Abstract
This study investigated the staff turnover and school effectiveness
in selected private secondary schools in Education District II of Lagos State.
The study adopted descriptive survey research design and made use of a sample
of 60 academic and non-academic staff randomly selected from schools in
Education District of Lagos State. To realize the goals of the study, a
questionnaire of (28) items to collect preliminary information was designed,
the face and content validity was ascertained by the supervisor. The data
collected were analyzedusing Mean,
Standard Deviation and percentage for the research questions and Chi-Square
statistical technique for the four hypotheses.
The four hypotheses were tested at
0.05 level of significance using (SPSS) testing programme. The study
revealed the following results: Job comparative and satisfaction significantly
influenced staff turnover and effectiveness in private secondary schools and
Job migration significantly influenced staff turnover and effectiveness in
private secondary schools. Also, organizational conditions significantly
influence staff turnover and effectiveness
in private secondary schools and financial constraints significantly influenced
staff turnover and effectiveness in private secondary schools. In the light of
the study`s results, the researcher presented a number of recommendations and
proposals, the most important of which are: That proprietors/proprietresses of
private schools should ensure payment of good remuneration for their teachers.
The administrators should provide adequate facilities, sufficient instructional
resources, small class size per teacher and less- work -loads to ensure good
organizational working condition. Government should develop policies to
encourage the growth of private schools with considerable taxation.
Keywords: Staff turnover, school
effectiveness, organizational working conditions, Job migration and Job
comparative and satisfaction.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGES
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgment iv
Abstract v
Table of Content vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problems 5
Purpose of the Study 6
Research Questions 7
Research Hypotheses 7
Significance of the Study 8
Delimitations 8
Limitations 8
Definitions of Common Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of Turnover 10
The Costs of Teacher Turnover 11
Organizational Commitment 12
Organizational Conditions 16
School and Student Characteristics 21
Age and Experience 23
Working Conditions and Teacher Satisfaction 35
Administrative Support
and Teacher Autonomy 38
What Increases Teachers’ Chances of Staying? 41
Summary 48
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 50
Population of the Study 50
Sample and Sampling Technique 50
Research Instrument 51
Pilot Study 51
Validity of Research Instrument 52
Reliability of Research Instrument 52
Method of Data Collection 52
Method of Data Analysis 52
CHAPTER
FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Introduction 53
Descriptive Analysis of Demographic Data 53
Analysis of Responses to Research Questions 55
Testing
of Hypotheses 60
Discussion of Findings 62
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction 65
Summary 65
Conclusion 66
Recommendations 66
References 67
Appendix 82
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Turnover is a phenomenon that can be
considered from different perspectives, depending on the subject in question.
Among teachers, turnover refers to the rate of departure among staff engaged in
schools for a given time frame or period. To obtain the total dimension of the
problem, consideration was given to the identification of the stock of teachers
through government departments, principals of schools and teachers themselves.
This was compared with the actual cases of withdrawals in percentage terms, having
taken care of re-entry to derive net turnover rates.
Staff or labour
turnover is the voluntary or involuntary termination of an individual’s
employment with a given schools or organization. Staff turnover is the rotation
of workers around the labour market, between Schools, Jobs and Occupations and
between the states of employment and unemployment (Abassi&Hollman, 2000).
Each time a position is voluntary or involuntary created, a new employee might
be replaced, this replacement cycle is known as turnover (Woods, 1995). Staff
turnover is a much studied phenomenon (Lam, Foong& Moo, 1995); (Shaw, John,
Jerkins & Nina 1998); (Booth &Hamer, 2007).
The issue of
staff turnover poses a very serious problem with critical effect on both the
Individual and Government, no matter the angle from which the problem is
considered. Thus, to the individual teacher, turnover involves some definite
loss of earnings which would have accrued if the individual were otherwise
engaged.
This is particularly of consequence in the
Nigerian context since such loss of earnings carries along with it a chain of
adverse externalities, such as inability to live up to the expectations of the
extended family. Closely related to this is lack of adequate health care as a
result of lack of employment since former employers cannot be liable for this
in a situation where government provision is grossly inadequate.
From the
government perspective, staff turnover is even a problem of greater dimension.
Notwithstanding whether the teacher involved enjoyed government sponsorship for
his training or not, departure results in a net financial loss to government.
This is the case for public funds would have been wasted for the provision of
materials, equipment, facilities such as buildings for the education and
training of the individual, who on the completion of his schooling, resigns for
some other jobs for one reason or the other. Although one cannot gloss over the
ultimate contribution of such individual to the overall development of a
nation's economy, the fact is evident that a service for which the individual
was trained is robbed to pay another without any bargain whatsoever.
Staff turnover or
brain drain as it is being referred to in tertiary institutions is one of the
major challenges facing education in Nigeria today especially private secondary
schools.Staff turnover intentions seem to be very prevalent in private
secondary schools, and this might be due to some physical or social influences.
The physical of salary among others social influences on the other hand are the
shared cognition by friends or organizational members that influence people’s
decision on job movement (Albeson, 1993). The social influence makes hopping
from one job to another an acceptable behaviour (Naresh, Pawan& Chong 2003).
Thus if an individual has not changed his/her job for a long time, he/she feels
an increasing pressure to do so because of social influence. In some countries
in Asia, it has been observed that staff turnover intentions is giving
sleepless nights to human resources managers and employees have developed bad
attitude due to labour shortage.(Naresh, Pawan& Chong, 2003).
It is now well
established that teacher effectiveness is central to good pupil progress in
school. Recent studies have shown quantitatively very significant effect sizes
for being taught by effective as opposed to ineffective teachers. The flip side
of attracting teachers to disadvantaged schools is modelling the separation
rate of teachers from those same schools. As quitting and accepting jobs are
essentially different sides of the same decision, bar transaction costs,
studying teacher quits will help understand the matching of teachers to
schools. In this work I will analyses teacher turnover across schools, compute
the distribution of job tenure in each school, both the fraction of teachers
who have been at the school for ten years or more, and the fraction only just
hired. Specifically addressing the view that teacher turnover is a particular
problem for disadvantaged urban schools.
Substantial improvements in educational
standards are only likely to come from improvements in general teacher
effectiveness, and reductions in educational inequality from different
allocations of teachers to schools. Such a policy is hampered by a lack of understanding
of the teacher labour market, in turn made difficult by lack of data. It is
argued that greater turnover coupled with the lower effectiveness of novice
teachers might explain part of the substantial test score difference between
schools in deprived and more affluent neighbourhoods.
There is also evidence that turnover per se
can be harmful to student progress (Ronfeldt et al, 2011).The remaining
association is largely accounted for by teacher characteristics, with the
poorer schools hiring much younger teachers on average.
Over the past two decades there has been
substantial empirical research focused on determining which kinds of teachers
are more prone to leave teaching and why(e.g., Bobbitt et al., 1994; Chapman
& Green, 1986; Chapman & Hutcheson, 1982;Grissmer & Kirby, 1987,
1992, 1997; Hafner& Owings, 1991; Haggstrom et al., 1988;Heyns, 1988;
Marso&Pigge, 1991; Miech& Elder, 1996; Murnane, 1981, 1987; Murnaneet
al., 1991; Murnane, Singer, & Willett, 1988; Rumberger 1987; Schlecty&
Vance, 1981, 1983; Weiss & Boyd, 1990). This research shows teacher
turnover is strongly correlated with the individual characteristics of
teachers. Among the most important findings has been that teacher turnover is
strongly affected by academic field. Although the data have been inconsistent
at times, special education, mathematics, and science are typically found to be
the fields of highest turnover (Boe, Bobbitt, & Cook, 1997; Grissmer&
Kirby, 1992; Murnane et al., 1991; Rumberger, 1987).
Another important finding has been that
teachers’ decisions whether to stay or leave the teaching profession are highly
influenced by their age. The relationship between teachers’ age (or experience,
in some analyses) and their turnover has been found to follow a U-shaped curve.
Although there is some disagreement as to why this is the case, researchers
have consistently found that younger teachers have very high rates of
departure. Subsequently, as those remaining “settle in,” turnover rates decline
through the mid-career period and, finally, rise again in the retirement years
(e.g., Bobbitt et al., 1994; Boe et al., 1998; Grissmer& Kirby, 1987, 1992,
1997; Hafner& Owings, 1991; Murnane, Singer, & Willett, 1988).
Moreover, because the distribution of age in the teaching force is skewed
upward—older teachers significantly out number younger teachers—many analysts
have concluded that retirement due to a rapidly “graying” teaching workforce is
the most significant factor behind teacher turnover, teacher shortages, and
school staffing problems (e.g., Grissmer& Kirby, 1997).
Statement of the Problem
Over the years, researchers had notice with
keen interest that the staff turnovers in private schools determine the school
effectiveness. These in turn results to frequent change and migration of
teachers from one private school to another within a term.
There is a disagreement about whether or
not the turnover rate in teaching is high in relation to other professions (see
for example, Ingersoll, 2001; Ingersoll, 2003; Henke, Zahn, & Carroll,
2001; Harris & Adams, 2007). Regardless of whether or not turnover is high
in relation to other professions, there are a number of reasons to support the
argument that the nature of turnover in most schools is detrimental to school
quality. For one, there is clear evidence that teachers with strong academic
backgrounds are most inclined to leave the profession (Manski, 1987; Murnane,
Singer, Willett, 1991; Monk, 1994; Podgursky, 2004; Henke, 2001; Lankford,
Loeb, and Wyckoff, 2002). Guarino, Santibanez, and Daley (2006) reviewed the
empirical literature on teacher retention and concluded: “The preponderance of
evidence suggests that teachers with higher measured ability have a higher
probability of leaving...” (p. 186).
A second reason is that attrition is
highest among teachers that are new to the profession. Past research found
teachers make important gains in effectiveness in their first three years and
smaller gains over the next few years (McCaffrey, Koretz, Lockwood, and
Hamilton, 2003;Hanushek, Kain, &Rivkin, 2005). Given that almost 50% of
teachers leave the profession within their first five years (Ingersoll &
Smith, 2003), many teachers are leaving the classroom before they have
developed into optimally effective practitioners. Moreover, exiting new
teachers are often replaced by similarly inexperienced teachers and
consequently students in schools with high turnover may rarely be exposed to
experienced teachers.
Third, turnover
affects many of the organizational conditions important to effective schooling,
such as instructional cohesion and staff trust. Effective schools hold shared
beliefs in similar instructional goals and practices (Fuller &Izu, 1986;
Bryk& Driscoll, 1988). Schools with high turnover are challenged to develop
a shared commitment towards the same goals, pedagogy, and curriculum. The
constant churning of teaching staff makes it difficult to collaborate, develop
standard norms of practice, and maintain progress towards common goals. This
can lead to fragmented instructional programs and professional development
plans that must be adapted each year to meet the needs of a teaching staff in
constant flux (Guin, 2004). High turnover also makes it difficult for teachers
to build relational trust, which is critical towards productive collaboration
in schools (Bryk& Schneider, 2002; Guin, 2004). In addition to the costs of
turnover to school quality, there are also important pecuniary costs associated
with teacher attrition and mobility. These costs include money spent to exit the
teacher from the school, recruit and hire a new teacher and/or fill the vacancy
with a substitute until a new teacher can be hired, and train the new teacher.
In some districts, costs include signing bonuses and school material stipends
granted to new teachers.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is;
1. To determine how staff turnover
regardless of whether or not is high in relation to other professions, there
are a number of reasons to support the argument that the nature of turnover in
most schools is detrimental to school effectiveness.
2. To find out why many staff are
leaving the classroom before they have developed into optimally effective
practitioners. Moreover, exiting new teachers are often replaced by similarly
inexperienced teachers and consequently students in schools with high turnover
may rarely be exposed to experienced teachers.
3. To ascertain that staff turnover
affects many of the organizational conditions important to effective schooling,
such as instructional cohesion and staff trust.
4. To discover the costs of turnover to
school quality, there are also important pecuniary costs associated with
teacher attrition and mobility.
Research Questions
For the purpose of this investigative study
on staff turnover and school effectiveness, the following research questions
have been formulated and would be investigated:
1. Will
job comparative and satisfaction be a determinant to staff turnover and
effectiveness in private secondary schools?
2. Will
job migration reduce staff turnover and effectiveness optimally in private
secondary schools?
3. Will
organizational conditions affect staff turnover and effectiveness in private
secondary schools?
4. Will
financial constrains affect staff turnover and effectiveness in private
secondary schools?
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses in this study will
be tested;
1. Job
comparative and satisfaction will not significantly be a determinant to staff
turnover and effectiveness in private secondary schools.
2. Job
migration will not significant reduce staff turnover and effectiveness
optimally in private secondary schools.
3. Organizational
conditions will not significantly affect staff turnover and effectiveness in
private secondary schools.
4. Financial
constrains will not significantly affect staff turnover and effectiveness in
private secondary schools.
Significance of the Study
The purpose of this study is to Investigate
Staff Turnover and School Effectiveness in Private Secondary School in
Educational District II of Lagos State. This study will be of great benefit to:
1. School administrators who are
willing to establish private schools in Lagos state to know the importance of
school effectiveness through staff turnout.
2. The staff that student optimum
academics performance should be their priority when considering leaving one job
to the other.
3. The recommendations that will be put
forward at the end of the study may be a point of reference to teachers,
proprietors and school administrators.
Delimitations
This study was delimited to staff of
selected private secondary schools in Lagos State Educational Districts II.
Twelve (12) private schools were
randomly selected from these region and five (5) respondents for each, to make
sixty (60) respondents.
Limitations
The study will be limited to five (5) staff
from each school due to some constrains of time and other investigation
difficulties such as distance, finance and mobility. The result that will
emanate from this study will be limited to Lagos State private secondary schools
due to the sample population involved.
Definition of
common terms
Turnover:
Turnover is defined as both attrition from the profession and mobility between schools.
Effectiveness: Adequate to accomplish a
purpose; producing the intended or expected result.
Organization: A group of persons organized for some underwork.
Financial: Pertaining to monetary receipts and expenditures; pertaining or
relating to money matters.
Job Satisfaction: The extent to which a person's
hopes, desires, and expectations about the employment he is engaged in are
fulfilled.
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