Mentors and salary level impact percentage of beginning teachers who continued to teach after the first year

To learn about the early career patterns of beginning teachers, NCES undertook the BTLS, which is a nationally representative longitudinal study of public school teachers who began teaching in 2007 or 2008. The BTLS provides researchers with the opportunity to examine the career paths of beginning teachers as well as factors that may influence those paths.

Findings from the report include the following:

•    Among all beginning teachers in 2007–08, 10 percent did not teach in 2008–09, 12 percent did not teach in 2009–10, 15 percent did not teach in 2010–2011, and 17 percent did not teach in 2011–2012.

•    The percentage of beginning teachers who continued to teach after the first year varied by first-year salary level. For example, 89 percent of beginning teachers whose first-year base salary was $40,000 or more were teaching in 2011–12, whereas 80 percent of those with a first-year salary less than $40,000 were teaching in 2011–12.

•    In each follow-up year, the percentage of beginning teachers who were currently teaching was larger among those who were assigned a first-year mentor than among those not assigned a first-year mentor (86 percent and 71 percent, respectively in 2011–12).