Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education and International Services

Program

Educational Leadership PhD

First Advisor

Diana Ming

Second Advisor

Janet Ledesma

Third Advisor

Bradley Sheppard

Abstract

Problem

The public education system is broken, and teacher shortages have reached a crisis, especially in some specialty fields in United States (Carrillo & Salhotra, 2022; Podolsky et al., 2016). Lately, the teacher workforce has been described as a “leaky bucket” (Podolsky et al., 2016, p. 1). Indeed, the problems are complex in poor socioeconomic communities with racial and ethnic groups of students because teachers struggle to make a difference and, in most cases, fail due to insurmountable situations that are beyond their scope of influence (Rondfeldt et al., 2013). Evidence published that students suffer immensely from a broken, segregated system. The result was low- performing children and frustrated, weary educators who felt trapped by the geographic boundaries imposed by school districts that added to the education disparities (limited funding, crowded classrooms, less teacher diversity, inadequate trained teachers, etc.) and the reality of troubling retention of teachers that has not gone away. Currently, many teachers feel disrespected in their roles as professional teachers, along with feelings of being undervalued, overly scrutinized, working for low wages, pressured to be perfect in practices, serve as brokers for culture harmony, and without mentor and administration support, they walk away (Copeland, 2020). Teachers needed to rely on principals to feel safe, supported, and valued. A lack of administrative support or demonstrated incompetence results in teachers resigning. The role of principal was critical in retaining teachers.

Method

This study used a qualitative multiple case study that sought to combine it with narrative research design. It addressed the central questions: How do principals of high-minority, high-poverty public schools effectively create initiatives to foster shared, supportive leaderships; and how do they model the shift in thinking to influence change of school climates conducive to retaining teachers? This qualitative research study used raw data from semi-structured interviews as a pathway to explore the professional lives of high-minority, high-poverty public school principals who experienced acute challenges surrounding retention of teachers and pervasive inequities of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic demographic trends that affect students’ learning. Each case offered insight from those demographically unique school settings through in-depth narration of their initiative efforts to keep teachers. There were four individuals chosen. The underlying issues of disparities and high turnover harm school effectiveness as was self-expressed through individual voices. All the cases were addressed through teacher crisis, hiring practices, principalship roles, principal efforts, teacher induction expectations, and student behavior.

Results

The researcher presented the results of the study by documenting the themes that emerged through inquiry processes. Hopefully, retention initiatives shared by the principals dispelled misconceptions about the quality of the work setting in high-minority, high-poverty schools, thus creating a positive and welcoming atmosphere where students and teachers remain in learning environments that are rich in value, filled with hope, with pathways that make disparities less painful, and drive expectations up because the initiatives are teacher centered. The principals’ ‘telling’ was through lived experiences that motivated them to do more for their teachers to retain them. Their stories are proof of concrete actions taken. This stage in the research, the central phenomenon of struggle was portrayed holistically. Therefore, this study aimed to explore whether the initiatives of public-school principals have the impact needed to retain teachers in Michigan. The results presented answers that are transparent and authentic. Recommendations were reported in this study.

Conclusion

The principals who consented to become part of this qualitative journey realized early that this was leading with courage. They were a random group from high-minority, high-poverty schools. They spoke about their actions to mitigate teacher turnovers and change school climates with a focus on the teachers working conditions. They shared their thoughts and freely disclosed experiences and feelings. This enabled the study to become rich with information. The researcher realized early to adapt and allow the participants’ responses to flow without interruption due to the complex issues encompassing teacher retention. In the end, the four principals gave unique insights into their respective learning environments, as well as their efforts to address many problems through their shifts in thinking. They reported on modeling positive principal leadership behaviors. Ultimately, teachers remained in their schools.

Subject Area

Public schools; Educational leadership; Multicultural education; Low income students; Minority students

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