Alaska Teacher Turnover, Supply, and Demand: 2013 Highlights

Abstract

T he figures in this document show a few findings from the forthcoming report, 2013 Alaska Educator Supply, Demand, and Turnover. They focus mostly on teacher turnover and mobility in recent years. The data show that: Teacher turnover in Alaska has declined slightly in the last few years, but not significantly. Annual teacher turnover rates vary hugely among rural districts, ranging from a low of 7% to over 52%, while urban districts have turnover rates that are generally lower and more similar, from about 8% to just over 10%. Among teachers with less than 10 years of experience, those who prepared to be teachers in Alaska have much lower turnover rates than those from Outside. Among teachers with more than 10 years of experience, turnover rates for the two groups are about the same. ¾ Most—around 80%—of teachers who leave both urban and rural districts leave the Alaska school system entirely. Teachers prepared in Alaska are far more likely to work in urban than in rural districts. On average from 2008-2012, about 64% of teachers hired by districts statewide were from outside Alaska. Almost 90% of teachers in Alaska are White. Alaska Natives and American Indians continue to make up only about 5% of the teacher workforce.