Teacher-Principal Ethnoracial Matching, Geography, and Novice Teacher Career Outcomes

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam

Teacher workforce sustainability and retention for novice teachers of color are examined through nine years of Texas K–12 administrative data. The study links teacher labor-market geography to National Center for Education Statistics locale information to test how teacher-principal ethnoracial matching relates to retention and system-exit across urban, suburban, rural, and town contexts. Results show matching increases retention and decreases system-exit, with notable differences for novice Black and Latinx teachers in some nonurban locales.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Teacher workforce sustainability and retention focus

Prior evidence on principals of color and teacher outcomes

Research gap by geographic locale and educator subgroup

Research Questions and Study Design

Definitions of novice teachers and data sources

Research questions on matching and career outcomes

AERA Open January-December 2023, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1–18 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584231213344 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2023. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Teacher-Principal Ethnoracial Matching, Geography, and Novice Teacher Career Outcomes Wesley Edwards Cornelius Q. Anderson University of North Texas Nationally, many school districts are facing a teacher workforce sustainability crisis, and job retention for novice teachers of color is a key area of focus for educational leaders and policymakers. In this study, we draw on nine years of administrative data from Texas K–12 public schools to better understand how teacher-principal ethnoracial matching is associated with patterns of teacher retention and system-exit. Teacher labor markets are geographically small, so we link data from the National Center for Education Statistics containing geographic locale information to explore how the relationship between ethnoracial matching and novice teacher career outcomes varies across urban, suburban, rural, and town school contexts. We find that matching is associated with an increase in the probability of retention and a decrease in the probability of systemexit, with important variation for novice Black and Latinx teachers working in some nonurban school locales. Keywords: correlational analysis, educational policy, geographic locale, geography, novice teachers, principals, regression analyses, retention, teacher research, teachers of color Introduction The retention of historically marginalized groups ofteachers in K–12 public schools remains a critical area of focus for educational leaders and policymakers. Students of color who learn from teachers of color experience a variety of academic, social-emotional, and postsecondary benefits (Egalite et al., 2015; Gershenson et al., 2018) . While most US K–12 public school teachers are White, novice teachers in recent years are more likely to be ethnoracially diverse (Ingersoll et al., 2021; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022)—yet they are also more likely to enter the profession into less-supportive work environments (Redding & Nguyen, 2020) . Amid the current context of increased teacher turnover, shortages, and resignations (Carver-Thomas et al., 2021), this pattern has concerning implications for teacher workforce policies in terms of equity and sustainability. Meanwhile, there is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that working for a principal of color can improve career outcomes for teachers of color (Bailes & Guthery, 2020; Bartanen & Grissom, 2023; Grissom & Keiser, 2011; Viano et al., 2023) . Recent literature indicates the potential for teacher-principal ethnoracial matching to improve outcomes such as teacher satisfaction, workplace support, and retention rates (Nguyen et al., 2020) . Yet overall, the studies investigating the relationship between principals of color and career trajectories for teachers of color have been unable to disaggregate findings for key understudied groups of educators (e.g., Latinx teachers, novice teachers, rural teachers) . And there remains a need for more evidence about whether there is a link between teacher background characteristics (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender identity, preparation program pathway) and the likelihood of working with a principal of the same race/ethnicity. Such evidence could provide state and district educational leaders with information to improve teacher recruitment, job placement, and mentorship program policies. Importantly, the extant research in this area does not explore whether the relationship between teacher-principal ethnoracial matching and teachers’ career trajectories varies across school geographic locale, despite research indicating that teachers labor markets and novice teacher career decisions are high

FAQs

What data and setting does the study use to analyze teacher retention?

The study uses nine years of administrative data from Texas K–12 public schools and links it to National Center for Education Statistics geographic locale information.

How does teacher-principal ethnoracial matching relate to novice teacher outcomes?

Matching is associated with a higher probability of teacher retention and a lower probability of system-exit.

Does the relationship vary across different geographic school contexts?

Yes. The association between matching and novice teacher career outcomes varies across urban, suburban, rural, and town locales, with important differences for novice Black and Latinx teachers in some nonurban settings.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Adam