Author ORCID Identifier:
Date of Graduation
5-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy (PhD)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Education Reform
Advisor/Mentor
Zamarro, Gema
Committee Member
McGee, Josh
Second Committee Member
McKenzie, Sarah
Keywords
school discipline; teacher pipeline; teacher retention
Abstract
This dissertation uses administrative and survey data from Arkansas to examine how school discipline environments shape multiple stages of the teacher pipeline, including student disciplinary experiences, entry into the teaching workforce, and early career preparedness and retention. The first chapter analyzes statewide student-level data from 2017/18 through 2022/23 to document trends and racial disparities in school discipline before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. After accounting for infraction type and student characteristics, Black students remained more likely to receive exclusionary disciplinary consequences, though these disparities were substantially reduced when district fixed effects were included. The second chapter examines labor market trajectories of more than 20,000 Arkansas Educator Preparation Program enrollees to identify the presence of a teacher bench, defined as certified individuals who do not initially enter teaching positions. I find that Arkansas’s teacher bench is smaller than that documented in other states and that entry into teaching varies by certification area, local labor markets, and district salary competitiveness. The third chapter links Educator Preparation Program completer surveys with administrative employment records to examine whether perceived preparedness predicts intentions to leave and subsequent retention. Preparedness in the Classroom Environment domain is the strongest and most consistent predictor of remaining in the profession. Together, these findings show that discipline climates shape both student equity and teacher workforce stability in Arkansas.
Citation
Wilson, T. (2026). Discipline, Preparation, and Persistence: How School Environments Shape the Teacher Pipeline in Arkansas. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/6118
