AS PART OF THE WORK OF THE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR DELINQUENCY PREVENTION, THIS STUDY COMPARED LOW-INCOME AREA (TARGET) AND MIDDLE-INCOME AREA (COMPARISON) SCHOOLS TO EXAMINE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE TEACHING STAFFS AND THE TEACHER RETENTION TURNOVER RATES IN THESE SCHOOLS, AND TO ANALYZE THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF THESE RATES. ALL OF THE TEACHERS IN THE 11 TARGET AND 10 COMPARISON SCHOOLS DURING THE PERIOD FROM 1958 TO 1963 WERE INCLUDED IN THE STUDY. SUBSTANTIAL DIFFERENCES IN STAFF COMPOSITION WERE FOUND IN THE ELEMENTARY AND JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS BUT NOT IN THE HIGH SCHOOLS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE TEACHERS IN BOTH THE TARGET AND COMPARISON HIGH SCHOOLS TENDED TO HAVE THE SAME SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. IN GENERAL, HOWEVER, TARGET SCHOOL TEACHERS WERE YOUNGER, HAD LESS EXPERIENCE (TURNOVER-PRONE), AND WERE LIKELY TO BE ACQUIRED DIRECTLY FROM COLLEGE. RETENTION RATE WAS HIGHER IN MIDDLE-INCOME SCHOOLS AT ALL LEVELS, AND WAS FOUND TO BE CORRELATED WITH SCHOOL LEVEL, AGE, EXPERIENCE, SEX, EDUCATION, AND MANNER OF ACCESSION. THE FACTORS RELATED TO RETENTION WERE DIFFERENT IN TARGET AND COMPARISON SCHOOLS. IN GENERAL, IT APPEARED THAT SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS ARE IN A "SUBORDINATE, BUT CATALYTIC," RELATIONSHIP WITH BROADER "'CAREER EXPECTATIONS'" SUCH AS AGE AND SEX IN AFFECTING TEACHER TURNOVER. (AN APPENDIX CONTAINS A SUMMARY OF PERSONNEL PRACTICES IN THE MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL SYSTEM. THERE ARE 45 TABLES OF DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES.) (EF)