Nationwide, schools are challenged with recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers particularly in certain high-need content areas such as science and mathematics. The shortage of highly-qualified science teachers is felt most acutely in high-poverty schools. To address this shortage, the California Science Project (CSP) Statewide Office at UCLA is supporting local CSP sites, with funding through a master grant of the California Post Secondary Education Commission (CPEC) for the CSP Teacher Retention Initiative (CSP TRI).

CSP sites proposed new ways of focusing professional development that nurtures and supports professional learning communities within whole science departments of targeted schools. The initiative’s goals are based on research findings that indicate increased student achievement is significantly and positively correlated with teachers’ qualifications and years of experience. Professional learning communities provide increased support to novices and new leadership roles for teaching veterans that may increase teachers’ preparation and retention. 

CTQ received CSP-TRI funds to document and assess the varied efforts of CSP sites. The research team is guided by the following research questions:

• How do CSP-focused professional learning communities affect the retention of secondary science teachers?
• How do teachers’ preparation pathways, background characteristics, life decisions (e.g., relocating, childrearing) and career intentions mediate the relationship between CSP programs and retention?
• What are the policies, practices, and working conditions that either promote or inhibit the capacity of schools and districts to create professional learning communities for science teachers in ways that promote their retention in high-poverty schools?

The research team will conduct a two-tiered study that includes quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Survey responses and retention of the program participants will be compared with a national group of secondary science teachers drawn from the National Center for Educational Statistic’s 2003-04 and 2004-05 Schools and Staffing Survey. In addition, comparative case studies will explore the impact of professional learning communities on retention within schools targeted by three local CSP-TRI projects.