Using nationally representative samples for public school teachers and principals, the authors inquired into whether principal background and school processes are related to teacher job satisfaction. Employing hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), the authors were able to control for background characteristics at both the teacher and school levels. They found that 17% of the total variance in teacher job satisfaction is between schools, a statistically significant amount that indicates schools can make a difference in teacher job satisfaction. The authors found that school processes—particularly career and working conditions, staff collegiality, administrative support, and to a lesser extent, positive student behavior and teacher empowerment—are positively associated with teacher job satisfaction. Although two principal background variables—the experience of being a department head or an athletic coach/director—are statistically significant, the authors found the block of school process variables explains far more variance than the block of principal background variables. Based on the findings, the authors discussed issues such as the complexity of the phenomenon of teacher job satisfaction, the role of school process versus principal background, and monetary versus cultural factors.
AltM. N.KwonJ.HenkeR. R. (1999). Teachers on teaching: Results from the schools and staffing survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Educational Statistics.
2.
AndersonE. M. (1991, April). Teacher commitment and job satisfaction: The role of school culture and principal leadership. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
3.
AnhornR. (2008). The profession that eats its young. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 74(3), 15–26.
4.
BallouD.PodgurskyM. (1995). What makes a good principal? How teachers assess the performance of principals. Economics of Education Review, 14, 243–252.
5.
BarnettK.McCormickJ.ConnersR. (2000, December). Leadership behaviour of secondary school principals, teacher outcomes and school culture. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Sydney, Australia.
6.
BaughmanK. S. (1996). Increasing teacher job satisfaction: A study of the changing role of the secondary principal. American Secondary Education, 24(3), 19–22.
7.
BlaséJ.RobertsJ. (1994). The micropolitics of teacher work involvement: Effective principals’ impact on teachers. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 40, 67–94.
8.
BoglerR. (2002). Two profiles of schoolteachers: A discriminant analysis of job satisfaction. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 665–673.
9.
BoglerR.SomechA. (2004). Influence of teacher empowerment on teachers’ organizational commitment, professional commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior in schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 277–289.
10.
BrewerD. J. (1993). Principals and student outcomes: Evidence from U.S. high schools. Economics of Education Review, 12, 281–292.
11.
BrunettiG. J. (2001). Why do they teach? A study of job satisfaction among long-term high school teachers. Teacher Education Quarterly, 28(3), 49–74.
12.
CertoJ. L.FoxJ. E. (2002). Retaining quality teachers. High School Journal, 86(1), 57–75.
13.
ClarkD.MartorellP.RockoffJ. E. (2009). School principals and school performance (Working Paper No. 38). Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
14.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
15.
DagenhartD. B.O’ConnorK. A.PettyT. M. (2005). Giving teachers a voice. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 41, 108–111.
16.
DinhamS. (1995). Time to focus on teacher satisfaction. Unicorn, 21(3), 64–75.
17.
DinhamS.ScottC. (1998). A three domain model of teacher and school executive career satisfaction. Journal of Educational Administration, 36, 362–378.
18.
DinhamS.ScottC. (2000). Teaching in context. Camberwell, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.
19.
EberhardJ.Reinhardt-MondragonP.StottlemyerB. (2000). Strategies for new teacher retention: Creating a climate of authentic professional development for teachers with three or less years of experience. (Report No. SP 039792). Corpus Christi, TX: South Texas Research and Development Center.
20.
EbertsR.StoneJ. A. (1988). Student achievement in public schools: Do principals make a difference?Economics of Education Review, 7, 291–299.
21.
ElmoreR. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. New York, NY: Shanker Institute.
22.
EvansL. (1997). Addressing problems of conceptualization and construct validity in researching teachers’ job satisfaction. Educational Research, 39, 319–331.
23.
GarrahyD. A.KulinnaP. H.CothranD. J. (2005). Voices from the trenches: An exploration of teachers’ management knowledge. Journal of Educational Research, 99, 56–63.
24.
GoldbergP. E.ProctorK. M. (2000). Teacher voices: A survey on teacher recruitment and retention 2000. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.
25.
GonzalesE.ShortP. M. (1996). The relationship of teacher empowerment and principal power bases. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 23, 210–215.
26.
HackmanJ. R.OldmanG. R. (1980). Work redesign. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
27.
HallerE. J.BrentB. O.McNamaraJ. H. (1997). Does graduate training in educational administration improve America’s schools?Phi Delta Kappan, 79, 222–227.
28.
HanushekE. A.RivkinS. G. (2007). Pay, working conditions, and teacher quality. Future of Children, 17(1), 69–86.
29.
HenkeR. R.ChoyS. P.GeisS.BroughmanS. P. (1996). Schools and staffing in the United States: A statistical profile, 1993-94. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
30.
HerzbergF.MausnerB.SnydermanB. (1959). The motivation to work. New York, NY: John Wiley.
31.
HoldawayE. A. (1978). Facet and overall satisfaction of teachers. Educational Administration Quarterly, 14, 30–47.
32.
HuangS. L. (2000, April). Investigating high school teachers’ perceptions of school environment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
33.
IngersollR. M. (2001a). Teacher turnover and teacher shortages: An organizational analysis. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 499–534.
34.
IngersollR. M. (2001b). Teacher turnover, teacher shortages, and the organisation of schools. Seattle, WA: Center for the Stud y of Teaching and Policy.
35.
IngersollR. M. (2002). The teacher shortage: A case of wrong diagnosis and wrong perception. NASSP Bulletin, 86(631), 16–31.
36.
IngersollR. M. (2003). Is there really a teacher shortage?Seattle, WA: Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy.
37.
JohnsonS. M.BirkelandS.KardosS. M.KauffmanD.LiuE.PeskeH. G. (2001). Retaining the next generation of teachers: The importance of school-based support. Harvard Education Letter. Retrived from http://www.edletter.org/current/support.html
38.
KeigherA. (2010). Teacher attrition and mobility: Results from the 2008-09 Teacher Follow-Up Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
39.
KellyS. (2004). An event history analysis of teacher attrition: Salary, teacher tracking, and socially disadvantaged schools. Journal of Experimental Education, 72, 195–220.
40.
KouzesJ. M.PosnerB. Z. (1999). Encouraging the heart: A leader’s guide to rewarding and recognizing others. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
41.
LeeV. E.DedrickR. F.SmithJ. B. (1991). The effect of the social organization of schools on teachers’ efficacy and satisfaction. Sociology of Education, 64, 190–208.
LeithwoodK.McAdieP. (2007). Teaching working conditions that matter. Education Canada, 47(2), 42–45.
44.
LiuX. S.MeyerJ. P. (2005). Teachers’ perceptions of their jobs: A multilevel analysis of the teacher follow-up survey for 1994-95. Teachers College Record, 107, 985–1003.
45.
LouiseK. S. (1998). Effects of teacher quality of work life in secondary school on commitment and sense of efficacy. School Improvement and School Effectiveness, 9, 1–27.
46.
MaX. (1999). Dropping out of advanced mathematics: The effects of parental involvement. Teachers College Record, 101, 60–81.
47.
MaX.MaL.BradleyK. (2008). Using multilevel modeling to investigate school effects. In O’ConnellA. A.McCoachD. B. (Eds.), Multilevel modeling of educational data (pp. 59–110). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.
48.
MaX.MacMillanR. B. (1999). Influences of workplace conditions on teachers’ job satisfaction. Journal of Educational Research, 93, 39–47.
49.
MarksH. M.LouisK. S. (1997). Does teacher empowerment affect the classroom? The implications of teacher empowerment for instructional practice and student academic performance. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 19, 245–275.
50.
MarzanoR. J.WatersT.McNultyB. A. (2005). School leadership that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
51.
McCoachD. B. (2010). Hierarchical linear modeling. In HancockG. R.MuellerR. O. (Eds.), The reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences (pp. 123–140). New York, NY: Routledge.
52.
MitchellA.ArnoldM. (2004). Behavior management skills as predictors of retention among South Texas special educators. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 31, 214–219.
53.
MoyeM. J.HenkinA. B.EgleyR. J. (2005). Teacher-principal relationships: Exploring linkages between empowerment and interpersonal trust. Journal of Educational Administration, 43, 260–278.
54.
MuijsD.HarrisA. (2003). Teacher leadership: Improvement through empowerment? An overview of the literature. Educational Management & Administration, 31, 437–448.
55.
MurnaneR.SingerJ. D.WillettJ. B.KempleJ.OlsenR. (1991). Who will teach? Policies matter. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
56.
MyersL. S.GamstG.GuarinoA. J. (2006). Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
57.
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. (2007). The high cost of teacher turnover. Washington, DC: Author.
58.
NewmannF. M.RutterR. A.SmithM. S. (1989). Organizational factors that affect school sense of efficacy, community, and expectations. Sociology of Education, 62, 221–238.
OshagbemiT. (1999). Overall job satisfaction: How good are single versus multiple-item measures. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 14, 388–403.
61.
PerieM.BakerD. P. (1997). Job satisfaction among America’s teachers: Effects of workplace conditions, background characteristics, and teacher compensation (NCES 97-471). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
62.
PettyT. M. (2007). Empowering teachers: They have told us what they want and need to be successful. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 73(2), 25–28.
63.
PetzkoV. N. (2004). Findings and implications of the NASSP national study of leadership in middle level schools (volumes I and II): Teachers in middle level schools. NASSP Bulletin, 88(638), 69–88.
64.
RaudenbushS. W.BrykA. S. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
RichardsJ. (2005, April). Principal behaviors that encourage teachers: Perceptions of teachers at three different stages. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.
Rodriguez-CampoL.Rincones-GomezR.ShenJ. (2005). Secondary principals’ educational attainment, experience, and professional development. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 8, 309–319.
68.
RosenholtzS. J. (1989). Teachers’ workplace: The social organization of schools. New York, NY: Longman.
69.
RosenthalR.RosnowR. L. (1984). Essentials of behavioral research: Methods and data analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill.
70.
SchonfeldI. S. (1990). Psychological distress in a sample of teachers. Journal of Psychology, 124, 321–338.
71.
ShannM. H. (1998). Professional commitment and satisfaction among teachers in urban middle schools. Journal of Educational Research, 92, 67–73.
72.
ShenJ. (1997). Teacher retention and attrition in public schools: Evidence from SASS91. Journal of Educational Research, 91, 81–88.
73.
ShenJ. (1998). Do teachers feel empowered?Educational Leadership, 55(7), 35–36.
74.
ShenJ. (2001). Teacher and principal empowerment: National, longitudinal, and comparative perspectives. Educational Horizons, 79, 124–129.
75.
ShenJ.KavanaughA. L.WegenkeG. L.Rodriguez-CamposL.Rincones-GomezR.PalmerL. B.PortionB. S. (2005). School principals. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
76.
ShenJ.PalmerL. B. (2009). Inadequate preparation does impact teacher attrition. In ShenJ. (Ed.), School teachers: Professional and demographic characteristics (pp. 125–140). New York: Peter Lang.
77.
SheppardB. (1996). Exploring the transformational nature of instructional leadership. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 42, 325–344.
78.
ShortP. M. (1998). Empowering leadership. Contemporary Education, 69, 70–72.
79.
SpillaneJ. P. (2005). Distributed leadership. Educational Forum, 69, 143–150.
80.
StrizekG. A.PittsonbergerJ. L.RiordanK. E.LyterD. M.OrlofskyG. F. (2006). Characteristics of schools, districts, teachers, principals, and school libraries in the United States: 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
81.
SultanaQ. (2002, November). A study to examine the problem of teacher shortage and solutions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Chattanooga, TN.
82.
SylviaR. D.HutchinsonT. (1985). What makes Ms. Johnson teach? A study of teacher motivation. Human Relations, 38, 841–856.
83.
TaylorD.TashakkoriA. (1995). Decision participation and school climate as predictors of job satisfaction and teachers’ sense of efficacy. Journal of Experimental Education, 63, 217–230.
84.
TeddlieC.ReynoldsD. (Eds.). (2000). The international handbook of school effectiveness research. London: Falmer.
85.
ThorntonH. J. (2004). What can we learn about retaining teachers from PDS teachers’ voices?Middle School Journal, 35(4), 5–12.
86.
TyeB. B.O’BrienL. (2002). Why are experienced teachers leaving the profession?Phi Delta Kappan, 84(1), 24–32.
87.
VailK. (2005). Create great school climate. Education Digest, 71(4), 4–11.
88.
WagnerJ. A.III. (1994). Participation’s effects on performance and satisfaction: A reconsideration of research evidence. Academy of Management Review, 19, 312–330.
89.
WhitefordP. (1990, October) Differences between teachers who have and have not taught continuously during the first five years after graduation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
90.
WoodsA. M.WeasmerJ. (2004). Maintaining job satisfaction: Engaging professionals as active participants. Clearing House, 77, 118–121.
91.
WrightM.CusterR. (1998). Why they enjoy teaching: The motivation of outstanding technology teachers. Journal of Technology Education, 9, 60–77.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
