Elementary teachers' perspectives of incentives desired from school districts

Abstract

The attrition rate of hypothetically able teachers has caused much concern. Job incentives, if valued by teachers, may aid in solving this problem. Teacher-identified incentives might lead to the development of more productive incentive programs than those offered by school districts.

The purpose of this research study was to identify incentives valued by elementary teachers. Characteristics of teachers and values placed on incentives were examined to discover whether relationships exist between them.

The literature revealed that many variables influence the retention of motivated teachers. It is fundamental to an organization's existence to find positive incentives and reduce or eliminate disincentives. Teachers receive their major rewards from classroom accomplishments. intrinsically motivated.

A fixed-response survey was administered to elementary teachers in three schools in different school districts in Virginia. Frequency analysis was used to determine which incentives were most valued. Incentive ranking and demographic characteristics were cross-tabulated to determine if there were any relationship between them. In addition, analysis of variance was used to determine if values placed on incentives vary with pay scales.

The study identified 17 incentives considered very important by a select sample of teachers. Teaching experience was found as a correlate in the selection of incentives. Teaching in a particular school district was found related to the value placed on 25% of the incentives.