Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators that impact teacher retention in challenging urban schools.

Although a plethora of research about teacher attrition exists, very little research has been conducted on the factors that influence teacher retention. The need to identify factors that promote teacher retention is critical to both maintain a well-prepared and contented workforce and also to remedy the current national urban teacher attrition problem. School districts and administrators need to know how to implement systems that support the critical needs of teachers who teach in high-poverty, low-performing schools. This phenomenological research study identifies common experiences, practices, supports, and attitudes regarding teacher retention in high-poverty, low-performing urban schools by exploring the lived experiences of five veteran teachers from a large urban district in the southern United States. Data from a school-based teacher and principal survey and individual teacher interviews were collected and analyzed. To increase the validity of the research, the data from teacher interviews, school-based teacher surveys, and school-based principal surveys, were used to triangulate the findings.