the profession entirely or retire early, exacerbating the ongoing teacher shortage. The combination of pre-existing challenges and pandemic-related stress has created a critical juncture for the educational workforce, necessitating urgent attention to teacher retention strategies.

This non-experimental quantitative study focused on the impacts of COVID-19 on teacher attrition to determine which job factors were affected the most by the global health pandemic. On a Likert Scale, study findings corroborated that teacher workloads became increasingly unmanageable during the pandemic, and the primary reason for teachers’ intent to leave the profession was teacher burnout. The study found that teachers would be more willing to stay in the profession if given adequate pay for the job, strong administrative support, a decreased workload, and a better work environment. Implications for practice denote educational leaders must re-evaluate teacher workload by conducting a comprehensive audit of teachers’ roles, duties, and responsibilities, while also diving deep into administrative support needs and improving the overall workplace environment. Recommendations for future studies include an examination of what administrative supports are necessary for a conducive environment and what workplace conditions must change to keep highly qualified teachers.

Research Data and Supplementary Material

Yes

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