Teacher Satisfaction in High Poverty Schools: Searching for Policy Relevant Interventions in Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia

Abstract

Abstract. Provided the shared post-soviet context and the rapidly declining school age population, this comparative study of teachers in Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia can shed light on alternative approaches to increased teacher satisfaction for countries in similar contexts that are unable to make across the board increases in teacher salary. The focus on high poverty schools is essential in these countries as the changing demographics and present school funding mechanisms disproportionately affect rural schools which are often high poverty. This study addresses two pressing research questions, exploring each independently for Estonia, Georgia, and Latvia: 1) How does teacher satisfaction and other teacher characteristics differ by school poverty level? 2) What policy relevant factors are related to increased satisfaction for teachers in high poverty schools? Data from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) were used in this study. Given the dichotomous measures of the outcome variable (teacher satisfaction), hierarchical generalized linear modeling (HGLM) was the primary method of analysis. Although the policy implementation and internalization process is challenging, this study indicates that simplistic, externally driven policy solutions, such as introducing induction programs or changing the contract status of teachers, are not as effective in increasing teacher satisfaction as investments that contribute to a positive school climate where teachers feel valued and included as professionals. Keywords: teachers, high poverty schools, teacher satisfaction, school climate, autonomy, induction programs, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia. 10.17323/1814-9545-2016-2-146-182 Teachers in high poverty schools are less satisfied with their current employment than their counterparts in medium and low poverty schools, fuelling teacher turnover that can plague students already facing the challenges of high poverty schooling. Teacher satisfaction and retention are directly related and can shape school culture DOI:

An Analysis of Preschool Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy: A Case of TRNC

“…The perceived economic satisfaction enables teachers to use teaching strategies effectively, implement educational practices for classroom management by internalizing, and at the same time realize high level otudent engagement by creating positive interaction between teacher and child (Smith and Persson, 2016;Viel-Ruma, Houchins, Jolivette and Benson, 2010). According to the results obtained from the research, it was seen that the economic factors are significant factor for the self-efficacy of the preschool teachers and the economic satisfaction of the teaching profession also affected the self-efficacy positively.…”

School testing culture and teacher satisfaction

“…First, while the results make clear that the common global trends associated with the increased emphasis on student test scores appear to be reflected in the school testing culture, potentially harming teacher satisfaction, the school testing culture and school appraisal mediation pathway only capture a limited level of variance in teacher satisfaction (r-squared = .060). While school testing culture may play a small, but important role, many more factors such as self- (Kasalak and Dağyar 2020), teachers involvement in decision-making (Smith and Persson 2016) and distributed leadership within the school (Sun and Xia 2018) should be considered to get a full understanding of teacher satisfaction. Additionally, TALIS data includes information from both the principal (i.e.…”

“…TALIS is administered by the OECD and includes a cross-national survey of teachers and school environments, focusing on lower secondary education. As the largest international survey of teachers, TALIS has been used extensively to research factors associated with teacher satisfaction at the global (OECD 2016), regional (for Eastern Europe example see Smith and Persson 2016), and national level (for USA example, see Ford et al 2018; for Spain, see Gil-Flores 2017). Essential for this study, TALIS teacher and principal questionnaires include information capturing the primary independent variable, school testing culture, the dependent variable, teacher satisfaction, and information on the proposed mediation path, teachers' perspectives on their appraisal.…”

“…Given that the school testing culture is unique to the school environment in which the teacher is employed, this study is limited to the latter. Following the approach of Smith and Persson (2016), teacher responses to three statements are included in the final job satisfaction variable:…”

Teacher Accountability for Teacher Occupational Professionalism: The Effect of Accountability on Occupational Awareness with the Mediating Roles of Contribution to Organization, Emotional Labor and Personal Development

“…Therefore, implementations based on personal accountability are considered effective tools for ensuring the effective occupational performance of teachers as well as for their professionalism. Systems with answerability standards and formulated principles of working culture may strengthen the roles played by teachers as autonomous professionals by providing internally guiding approaches for them (Smith and Persson, 2016). Teachers' feeling responsible for their work and working in a professional manner can mutually support each other under suitable conditions.…”