Effects of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports on Teacher Retention in Missouri Schools

Abstract

Teacher retention remains a significant concern for U.S. schools. This is particularly true in rural areas, with recent research showing that rural schools have significantly lower teacher retention compared to other school locales. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine whether schools in Missouri that were recognized for implementing Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) for more years had statistically significantly higher teacher retention rates. To answer our research questions, we analyzed extant data using multiple regression models with cluster robust standard errors from 1,261 public or charter K–12 schools in Missouri that were either trained on or implementing PBIS. Our key findings showed that years of PBIS school recognition were not statistically significantly associated with 3-year or 1-year teacher retention rates as main effects. However, we did find a statistically significant interaction effect between school locale and years of PBIS school recognition on 3-year teacher retention rates, indicating that school locale moderates the relationship between PBIS implementation and teacher retention. Implications for future research to expand upon these preliminary study findings are discussed.

Keywords

positive behavioral interventions and supports PBIS teacher retention regression longitudinal analyses rural schools

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