ERIC Number: EJ1113339
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Sep
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1939-5256
EISSN: N/A
Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment, and Turnover Intention of Online Teachers in the K-12 Setting
Larkin, Ingle M.; Brantley-Dias, Laurie; Lokey-Vega, Anissa
Online Learning, v20 n3 p26-51 Sep 2016
The purpose of this study was to measure and explore factors influencing K-12 online teachers' job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions. Using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1954), Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of Satisfaction (1959, 1968), Meyer and Allen's measure of Organizational Commitment (1997), and Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior (1975), this mixed-methods study was conducted in public, private, charter, for-profit, and not-for-profit K-12 online schools in a single Southeastern state. The researchers used a sequential explanatory design by collecting and analyzing quantitative data and then qualitative data in two consecutive phases. Phase I included a 74-item survey with responses from 108 participants. Results revealed that K-12 online teachers have a moderate to high level of job satisfaction, which corresponds to their affective commitment to their organization and their intent to remain teaching in the online setting in the immediate, intermediate, and long-term future. Participants identified flexibility, meeting student needs, technical support, and their professional community as the most satisfying aspects of their jobs. Compensation, workload, missing face-to-face interaction with students, and unmotivated students were identified as least satisfying aspects of their work. In Phase II, eight qualitative focus group interviews were conducted and analyzed using constant comparative methods; these findings confirmed and illuminated quantitative results from Phase I. This study informs K-12 online school leaders, policymakers, and researchers of statistically significant variables that influence K-12 online teacher satisfaction, commitment, and retention.
Descriptors: Job Satisfaction, Online Courses, Intention, Faculty Mobility, Mixed Methods Research, Likert Scales, Teacher Surveys, Questionnaires, Online Surveys, Focus Groups, Barriers, Student Motivation, At Risk Students, Parent Participation, Access to Computers, Interpersonal Relationship, Institutional Characteristics, Student Characteristics, Compensation (Remuneration), Teacher Evaluation
Online Learning Consortium, Inc. P.O. Box 1238, Newburyport, MA 01950. Tel: 888-898-6209; Fax: 888-898-6209; e-mail: olj@onlinelearning-c.org; Web site: http://onlinelearningconsortium.org/read/online-learning-journal/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A