Career Patterns and Job Satisfaction of Teacher Education Graduates / Judith A. Boser.

This study examined career paths and job satisfaction of teachers completing their preparation and entering the profession during the 1980s. Annual follow-up studies of teacher education graduates at the institution during the year after graduation over several years have indicated from 45 to 55 percent of the graduates were employed as full-time teachers in public or private schools during the school year following program completion. Many others indicated that they intended to teach in the future. The study was undertaken to determine to what extent program graduates became a part of, and were likely to remain in, the teaching profession in the years after graduation. Because of changes occurring in the profession and the preparation program at various points in time, data from cohorts are examined separately to look for possible effects of time of exit from the program. A random sample of 100 graduates completing teacher certification requirements at the University of Tennessee was selected for the study from each of four cohorts: 1979-80, 1981-82, 1983-84, and 1985-86. The relationship between years of teaching experience and job satisfaction is moderate and not strictly linear. In general, the teachers with the least amount of experience were most satisfied, while the highest levels of dissatisfaction were evident at completion of the 4th, 5th, and 7th years. Because teachers delay entry, enter, and leave at various times, it would probably be erroneous to decide that data taken at any one period accurately reflects the contribution of a cohort to the teaching work force. (JD)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.