Chapter 1: Issues for the new professional

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Section 3. Retention rates of new professionals in education

By the end of five years, almost half of new teachers have left the profession. A 1986 study concluded that teachers who leave the profession show a lower mean income than those who stay, disputing the myth that all teacher unhappiness is related to low income.

This graph shows the retention rate of a typical cohort of teachers at the end of each of their first five years of teaching.

Retention rate of teachers: Year 1: 72%, Year 2: 62%, Year 3: 52%, Year 4: 50%, Year 5: 49%

Source: TEA and Texas Teacher Recruitment and Retention Study

Activity C

List 3 reasons (excluding low pay!) you think new professionals may leave the field within their first 5 years.