Date of Graduation
5-2018
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Education Reform
Advisor/Mentor
Ritter, Gary W.
Committee Member
Maranto, Robert
Second Committee Member
Wolf, Patrick J.
Keywords
Charter Schools; Teacher Agency; Teacher Differences; Teacher Motivation; Teacher Perceptions
Abstract
Using survey data collected from 893 public school teachers in Pulaski County, Arkansas, this study looks for differences in traditional public school teachers and charter school teachers on their (1) backgrounds and teacher characteristics; (2) motivations for entering the teaching profession; and (3) attitudes towards school and teaching. A multivariate analysis of the data revealed that few differences exist between the two groups of teachers on their backgrounds, teacher characteristics, and motivations to enter the teaching field. However, charter school teachers were found to be more likely to have positive attitudes towards school policy changes, a stronger professional commitment to student learning, and perceived themselves to have a higher level of personal agency within their schools than traditional public school teachers.
These findings indicate that charter school teachers and traditional public school teachers in Pulaski County, Arkansas, on average, are not as different as previous research suggests. The differences found in previous studies could be attributed to the types of charter schools that were being studied, which attracted specific types of teachers. In contrast, the charter schools in this study did not have a common mission or recruitment technique and thus few systematic differences were found in teaching backgrounds and motivations for entering the teaching profession between the two groups of teachers. However, the differences found on teacher attitudes towards school and student learning seem to imply that charter schools do cultivate a different type of teacher, at least in Arkansas: one that is more flexible and sees himself or herself as more autonomous.
Citation
Boyd, A. M. (2018). Who Teaches Where? A Descriptive Analysis of Similarities and Differences between Teachers in Traditional and Charter Schools in Pulaski County, Arkansas. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2782
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Education Policy Commons