The Associations among Literacy Teachers` Grade Level, Teaching Experience, Work-Family Conflict, Burnout, and Turnover Intentions

Abstract

Teacher retention has remained a severe challenge for the American educational system. Retention of literacy teachers and reduction of their turnover can be more imperative given that literacy teachers are obliged to teach the foundational academic skills to students. Among the key factors inciting teacher turnover are work-family conflict (WFC) and burnout. This mixed-method research examined the relationships between WFC, burnout, and turnover intentions among literacy teachers. The study involved two phases: the quantitative phase using mediation analysis and the qualitative phase using interviews. The participants for the quantitative study were a sample of around 164 American literacy teachers. Self-report surveys were used for data collection, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the mediating effect of burnout on the effect of WFC on turnover intentions. Semi-structured and one-to-one interviews were conducted in the second phase of the study. The sample for the interview study were five literacy teachers with high scores on the turnover intentions scale. For the analysis of interview data, thematic content analysis (TCA) was undertaken. The findings indicated that WFC significantly predicted burnout and turnover intentions. Burnout also significantly predicted turnover intentions, and burnout mediated the effects of WFC on turnover intentions. Also, controlling the effects of grade level (elementary and non-elementary) and years of teaching experience did not have a statistically significant effect on the initial findings. The results of TCA also indicated that teachers perceive student misbehavior and parent behavior as significant contributors to teacher burnout and turnover intentions.