Date

3-2017

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Scott Watson

Keywords

Distance Education, K-12 Virtual School, Teacher Job Satisfaction, Teacher Retention, Teacher Working Conditions

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Curriculum and Social Inquiry | Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Psychology | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Other Education | Other Educational Administration and Supervision

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a difference between novice and experienced teachers’ perceptions of the working conditions at the K-12 virtual school. This study examined the teachers’ total years employed at the school to determine if a difference exists in the groups’ perceptions of the teacher working conditions. Teacher working conditions were measured by the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions (NC TWC) survey that was administered to North Carolina teachers. A causal-comparative research design was used to conduct the study. A convenience sample of (N = 318) licensed K-12 virtual school instructors participated in the anonymous statewide survey. This study focused on 6-12 grade virtual school teachers. An independent-sample t-test was conducted to evaluate the difference between the means of the teachers’ perceptions of working conditions of their school as measured by the NC TWC survey and the total number of years the teacher has been employed at the virtual school. The independent variable examined in this study was the years of employment (1 to 3 years and 4 to 10 years) and the dependent variable was the teachers’ perceived working conditions of the virtual school. Applying Herzberg’s Two-Factory Theory of Satisfaction, this quantitative study was conducted in a public virtual school consisting of middle and high school students in North Carolina. The findings of this study indicated that there is a statistically significant difference in the teachers’ perceptions of the working conditions. Experienced teachers perceived school leadership, their use of time, and instructional practices and support at a higher level than novice teachers.

Download

Share

COinS