Knowledge Application One key issue in education policy is teacher satisfaction levels in various educational settings.

In EDUC 797, School efor!, I atte!pted to e"a!ine teacher perceptions on school vouchers through a research proposal. I found that scholars had done fe# e"plicit studies on teacher opinions of vouchers. $s a result, I e"a!ined a variety of studies that e"plored the perceptions of teachers in pu%lic and private school settings to provide indirect evidence on teacher opinions of vouchers. &hat I discovered #as scholarship concerning teacher satisfaction levels and ho# those levels influenced #here and ho# long teachers practice their craft. In light of the need to keep '.7 !illion teaching positions filled ()CES, *+,*-, it is #orth#hile to continue to e"plore #hat policies are !ore likely to engender higher satisfaction levels, the influence of different educational settings (ur%an, rural, su%ur%an, private, pu%lic, online- on levels of satisfaction, and #hether satisfaction is linked to longevity in the field. eyes and .ounder (,99'- e"a!ined the relationship %et#een organi/ational value orientation and t#o varia%les, organi/ational co!!it!ent and 0o% satisfaction, %et#een private Catholic school teachers and pu%lic school teachers. Catholic schools e"hi%ited a !ore nor!ative organi/ational structure in that Catholic schools tended to value sy!%olis! %oth inside and outside of the school. .u%lic schools, on the other hand, operated fro! a utilitarian orientation #hereas e!phasis #as placed on !aterialistic re#ards. 1he authors found that satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels #ere higher a!ong Catholic school teachers teaching in a !ore nor!ative environ!ent. 1his study suggests that pu%lic school teachers !ay %enefit fro! e"iting the pu%lic syste! in favor of the private school arena to increase levels of co!!it!ent and satisfaction.

2o#ever, for those teachers #ho #ish to re!ain in the pu%lic syste!, charter schools are a via%le option. $ccording to the )ational Center for Education Statistics, charters schools are 3pu%licly funded school4s5 that 4are5 typically governed %y a group or organi/ation under a legislative contract or charter #ith the state or 0urisdiction6 (7ast 7acts, para ,, *+,'-. Using data fro! the ,9998*+++ Schools and Staffing survey, en/ulli, .arrott, and 9eattie (*+,,- found that charter school teachers reported feeling !ore satisfied co!pared to traditional pu%lic school teachers. 2o#ever, charter school teachers #ere !ore likely to leave teaching than pu%lic school teachers due to a variety of %arriers such as the lo#er pay and an a%undance of non8certified teachers. $lthough charter school teachers reported higher satisfaction levels, there are a variety of other factors that deter!ine co!!it!ent levels. If there are differences in satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels a!ong private versus pu%lic school teachers, are there also regional differences a!ong rural, su%ur%an, and ur%an teachers: In a study of rural 1e"as panhandle teachers, uhl8S!ith and S!ith (,99'- used a version of the Co!!unity $ttitudes 1o#ard Education Survey and found that over 9+ percent of respondents (,;< teachers- indicated they #ere satisfied or very satisfied #ith teaching. 1eachers reported satisfaction #ith fello# teachers, students, s!all class si/e, and teacher involve!ent, %ut e"pressed concerns over the school %oard8teacher relationship, school closings, rural isolation, and financial pro%le!s. 1his overall 0o% satisfaction see!ed to lead to higher levels of co!!it!ent as indicated %y the over#hel!ing positive response to Ite! < of 1a%le * 3=ost of us teach here %ecause #e #ant to teach. I>ll pro%a%ly never leave s!all school teaching6 (p. *+-. On the other hand, 2uys!an (*++?- analy/ed teachers> %eliefs and attitudes regarding satisfaction in one s!all rural school district in 7lorida and discovered that, although teachers #ere generally satisfied #ith teaching, they e"pressed frustration over conflicting

e"pectations regarding their social and professional role in the co!!unity. 7urther!ore, those teachers #ho #ere %orn and raised in the co!!unity #ere !ore likely to re!ain teaching in the district than transplanted teachers regardless of satisfaction levels. 1he results of these t#o studies see!s to suggest that satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels are t#o distinct constructs, #ith one not al#ays leading to the other. One study of ur%an school teachers gives support to the distinction of satisfaction and co!!it!ent. Shann (,99?- e"a!ined co!!it!ent and satisfaction a!ong teachers in four ur%an !iddle schools. Using intervie#s and @uestionnaires fro! 9* teachers, Shann found that the @uality of the teacher8student relationship #as ranked the highest in i!portance and satisfaction and parent8teacher relationships #as the highest concern. 7or those teachers #ho #orked in lo# achieving schools, respondents indicated decreased satisfaction levels due to concern over student achieve!ent and co#orker relationships. 1eachers did e"press concern over 3pink slips6 during the spring of each year, %ut unlike rural teachers, these ur%an teachers #ere a!ong the highest paid teachers in the country, possi%ly easing fears a%out layoffs and financial strain. 1he !a0ority of teachers discussed co!!it!ent to their students rather than co!!it!ent to teaching in a particular school, suggesting again that satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels are loosely related. $s opportunities to engage in virtual learning have increased, so too have the options for A8,* teachers to leave the traditional classroo! and e"plore the possi%ilities of online teaching and learning. 2o# does the online environ!ent co!pare to the traditional classroo! in ter!s of 0o% satisfaction and co!!it!ent: $rcha!%ault and Crippen (*++9- e"a!ined the de!ographic !akeup and e"periences of A8,* online teachers and found that on average, these teachers had higher levels of education, teaching e"perience, and enthusias! co!pared to traditional teachers.

In addition, these teachers reported %eing a%le to connect #ith students in a !ore individuali/ed !anner #ithout %ehavior !anage!ent issues e"perienced in a traditional classroo!. $lthough this study did not look directly at satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels, the results indicate that teachers !ay e"perience higher levels of satisfaction and co!!it!ent due to increased autono!y and a decreased need for classroo! !anage!ent. I a! only 0ust %eginning to approach the topic of satisfaction and co!!it!ent and !y preli!inary research have generated !ore @uestions than ans#ers. 7or e"a!ple, ho# is satisfaction defined and %y #ho!: &hat constitutes 0o% co!!it!ent: Does co!!it!ent !ean longevity at one school, one kind of school, or 0ust the longevity in the profession: If 0o% satisfaction and 0o% co!!it!ent are truly separate concepts, #hich concept should I e"plore further: In addition, should I li!it !y analysis to one setting or co!pare and contrast a variety of settings: 7urther!ore, #hich theoretical fra!e#ork #ould %e !ost useful: On the one hand sense !akingBco8construction !ight shed light on ho# teachers define satisfaction and offers reasons for those #ho stay and those #ho leave. On the other hand, the technical rational perspective !ight e"plain the role that top do#n policies have on satisfaction and co!!it!ent levels. Still, a policy regi!e fra!e#ork could highlight possi%le differences in teacher satisfactionBco!!it!ent levels during the era of )CC9. I a! hopeful that #ith the help of !y acade!ic co!!unity, I #ill deter!ine ho# %est to approach this topic and contri%ute to the e"isting scholarship.

eferences $rcha!%ault, C., D Crippen, A. (*++9-. A8,* distance educators at #orkE &ho>s teaching online across the United States. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(F-, '<'G '9,. 7ast factsE Charter Schools. (*+,'-. etrieved )ove!%er ,,, *+,' fro! httpEBBnces.ed.govBfastfactsBdisplay.asp:idH'+ 2uys!an, I. 1. (*++7-. ural teacher satisfactionE $n analysis of %eliefs and attitudes of rural teachers> 0o% satisfaction. Rural Educator, 29, ',8'?. Shann, =. 2. (,99?-. .rofessional co!!it!ent and satisfaction a!ong teachers in ur%an !iddle schools. Journal of Educational Research, 92, <787'. en/ulli, C. $., .arrott, 2. =., D 9eattie, I. . (*+,,-. acial !is!atch and school typeE teacher satisfaction and retention in charter and traditional pu%lic schools. Sociology of Education, 84, *'8F? doiE ,+.,,77B++'?+F+7,+'9*7*+ eyes, .. D .ounder, D. J. (,99'-. Organi/ational orientation in pu%lic and private ele!entary schools. Journal of Educational Research, 87, ?<89'. uhl8S!ith, C. D S!ith, I. (,99', $ugust-. 1eacher 0o% satisfaction in rural schoolsE $ vie# fro! the 1e"as panhandle. .aper presented at the annual Conference of the )ational Council of .rofessors of Educational $d!inistration. U.S. Depart!ent of Education, )ational Center for Education Statistics. (*+,*-. Digest of Education Statistics, 2011 ()CES *+,*8++,-, Introduction and Chapter * K U.S.

Depart!ent of Education, )ational Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, 1eacher Data 7iles, *++7G+?.