F I R S T L O O K

Teacher Attrition 

and Mobility:

Results from the 2004-05 

Teacher Follow-up Survey

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007-307
F I R S T L O O K 

Teacher Attrition 

and Mobility: 

Results from the 2004–05 

Teacher Follow-up Survey 

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007-307 
F I R S T L O O K 

Teacher Attrition 

and Mobility: 

Results from the 2004–05 

Teacher Follow-up Survey 

January 2007 

John Marvel 

Deanna M. Lyter 

Pia Peltola 

Gregory A. Strizek 

Beth A. Morton 

American Institutes for Research 

Reneé Rowland

Project Officer 

National Center for 

Education Statistics 

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007-307 
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner

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Suggested Citation 

Marvel, J., Lyter, D.M., Peltola, P., Strizek, G.A., and Morton, B.A. (2006). Teacher Attrition and 

Mobility: Results from the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (NCES 2007–307). U.S. Department of 

Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing 

Office.

For ordering information on this report, write to 

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or call toll free 1-877-4ED-Pubs or order online at http://www.edpubs.org. 

Content Contact

Reneé Rowland 

(202) 502-7336

renee.rowland@ed.gov
iii

Acknowledgments 

Many people contributed to the production of this report, and the authors would like to 

thank several in particular. At the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 

Kathryn Chandler, Kerry Gruber, and Reneé Rowland of the Elementary/Secondary and 

Library Studies Division reviewed drafts of the report and provided valuable feedback 

and guidance. At the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Sandy Eyster provided 

valuable comments and Martin Hahn edited the report. At NCES, William Hussar and 

Stephen Provasnik were the statistical standards reviewers for this report. Their 

suggestions improved the final product. 

Development of the design and content, and the management, of the NCES Schools and 

Staffing Survey (SASS) for 2003–04 and Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) for 2004–05 

were directed by Kathryn Chandler and carried out by NCES survey director Kerry 

Gruber. Planning, processing, and reporting of SASS and TFS were supported by AIR 

staff under the direction of Gregory Strizek and Deanna Lyter. 

Sampling activities, field collection of data, and data processing were performed by U.S. 

Census Bureau staff under the direction of Dennis Schwanz and Randall Parmer, 

Demographic Statistical Methods Division; Steven Tourkin, Andrew Zukerberg, and 

Nancy Swaim, Demographic Surveys Division; and Howard McGowan, Xiaodong Guan, 

and Jennifer Peterson, Education Surveys Programming Branch. 

The tables in this report were developed jointly by AIR and the Census Bureau. 
iv
v

Contents 

Page

Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................... iii

List of Tables ............................................................................................................. vii

Introduction................................................................................................................. 1

Selected Findings ........................................................................................................ 3

Estimate Tables ........................................................................................................... 5

References................................................................................................................... 18

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables............................................................................ A-1

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes........................................................ B-1

Appendix C: Summary of Variables....................................................... C-1
vi
vii

List of Tables 

Table Page

 

1. Number and percentage distribution of teacher stayers, movers, and 

leavers, by sector: Selected years 1988–89 through 2004–05 ..................... 7

 

2. Number and percentage distribution of public school teacher stayers, 

movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school characteristics in the 

base year: 2004–05....................................................................................... 8

 

3. Number and percentage distribution of private school teacher stayers, 

movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school characteristics in the 

base year: 2004–05....................................................................................... 10

 

4. Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who rated 

various reasons as very important or extremely important in their 

decision to move from their base year school: 2004–05.............................. 12

 

5. Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who moved 

across schools, school districts, and sectors, by sector, years of 

experience, and type of move: 2003–04 through 2004–05.......................... 13

 

6. Percentage of public and private school teacher leavers who rated 

various reasons as very important or extremely important in their 

decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher: 2004–05 ......................... 14

 

7. Percentage distribution of public and private school teacher leavers by 

their current occupational and industry status: 2004–05.............................. 15

 

8. Percentage distribution of working public school teacher leavers who 

rated various aspects of their current occupation as better in teaching, 

better in current position, or not better or worse, by their current main 

occupational status: 2004–05 ....................................................................... 16

 

9. Percentage distribution of working private school teacher leavers who 

rated various aspects of their current occupation as better in teaching, 

better in current position, or not better or worse: 2004–05.......................... 17
viii

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables 

Table Page

A-1. Standard errors for Table 1: Number and percentage distribution of 

teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by sector: Selected years 1988–89 

through 2004–05 .......................................................................................... A-3

 

A-2. Standard errors for Table 2: Number and percentage distribution of 

public school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher 

and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05................................... A-4

 

A-3. Standard errors for Table 3: Number and percentage distribution of 

private school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher 

and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05................................... A-6

 

A-4. Standard errors for Table 4: Percentage of public and private school 

teacher movers who rated various reasons as very important or 

extremely important in their decision to move from their base year 

school: 2004–05 ........................................................................................... A-8

 

A-5. Standard errors for Table 5: Percentage of public and private school 

teacher movers who moved across schools, school districts, and sectors, 

by sector, years of experience, and type of move: 2003–04 through 

2004–05........................................................................................................ A-9

 

A-6. Standard errors for Table 6: Percentage of public and private school 

teacher leavers who rated various reasons as very important or 

extremely important in their decision to leave the position of a K–12 

teacher: 2004–05 .......................................................................................... A-10

 

A-7. Standard errors for Table 7: Percentage distribution of public and 

private school teacher leavers by their current occupational and industry 

status: 2004–05 ............................................................................................ A-11

 

A-8. Standard errors for Table 8: Percentage distribution of working public 

school teacher leavers who rated various aspects of their current 

occupation as better in teaching, better in current position, or not better 

or worse, by their current main occupational status: 2004–05..................... A-12

 

A-9. Standard errors for Table 9: Percentage distribution of working private 

school teacher leavers who rated various aspects of their current 

occupation as better in teaching, better in current position, or not better 

or worse: 2004–05........................................................................................ A-13
ix

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes 

Table Page

B-1. Unweighted and base-weighted response rates for the Teacher Followup Survey, by sector and teaching status: 2004–05 ..................................... B-10

 

B-2. Unit response rates for the Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher 

Follow-up Survey, by sector: 2003–04 and 2004–05 .................................. B-11

 

B-3. Summary of weighted item response rates for the Teacher Follow-up 

Survey, by questionnaire: 2004–05.............................................................. B-12

 

Appendix C: Summary of Variables 

 

C-1. Summary information for the variables used in this report.......................... C-3
x
1

Introduction 

The Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) is a follow-up of a sample of the elementary and 

secondary school teachers who participated in the previous year’s Schools and Staffing 

Survey (SASS). The TFS sample includes teachers who leave teaching in the year after 

the SASS data collection and those who continue to teach. 

 

The objective of TFS is to provide information about teacher mobility and attrition 

among elementary and secondary school teachers who teach in grades K–12 in the 50 

states and the District of Columbia. In pursuit of this objective, TFS examines the 

characteristics of those who stay in the teaching profession and those who leave, 

including retirees. By collecting information on respondents’ attitudes about the teaching 

profession and job satisfaction along with demographic data, TFS can address questions 

such as the following: “What percentage of teachers leave the profession between one 

year and the next?” “What factors contribute to teachers’ decisions to move to another 

school or to leave the profession?” “How many teachers move from one school to 

another?” and “Where do teachers go when they move or leave?” TFS also allows 

comparisons of the characteristics and opinions of teachers who remain at the same 

school from year to year with those of teachers who either move to a different school or 

leave the profession. 

TFS has been conducted five times: in 1988–89, 1991–92, 1994–95, 2000–01, and 2004–

05, after the 1987–88, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, and 2003–04 administrations of 

SASS, respectively. TFS is sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics 

(NCES), the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education, and is conducted by 

the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The 2004–05 TFS was completed by 7,429 current and former teachers. Of these 

respondents, 2,864 were still teaching at the same school in 2004–05 as in the previous 

year (“stayers”); 1,912 were still teaching in 2004–05, but at a different school than in the 

previous year (“movers”); and 2,653 had left the teaching profession in the previous year 

(“leavers”). Note that these are unweighted counts of respondents. By design, movers and 

leavers were sampled at higher rates than stayers. More information about the survey 

design can be found in the Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey 

(Cox et al. forthcoming). 

Because all of the teachers in the TFS sample had been respondents to the SASS Teacher 

Survey the previous school year, some questions (e.g., on age, sex, race/ethnicity) are not 

repeated in the TFS questionnaire. For this reason, some of the data presented in this 

report are drawn from the 2003–04 SASS. These SASS data are termed “base-year” data 

because the SASS responding teachers form the base for the teachers who are selected for 

TFS. 
2

This First Look report provides some selected findings from the 2004–05 TFS along with 

data tables and methodological information. These findings are intended as simple 

descriptive statistics and are not meant to imply causality. 
3

Selected Findings

• Of the 3,214,900 public school teachers who were teaching during the 2003–04 

school year, 84 percent remained at the same school (“stayers”), 8 percent moved 

to a different school (“movers”), and 8 percent left the profession (“leavers”) 

during the following year. Among private school teachers, 81 percent were 

stayers, 6 percent were movers, and 14 percent were leavers (table 1). 

• Among public school teachers younger than age 30, about 15 percent moved to 

another school, while 9 percent left teaching. Among private school teachers in 

the same age category, 12 percent were movers and 20 percent were leavers 

(tables 2 and 3). 

• Thirty-eight percent of public and 33 percent of private school movers rated the 

opportunity for a better teaching assignment as very important or extremely 

important in their decision to change schools. Additionally, 46 percent of private 

school teacher movers rated better salary or benefits as a very important or 

extremely important reason in their decision to change schools (table 4). 

• Twenty-five percent of public and 30 percent of private school leavers rated 

pursuing a position other than that of a K–12 teacher as very important or 

extremely important in their decision to leave K–12 teaching. Additionally, 31 

percent of public school leavers rated retiring and 25 percent of private school 

leavers rated pregnancy and child caring as very important or extremely important 

in their decision to leave K–12 teaching (table 6). 

• Twenty-nine percent of public school teacher leavers were working in a position 

in the field of education, but not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher, while 12 

percent of public school teacher leavers were working in an occupation outside 

the field of education (table 7). 

• Fifty-five percent of public school teachers who left teaching but continued to 

work in the field of education reported that they had more control over their own 

work in their new position than in teaching, while 65 percent of public school 

leavers who worked outside the field of education felt that their workload in their 

new position was more manageable and that they were better able to balance their 

personal and work life (table 8). 

• Of the private school teacher leavers who were either working in the field of 

education (but not teaching) or were working outside the field of education, 51 

percent reported that the workload in their new position was more manageable 

than in teaching (table 9).
4

Page intentionally left blank 
5

Estimate Tables
6
Table 1. Number and percentage distribution of teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by sector: Selected years 1988–89 through 

Sector and year Total base year teachers1 Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers Mov

Public 1988–89 2,386,500 2,065,800 188,400 132,300 86.5  1991–92 2,553,500 2,237,300 185,700 130,500 87.6  1994–95 2,555,800 2,205,300 182,900 167,600 86.3  2000–01 2,994,700 2,542,200 231,000 221,400 84.9  2004–05 3,214,900 2,684,200 261,100 269,600 83.5 Private 1988–89 311,900 242,500 29,700 39,700 77.8  1991–92 353,800 287,100 23,200 43,500 81.1  1994–95 376,900 310,100 21,700 45,000 82.3  2000–01 448,600 354,800 37,600 56,200 79.1  2004–05 465,300 374,600 27,600 63,100 80.5 

1 Base year refers to the year in which the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) was administered. The SASS is always administered a yea

to the TFS. The total number of base year teachers for any year is slightly lower than previously published counts, as all teachers who resto SASS but were ineligible for the TFS (died or moved out of the country) were removed from the weighted count of base year teachers.NOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers wstill teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former 

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES 2004–301). 

Number Percent

Data Files," 2004–05; Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results from the Teacher Follow-up Survey, 2000–01, U.S. Department of Education

7 
Table 2. Number and percentage distribution of public school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school ch

Table 2. in the base year: 2004–05 Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers 

 Total 3,214,900 2,684,200 261,100 269,600 83.5 Full-time teaching experience No full-time teaching experience 28,100 17,800 4,800 5,500 63.3 

1–3 years 598,300 461,100 88,600 48,600 77.1 4–9 years 867,200 716,800 81,600 68,800 82.7 10–19 years 812,600 717,000 51,000 44,700 88.2 20 years or more 908,600 771,500 35,200 101,900 84.9 

Age

 Less than 30 years 593,200 452,400 87,100 53,700 76.3 

30–39 years 765,900 645,000 68,900 52,000 84.2 40–49 years 847,000 742,300 60,100 44,600 87.6 50 years or more 1,008,800 844,500 45,000 119,300 83.7 

Base Salary

Less than $30,000 388,400 298,900 48,200 41,300 77.0 

$30,000–$39,999 1,118,300 916,700 121,300 80,400 82.0 $40,000 or more 1,708,200 1,468,600 91,700 147,900 86.0 

Sex

 Male 783,700 657,700 65,300 60,700 83.9 

Female 2,431,200 2,026,500 195,800 208,800 83.4 

Race/ethnicity

 White, non-Hispanic 2,726,900 2,287,800 216,300 222,800 83.9 

Black, non-Hispanic 242,500 192,300 23,500 26,600 79.3 Hispanic, single or more than one race 137,800 111,100 13,900 12,800 80.6 Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other

Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic 49,300 40,300 3,900 5,100 81.8 

American Indian/Alaska Native,

 non-Hispanic 24,700 23,000 1,200 500 93.1 

 More than one race, non-Hispanic2 33,800 29,800 2,200 1,800 88.1 

Main assignment field Early childhood/general elementary 1,127,900 953,600 83,000 91,300 84.5 

Special education 412,700 325,600 45,900 41,300 78.9 Arts/music 193,300 163,700 18,000 11,700 84.7 English/language arts 323,300 269,000 29,200 25,100 83.2 Mathematics 238,000 201,400 20,400 16,200 84.6 Natural sciences 214,000 189,300 11,900 12,700 88.5 Social sciences 187,700 160,700 11,300 15,800 85.6 Other 518,000 420,900 41,500 55,600 81.3 

Teaching status

Full-time 2,925,200 2,476,900 227,900 220,500 84.7 Part-time 289,700 207,300 33,300 49,100 71.6 

See notes at end of table.

Number Pe

8 
Table 2. Number and percentage distribution of public school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school ch

Table 2. in the base year: 2004–05—Continued 

Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers 

Certification type3

 Regular or standard 2,814,900 2,380,000 203,000 231,900 84.5  Probationary 116,800 90,600 17,300 9,000 77.5  Provisional or temporary 206,700 159,500 31,000 16,200 77.2 

 Waiver or emergency 26,900 20,600 2,700 3,700 76.3  None of the above 49,600 33,600 7,100 8,800 67.9 Community type Central city 853,300 680,800 88,000 84,500 79.8  Urban fringe/large town 1,747,600 1,481,400 128,300 137,800 84.8  Rural/small town 614,000 522,000 44,800 47,200 85.0 

School level Elementary 2,070,000 1,713,400 181,400 175,200 82.8 

Secondary 977,600 827,100 66,700 83,800 84.6 Combined 167,300 143,700 13,000 10,600 85.9 

School enrollment Less than 200 146,300 117,500 14,600 14,200 80.3  200–499 990,100 814,200 81,700 94,200 82.2 

 500–749 830,500 703,900 68,000 58,500 84.8  750 or more 1,248,000 1,048,600 96,800 102,700 84.0 Percent of K–12 students who were  approved for free or reduced-price lunches Less than 15 650,100 557,700 41,400 51,100 85.8  15–49 1,433,700 1,224,700 103,000 106,000 85.4 

 50 or more 1,074,900 859,900 111,000 104,000 80.0  School did not participate in free or  reduced-price lunch program 56,200 41,900 5,800 8,500 74.6 Percent of enrolled students who were minorities  Less than 10 926,500 800,300 51,600 74,600 86.4  10–34 816,400 697,700 63,800 54,900 85.5  35 or more 1,472,000 1,186,200 145,700 140,100 80.6 ! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value. 

1 Base year refers to 2003–04.2 The 2003–04 SASS allowed respondents to mark multiple race categories.3 A probationary certificate is issued after an individual satisfies all regular certification requirements except the completion of a probationary peri

provisional certificate is given to individuals who are still participating in what states call an “alternative certification program." Temporary certificasome additional college coursework, student teaching, and/or passage of a test before regular certification can be obtained, and a waiver or eme

certificate is issued to individuals with insufficient teacher preparation who must complete a regular certification program in order to continue teaNOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers who wer

in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the 

Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher 

2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former Teacher Data Files," 2004–05.

Number Pe

9 
Table 3. Number and percentage distribution of private school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school char

Table 3. the base year: 2004–05 Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers M

 Total 465,300 374,600 27,600 63,100 80.5 Full-time teaching experience No full-time teaching experience 40,800 30,000 1,600 9,100 73.6  1–3 years 111,400 79,100 11,300 21,100 ! 71.0 

 4–9 years 112,700 87,000 7,500 18,100 77.2  10–19 years 102,000 90,100 3,900 8,000 88.3  20 years or more 98,400 88,300 3,200 6,900 89.7 Age Less than 30 years 88,800 60,500 10,500 17,800 68.1  30–39 years 105,700 85,200 5,500 15,000 80.6  40–49 years 113,600 95,800 5,700 12,200 84.3  50 years or more 157,200 133,200 5,900 18,100 ! 84.7 Base Salary

Less than $30,000 239,000 173,500 19,000 46,500 72.6 $30,000–$39,999 125,500 107,200 6,200 12,000 85.5 $40,000 or more 100,800 93,800 2,300 4,700 93.1 

Sex Male 105,000 84,600 5,500 14,900 80.5  Female 360,300 290,000 22,100 48,200 80.5 Race/ethnicity White, non-Hispanic 413,300 336,000 23,600 53,600 81.3  Black, non-Hispanic 16,800 11,400 1,600 3,900 ! 67.8  Hispanic, single or more than one race 17,200 12,100 1,300 3,800 70.3  Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic 13,400 12,000 400 1,000 89.7  American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic 2,800 1,900 ! 500 ! 500 65.5  More than one race, non-Hispanic2 1,700 1,100 ! 200 ! 400 ! 65.8 Main assignment field Early childhood/general elementary 173,600 140,700 11,700 21,100 ! 81.1  Special education 22,600 16,300 1,700 4,600 72.2  Arts/music 38,100 29,600 1,700 6,900 77.6  English/language arts 46,700 37,900 2,600 6,200 81.1  Mathematics 38,400 32,200 2,100 4,100 83.8  Natural sciences 33,400 28,000 2,000 3,400 84.0  Social sciences 27,700 22,700 1,300 3,700 81.8  Other 84,900 67,200 4,500 13,100 79.2 

Teaching status Full-time 369,500 303,900 23,100 42,600 82.2  Part-time 95,800 70,700 4,500 20,600 73.8 See notes at end of table.

Number Perc

10 
Table 3. Number and percentage distribution of private school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by selected teacher and school char

Table 5. the base year: 2004–05—ContinuedTeacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers M

Certification type3

 Regular or standard 205,800 171,400 14,200 20,200 83.3  Probationary 5,800 3,800 800 1,200 ! 65.4 

 Provisional or temporary 20,800 15,800 1,800 3,200 ! 76.1  Waiver or emergency 1,600 600 ! 400 ! 600 33.9 !  No current certification 195,200 153,600 9,400 32,300 78.7  No state certification, but regular or full  certification by an accrediting  body other than the state 36,100 29,400 1,000 5,700 81.5 Community type Central city 177,600 145,800 10,900 20,900 82.1  Urban fringe/large town 241,700 193,900 12,800 35,100 80.2  Rural/small town 46,000 34,900 3,900 7,100 ! 76.0 School level Elementary 218,600 172,700 16,500 29,500 79.0  Secondary 78,200 68,300 2,500 7,400 87.4  Combined 168,500 133,600 8,600 26,300 79.3 School enrollment Less than 200 180,200 131,300 13,900 35,000 72.9  200–499 169,800 139,800 9,900 20,100 82.3  500–749 48,300 41,600 1,900 4,700 86.3  750 or more 67,100 61,800 1,900 3,300 92.2 Percent of enrolled students who were minorities Less than 10 216,900 181,600 10,900 24,400 ! 83.7  10–34 168,000 134,000 9,900 24,200 79.7  35 or more 80,400 59,000 6,800 14,600 73.4 ! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value. 

1 Base year refers to 2003–04.2 The 2003–04 SASS allowed respondents to mark multiple race categories.

some additional college coursework, student teaching, and/or passage of a test before regular certification can be obtained, and a waiver or emerge

certificate is issued to individuals with insufficient teacher preparation who must complete a regular certification program in order to continue teachin

NOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers who were sin the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the baDetail may not sum to totals because of rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher Da

2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former Teacher Data Files," 2004–05.

Number Perc

3 A probationary certificate is issued after an individual satisfies all regular certification requirements except the completion of a probationary period. 

provisional certificate is given to individuals who are still participating in what states call an “alternative certification program." Temporary certificatio

11 
Table 4. Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who rated various reasons as very important or extremely impo

Table 5. decision to move from their base year school: 2004–05Reason for moving Public PrivateNew school is closer to home 26.2 22.8Better salary or benefits 16.5 46.4Higher job security 19.1 33.4Opportunity for a better teaching assignment (subject area or grade level) 38.1 33.1Dissatisfaction with workplace conditions at previous school 32.7 21.4Dissatisfaction with support from administrators at previous school 37.2 27.0Dissatisfaction with changes in job description or responsibilities 18.3 17.5Laid off or involuntarily transferred 18.7 19.2Did not have enough autonomy over classroom at previous school 10.4 7.6Dissatisfaction with opportunities for professional development at previous school 12.8 19.7Dissatisfaction with base year school for other reasons 31.2 29.7NOTE: Movers are teachers who were still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year (2003Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each reason individually in their decision to move from the base year school, although 

some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices were based on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important," "Sli

important," "Somewhat important," "Very important," and "Extremely important." This table includes the percent of movers who responded "important" or "Extremely important."SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current Teacher Data 2004–05 .

12 
Table 5. Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who moved across schools, school districts, and sector

Table 6. by sector, years of experience, and type of move: 2003–04 through 2004–05Type of move Less than three Three or more Less than three  Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Moved from one public school to another  public school in the same school district 39.7 51.7 † Moved from one public school district to  another public school district 55.3 45.8 † Moved from a public school to a private school 5.1 ! 2.5 † 

Moved from a private school to a public school † † 62.7 Moved from one private school to another  private school † † 37.3 † Not applicable. ! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value. NOTE: Movers are teachers who were still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year (2003–04). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current TeaData File," 2004–05.

Public (in 2003–04) Private (in 200

Years of experience Years of expe

13 
Table 6. Percentage of public and private school teacher leavers who rated various reasons as very important or extremely im

Table 7. in their decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher: 2004–05Reason for leaving Public Changed residence 11.2 Pregnancy or child rearing 18.7 Health 11.8 Retirement 31.4 School staffing action (e.g., reduction-in-force, lay-off, school closing, school reorganization, reassignment) 14.6 

Better salary or benefits 14.2 To pursue a position other than that of a K-12 teacher 25.3 To take courses to improve career opportunities within the field of education 8.9 To take courses to improve career opportunities outside the field of education 5.3 Dissatisfied with teaching as a career 14.6 Dissatisfied with previous school or teaching assignment 16.0 Other family or personal reasons 20.4 NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). Respondents were asked to rate the impoof various reasons in their decision to leave the teaching profession, although some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices webased on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important," "Slightly important," "Somewhat important," "Very important"Extremely important." This table includes the percent of leavers who responded "Very important" or "Extremely important."SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher 2004–05.

14 
Table 7. 2004–05 

Perce

Occupational and industry status Public  Total 100.0 Main occupational status of all leavers Attending a college or university 3.4  Caring for family members 12.5  Disabled 1.0 

 Retired 30.0  Other 8.0  Unemployed and seeking work 4.0  Working in a position in the field of education, but not as a regular K-12 classroom teacher 29.1  Working in an occupation outside the field of education 12.0 Industry status of leavers who were working in a position  in the field of education, but not as a regular K-12 classroom teacher  Employee of a private company, business, or individual for wages, salary, or commission 13.5  State or federal government employee 28.2  Local government employee 54.6  Self-employed in own business, professional practice, or farm 3.7  Working without pay in a family business, farm, or volunteer job # Industry status of leavers who were working in an occupation outside  the field of education Employee of a private company, business, or individual for wages, salary, or commission 62.7  State or federal government employee 9.9  Local government employee 4.6  Self-employed in own business, professional practice, or farm 22.1  Working without pay in a family business, farm, or volunteer job 0.7 # Rounds to zero.! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value. NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003-04). Detail may not sum to totals because

of rounding.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teache

Data File," 2004–05.Table 7. Percentage distribution of public and private school teacher leavers by their current occupational and industry stat

15 
Table 8. Percentage distribution of working public school teacher leavers who rated various aspects of their current occupation as 

Table 9. teaching, better in current position, or not better or worse, by their current main occupational status: 2004–05 Aspect of current occupation

Better in 

teaching

Better in 

current position

Not better or 

worse

Better in 

teaching

Bett

current pos

Salary 28.0 33.3 38.7 41.0 4Benefits 28.2 8.9 62.9 46.5 2Job security 41.0 11.5 47.4 32.9 3Intellectual challenge 15.9 42.9 41.2 30.2 4Opportunities for professional development 21.3 43.2 35.6 28.8 3Professional prestige 24.5 49.1 26.4 27.7 4General work conditions 11.2 27.8 61.0 14.0 6Safety of environment 9.2 17.6 73.3 17.1 4Manageability of workload 16.1 46.8 37.1 17.6 6Procedures for performance evaluation 17.4 22.6 60.1 24.5 3Autonomy or control over own work 19.7 54.8 25.6 15.0 6Influence over workplace policies and practices 14.7 45.0 40.3 10.6 5Social relationships with colleagues 26.0 20.7 53.3 26.0 3Ability to balance personal life and work 18.1 40.9 41.0 14.1 6Availability of resources and materials and/or  equipment for doing job 21.3 29.4 49.3 12.9 5Recognition and support from  administrators and/or managers 21.1 41.1 37.8 14.6 5Opportunities for learning from colleagues 26.6 32.0 41.4 30.4 3Opportunities for professional advancement or  promotion 22.9 43.0 34.1 19.5 5Sense of personal accomplishment 29.7 39.6 30.7 30.1 4Opportunities to make a difference in the lives of

 others 21.0 31.2 47.9 42.2 2NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003-04). Detail may not sum to totals because of roundinSOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher Data 

2004–05.

 Working in a position in the field of education, but 

not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher Working outside the fie

16 
Table 9. Percentage distribution of working private school teacher leavers who rated various aspects of their current occupatio

Table 9. better in teaching, better in current position, or not better or worse: 2004–05 Aspect of current occupation Better in teaching

Better in 

current position Not better 

Salary 22.0 53.4 Benefits 23.9 32.1 Job security 14.1 34.9 Intellectual challenge 30.4 35.7 ! Opportunities for professional development 22.3 39.4 Professional prestige 27.0 32.0 General work conditions 12.4 36.9 Safety of environment 12.3 25.4 Manageability of workload 14.3 51.4 Procedures for performance evaluation 18.6 26.2 Autonomy or control over own work 22.8 46.9 Influence over workplace policies and practices 26.2 31.0 Social relationships with colleagues 26.4 25.3 Ability to balance personal life and work 14.2 53.1 Availability of resources and materials and/or  equipment for doing job 13.4 35.9 Recognition and support from  administrators and/or managers 23.6 28.5 Opportunities for learning from colleagues 22.0 34.5 Opportunities for professional advancement or  promotion 17.4 43.6 Sense of personal accomplishment 28.8 27.7 ! Opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others 42.0 19.8 ! ! Interpret data with caution. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 percent or more of the estimate's value. NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003-04). Detail may not sum to totals because of roun

This table reports data on leavers who were working in positions in the field of education, but not as regular K–12 classroom teachers, as 

as leavers in positions outside the field of education. Data on leavers who reported working in other occupational categories are not incluSOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher

Data File," 2004–05.

17 
18

References 

Cochran, W.G. (1977). Sampling Techniques. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 

Cox, S., Parmer, J., Tourkin, S., and Warner, T. (forthcoming). Documentation for the 

2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (NCES 2007–349). U.S. Department of 

Education. Washington DC: National Center for Education Statistics. 

Tourkin, S.C., Warner, T., Parmer, R., Cole, C., Jackson, B., Zukerberg, A., Cox, S., and 

Soderborg, A. (forthcoming). Documentation for the 2003–04 Schools and Staffing 

Survey (NCES 2007–337). U.S. Department of Education. Washington DC: National 

Center for Education Statistics. 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2003). NCES 

Statistical Standards, (NCES 2003–601). Washington, DC: Author. 
1

Appendix A: Standard Error Tables

A-1 
2
Table A-1. Standard errors for Table 1: Number and percentage distribution of teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by sector: 

Table A-1. years 1988–89 through 2004–05Sector and year Total base year teachers1 Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers Mov

Public 1988–892 — 55,476.6 9,780.0 6,907.5 0.46 0

 1991–92 46,361.8 44,485.9 8,565.9 9,245.2 0.49 0 1994–95 19,625.8 21,992.5 9,148.0 8,572.8 0.52 0 2000–01 19,613.9 24,047.2 13,770.1 11,236.8 0.58 0 2004–05 30,448.4 30,602.5 15,995.1 14,543.6 0.59 0Private 1988–892 — 12,667.3 1,975.2 2,533.8 1.31 0 1991–92 10,855.3 9,530.1 1,827.2 3,134.1 0.90 0 1994–95 5,444.3 5,567.7 1,349.9 2,694.3 0.79 0 2000–01 10,496.5 9,268.7 2,343.7 3,457.6 0.83 0 2004–05 11,267.4 10,607.1 2,512.5 10,985.2 2.00 0— Not available.

1 Base year refers to the year in which the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) was administered. The SASS is always administered a ye

to the TFS. The total number of base year teachers for any year is slightly lower than previously published counts, as all teachers who reto SASS but were ineligible for the TFS (died or moved out of the country) were removed from the weighted count of base year teachers.

2 Standard errors for the number of total previous school year teachers in 1988–89 were not reported in the previous NCES reports from 

data for this table were taken.NOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers w

still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teachin

profession after the base year.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Formethe Teacher Follow-up Survey, 2000–01, U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES 2004–301). 

Number Percen

Data Files," 1991–92, 1994–95 and 2004–05, previously unpublished tabulation (November 2006); Teacher Attrition and Mobility: Results 

A-3 
Table A-2. Standard errors for Table 2: Number and percentage distribution of public school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, 

Table A-2. teacher and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05 Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers M

 Total 30,448.4 30,602.5 15,995.1 14,543.6 0.59 Full-time teaching experience No full-time teaching experience 5,379.4 5,208.6 1,082.0 1,262.4 9.04  1–3 years 59,318.5 48,664.8 10,359.8 5,528.1 1.54  4–9 years 33,687.2 29,721.3 5,321.9 9,770.6 1.10  10–19 years 34,939.0 34,654.8 4,626.9 5,800.4 0.98  20 years or more 47,943.1 45,221.3 4,777.4 9,959.1 1.03 Age Less than 30 years 38,236.5 33,157.1 8,882.6 8,290.0 1.73  30–39 years 33,304.2 32,682.7 5,292.7 6,583.7 1.25  40–49 years 27,556.8 26,729.7 5,392.2 6,326.8 0.92  50 years or more 45,570.7 43,926.0 5,256.1 9,863.0 0.96 Base Salary

Less than $30,000 31,986.1 29,415.2 5,647.8 4,576.2 2.10 

$30,000–$39,999 35,063.8 33,061.3 10,627.4 7,771.9 1.07 

$40,000 or more 57,520.3 56,476.0 6,793.5 10,377.8 0.74 

Sex

 Male 15,435.0 13,085.2 7,044.0 5,448.0 1.00  Female 26,465.1 26,514.2 11,691.8 12,648.1 0.60 Race/ethnicity White, non-Hispanic 31,662.4 33,793.1 13,969.0 13,932.7 0.63  Black, non-Hispanic 18,095.8 16,999.0 2,705.7 5,415.7 2.64  Hispanic, single or more than one race 13,239.2 13,270.1 2,661.4 2,614.9 3.14  Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic 9,226.3 9,094.2 793.8 2,261.6 6.71 

 American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic 6,009.8 6,051.6 307.4 128.1 2.54  More than one race, non-Hispanic2 8,071.9 8,088.5 622.1 754.3 5.10 

Main assignment field Early childhood/general elementary 33,620.0 32,799.5 7,515.2 10,471.9 0.99 

 Special education 29,253.4 22,516.5 6,214.2 6,660.8 1.99  Arts/music 14,254.5 13,925.8 2,490.9 1,538.7 1.63  English/language arts 14,887.1 14,270.8 3,406.8 3,187.2 1.50  Mathematics 13,958.1 13,637.7 3,383.6 2,034.1 1.69  Natural sciences 10,688.0 10,331.5 1,607.9 2,060.4 1.30  Social sciences 11,665.5 11,314.6 1,696.1 3,121.9 1.94  Other 19,220.0 17,483.6 4,288.9 6,628.3 1.41 Teaching status Full-time 33,425.2 33,746.8 14,390.6 13,351.9 0.58  Part-time 23,711.2 21,562.5 4,240.4 6,164.8 2.93 See notes at end of table.

Number Perce

A-4 
Table A-2. Standard errors for Table 2: Number and percentage distribution of public school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, 

Table A-2. teacher and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05—Continued 

Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers M

Certification type3

 Regular or standard 41,717.0 42,290.6 11,608.1 14,205.8 0.62  Probationary 11,749.8 10,569.6 2,381.7 1,907.1 2.69  Provisional or temporary 19,293.1 16,284.1 4,385.9 2,655.9 2.08 

 Waiver or emergency 7,084.9 7,002.2 858.8 821.5 9.50 

 None of the above 9,780.4 8,682.9 1,525.8 1,972.8 6.96 

Community type Central city 37,258.3 33,787.5 6,929.8 9,398.2 1.22  Urban fringe/large town 44,553.8 44,774.6 9,056.5 10,938.7 0.87  Rural/small town 31,322.0 30,527.5 5,171.5 5,703.6 1.11 School level Elementary 42,930.7 44,723.5 13,130.1 12,984.5 0.87  Secondary 37,872.1 36,618.9 5,680.6 7,205.8 0.94  Combined 18,682.3 18,930.4 1,865.3 1,704.2 2.53 School enrollment Less than 200 15,775.8 15,271.3 2,490.3 2,281.2 2.87  200–499 39,561.2 39,597.5 6,853.2 9,569.2 1.21  500–749 44,376.5 43,505.2 6,702.1 6,429.5 1.30  750 or more 47,429.3 45,572.7 8,446.1 9,384.5 0.98 Percent of K–12 students who were  approved for free or reduced-price lunches Less than 15 38,961.9 35,387.5 4,589.9 6,107.3 1.15  15–49 46,071.0 45,922.9 8,849.8 7,800.4 0.89  50 or more 40,902.0 37,018.4 9,385.8 11,462.9 1.23  School did not participate in free or  reduced-price lunch program 9,831.9 9,177.5 1,420.1 1,572.7 4.63 Percent of enrolled students who were minorities  Less than 10 36,539.5 34,909.5 5,239.4 8,100.0 0.99  10–34 32,949.4 31,691.4 5,618.1 5,598.2 1.00  35 or more 43,014.0 38,614.0 10,821.7 11,263.5 0.98 

1 Base year refers to 2003–04.2 The 2003–04 SASS allowed respondents to mark multiple race categories.3 A probationary certificate is issued after an individual satisfies all regular certification requirements except the completion of a probationary 

provisional certificate is given to individuals who are still participating in what states call an “alternative certification program." Temporary cerrequires some additional college coursework, student teaching, and/or passage of a test before regular certification can be obtained, and a wemergency certificate is issued to individuals with insufficient teacher preparation who must complete a regular certification program in order continue teaching.NOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers who 

still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching pafter the base year. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teac

Data File," 2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former Teacher Data Files," 2004–05.

Number Perc

A-5 
Table A-3. Standard errors for Table 3: Number and percentage distribution of private school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by 

Table A-3. teacher and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05 

Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers 

 Total 11,267.4 10,607.1 2,512.5 10,985.2 2.00 Full-time teaching experience No full-time teaching experience 10,046.5 10,159.3 612.9 1,523.3 5.95  1–3 years 16,965.6 7,593.2 1,342.9 13,568.7 7.05  4–9 years 13,565.0 11,203.2 1,152.8 3,987.3 3.39  10–19 years 12,333.9 12,958.8 558.9 1,317.6 2.14  20 years or more 9,877.5 10,107.1 1,149.2 1,562.7 2.62 Age Less than 30 years 7,816.6 7,747.7 1,341.3 2,005.3 3.34  30–39 years 10,632.1 9,030.7 844.3 2,545.6 2.22  40–49 years 15,237.9 14,907.2 835.2 2,460.7 2.43  50 years or more 12,314.0 12,235.4 1,052.7 12,694.5 7.10 Base Salary

Less than $30,000 22,328.4 16,916.4 1,981.8 12,092.6 3.49 

$30,000–$39,999 15,483.8 14,067.7 1,082.2 1,672.8 1.60 

$40,000 or more 9,222.0 8,963.2 614.5 987.1 1.13 

Sex Male 8,572.4 7,015.9 861.9 2,548.5 2.04  Female 14,911.8 11,255.5 2,142.7 12,053.2 2.57 Race/ethnicity White, non-Hispanic 11,440.8 10,162.7 2,212.0 10,511.9 2.16  Black, non-Hispanic 3,329.4 2,561.9 384.9 2,713.2 11.35  Hispanic, single or more than one race 3,782.3 3,187.4 464.9 787.4 6.25  Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic 4,506.8 4,614.1 130.4 281.3 3.65 

 American Indian/Alaska Native, non-Hispanic 1,241.6 1,119.5 334.3 226.3 22.23  More than one race, non-Hispanic2 626.9 622.6 131.2 493.0 28.84 

Main assignment field Early childhood/general elementary 27,090.1 19,918.0 1,656.5 13,071.3 4.59 

 Special education 6,724.6 5,698.6 528.5 1,369.9 8.86  Arts/music 7,194.9 7,465.9 427.4 1,700.9 5.49  English/language arts 7,401.8 6,658.0 594.8 1,370.7 3.56  Mathematics 4,479.7 4,070.6 527.4 1,061.5 2.59  Natural sciences 5,829.8 5,489.2 570.0 856.0 3.28  Social sciences 5,010.1 4,749.3 358.4 817.9 3.81  Other 7,497.5 8,339.3 914.7 2,951.4 4.58 Teaching status Full-time 13,804.2 10,110.1 2,382.7 11,362.8 2.44  Part-time 8,823.9 8,211.3 867.2 2,336.5 2.89 See notes at end of table.

Number Pe

A-6 
Table A-3. Standard errors for Table 3: Number and percentage distribution of private school teacher stayers, movers, and leavers, by s

Table A-3. teacher and school characteristics in the base year: 2004–05—Continued Teacher or school characteristic in base year1 Total Stayers Movers Leavers Stayers M

Certification type3

 Regular or standard 11,752.0 11,875.1 1,627.1 2,342.4 1.73  Probationary 1,480.6 1,491.7 319.4 651.9 17.80  Provisional or temporary 3,902.7 2,696.9 351.9 2,319.7 7.57  Waiver or emergency 654.3 460.0 278.4 288.2 20.10  No current certification 16,951.2 11,575.6 1,208.2 12,284.9 4.67  No state certification, but regular  or full certification by an accrediting  body other than the state 6,522.2 5,378.0 288.6 1,562.2 3.60 Community type Central city 11,965.5 10,878.9 1,247.1 2,864.1 1.60  Urban fringe/large town 14,097.1 14,963.9 1,464.6 4,243.2 2.22  Rural/small town 12,536.4 6,534.8 1,162.4 13,262.6 17.99 School level Elementary 22,408.2 22,614.2 1,657.6 3,425.3 2.51  Secondary 7,013.4 6,861.6 635.5 1,577.7 2.49  Combined 18,499.4 20,118.7 1,426.0 10,672.7 6.66 School enrollment Less than 200 25,055.5 19,683.5 1,607.0 12,600.5 4.66  200–499 17,394.5 15,215.0 1,303.9 2,819.9 1.54  500–749 6,790.6 6,337.0 540.1 1,270.3 2.75  750 or more 8,457.5 8,230.9 661.7 572.4 1.43 Percent of enrolled students who were minorities  Less than 10 22,439.0 16,157.1 1,348.8 13,150.7 4.44  10–34 14,169.3 12,160.4 1,398.9 2,854.9 1.79  35 or more 8,490.6 6,850.4 1,158.4 3,122.7 3.57 

1 Base year refers to 2003–04.2 The 2003–04 SASS allowed respondents to mark multiple race categories.3 A probationary certificate is issued after an individual satisfies all regular certification requirements except the completion of a probationary perio

provisional certificate is given to individuals who are still participating in what states call an “alternative certification program." Temporary certifica

some additional college coursework, student teaching, and/or passage of a test before regular certification can be obtained, and a waiver or eme

 certificate is issued to individuals with insufficient teacher preparation who must complete a regular certification program in order to continue teaNOTE: Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school year as in the base year. Movers are teachers who were in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher 2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former Teacher Data Files," 2004–05.

Number Perc

A-7 
Table A-4. Standard errors for Table 4: Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who rated various reasons a

Table A-5. important or extremely important in their decision to move from their base year school: 2004–05Reason for moving Public PrivaNew school is closer to home 1.90 2.Better salary or benefits 1.75 3.Higher job security 1.52 2.Opportunity for a better teaching assignment (subject area or grade level) 2.23 3.Dissatisfaction with workplace conditions at previous school 2.46 2.Dissatisfaction with support from administrators at previous school 2.41 2.Dissatisfaction with changes in job description or responsibilities 2.20 2.Laid off or involuntarily transferred 1.79 2.Did not have enough autonomy over classroom at previous school 1.32 1.Dissatisfaction with opportunities for professional development at previous school 1.92 2.Dissatisfaction with base year school for other reasons 1.96 2.NOTE: Movers are teachers who were still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each reason individually in their decision to move from the base year school, altho

some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices were based on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important,

important," "Somewhat important," "Very important," and "Extremely important." This table includes the percent of movers who responimportant" or "Extremely important."SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current Teache2004–05.

A-8 
Table A-5. Standard errors for Table 5: Percentage of public and private school teacher movers who moved across schools, 

Table A-6. school districts, and sectors, by sector, years of experience, and type of move: 2003–04 through 2004–05Type of move Less than three Three or more Less than three  Total † † † Moved from one public school to another  public school in the same school district 5.02 2.33 † Moved from one public school district to  another public school district 5.59 2.25 † Moved from a public school to a private school 3.17 0.58 † Moved from a private school to a public school † † 7.97 Moved from one private school to another  private school † † 7.97 † Not applicable. NOTE: Movers are teachers who were still teaching in the current school year but had moved to a different school after the base year (2003–04). SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current Teache

Data File," 2004–05.

Public (in 2003–04) Private (in 

Years of experience Years of ex

A-9 
Table A-6. Standard errors for Table 6: Percentage of public and private school teacher leavers who rated various reasons as 

Table A-7. or extremely important in their decision to leave the position of a K–12 teacher: 2004–05Reason for leaving Public Changed residence 1.99 Pregnancy or child rearing 3.03 Health 1.49 Retirement 2.63 School staffing action (e.g., reduction-in-force, lay-off, school closing, school reorganization, reassignment) 1.66 Better salary or benefits 1.49 To pursue a position other than that of a K–12 teacher 1.97 To take courses to improve career opportunities within the field of education 1.30 To take courses to improve career opportunities outside the field of education 0.85 Dissatisfied with teaching as a career 1.87 Dissatisfied with previous school or teaching assignment 2.07 Other family or personal reasons 2.34 NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). Respondents were asked to rate the imporof various reasons in their decision to leave the teaching profession, although some reasons may be involuntary. Response choices webased on a 5-point scale, and included the following: "Not at all important," "Slightly important," "Somewhat important," "Very important,"Extremely important." This table includes the percent of leavers who responded "Very important" or "Extremely important."SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher D2004–05.

A-10 
Table A-7. Standard errors for Table 7: Percentage distribution of public and private school teacher leavers by their curren

Table A-8. occupational and industry status: 2004–05

 Perc

Occupational and industry status Public  Total † Main occupational status of all leavers Attending a college or university 0.70  Caring for family members 2.82  Disabled 0.30  Retired 2.11  Other 1.61  Unemployed and seeking work 0.76  Working in a position in the field of education, but not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher 2.43  Working in an occupation outside the field of education 1.32 Industry status of leavers who were working in a position  in the field of education, but not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher  Employee of a private company, business, or individual for wages, salary, or commission 2.46  State or federal government employee 4.52  Local government employee 5.02  Self-employed in own business, professional practice, or farm 1.12  Working without pay in a family business, farm, or volunteer job † Industry status of leavers who were working in an occupation outside  the field of education Employee of a private company, business, or individual for wages, salary, or commission 4.85  State or federal government employee 2.49  Local government employee 1.96  Self-employed in own business, professional practice, or farm 3.76  Working without pay in a family business, farm, or volunteer job 0.74 † Not applicable. NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teach

Data File," 2004–05.

A-11 
Table A-8. Standard errors for Table 8: Percentage distribution of working public school teacher leavers who rated various aspects of 

Table A-9. occupation as better in teaching, better in current position, or not better or worse, by their current main occupational statu

Aspect of current occupation

Better in 

teaching

Better in current 

position

Not better or 

worse

Better in 

teaching

Better in 

p

Salary 5.14 5.20 5.97 5.25 Benefits 5.43 1.93 5.71 4.85 Job security 5.85 3.66 6.02 5.55 Intellectual challenge 5.15 5.77 5.61 4.74 Opportunities for professional development 5.01 5.99 5.39 4.45 Professional prestige 6.60 5.71 5.10 4.51 General work conditions 4.07 4.17 5.23 4.61 Safety of environment 4.02 3.55 4.66 4.36 Manageability of workload 3.09 5.88 5.62 5.32 Procedures for performance evaluation 3.45 3.98 4.78 4.13 Autonomy or control over own work 6.39 6.29 5.53 3.74 Influence over workplace policies and practices 4.22 5.79 5.89 4.16 

Social relationships with colleagues 5.69 3.90 5.35 5.32 Ability to balance personal life and work 5.18 5.88 6.01 3.95 Availability of resources and materials and/or  equipment for doing job 5.49 4.86 5.69 4.95 Recognition and support from  administrators and/or managers 5.61 5.46 5.07 5.06 Opportunities for learning from colleagues 6.12 5.04 5.23 5.19 Opportunities for professional advancement or  promotion 6.01 5.78 5.71 4.52 Sense of personal accomplishment 6.88 5.68 5.27 5.52 Opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others 4.10 5.01 4.84 4.39 NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher Data File

 Working in a position in the field of education, but 

not as a regular K–12 classroom teacher Working outside the 

A-12 
Table A-9. Standard errors for Table 9: Percentage distribution of working private school teacher leavers who rated various aspe

Table A-9. current occupation as better in teaching, better in current position, or not better or worse: 2004–05 

Aspect of current occupation

Better in 

teaching

Better in 

current position Not better or wo

Salary 7.26 18.51 22Benefits 7.80 10.34 17Job security 5.74 12.23 17Intellectual challenge 9.13 18.98 11Opportunities for professional development 7.41 14.18 19Professional prestige 8.57 10.83 18General work conditions 5.09 13.67 18Safety of environment 4.59 9.13 13Manageability of workload 5.29 14.43 10Procedures for performance evaluation 6.43 8.73 13Autonomy or control over own work 8.34 16.72 10Influence over workplace policies and practices 8.08 9.65 16Social relationships with colleagues 8.64 8.94 17Ability to balance personal life and work 5.27 15.73 11Availability of resources and materials and/or  equipment for doing job 4.90 13.41 17Recognition and support from  administrators and/or managers 8.09 9.53 17Opportunities for learning from colleagues 7.89 11.84 19Opportunities for professional advancement or  promotion 6.29 14.76 19Sense of personal accomplishment 8.80 22.01 15Opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others 12.87 24.74 12NOTE: Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base year (2003–04). This table reports data on leavers who were 

working in positions in the field of education, but not as regular K–12 classroom teachers, as well as leavers in positions outside the field of education. Data on leavers who reported working in other occupational categories are not included. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Former Teacher Data 2004–05.

A-13 

B- 1

Appendix B: Methodology and Technical Notes
B- 2
B- 3

Overview of the Teacher Follow-up Survey 

The Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) is sponsored by the National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES), the statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education, and is 

conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. TFS is a follow-up survey of selected elementary 

and secondary school teachers who participate in the NCES Schools and Staffing Survey 

(SASS). SASS is the largest survey of public, private, and Bureau of Indian Affairs 

(BIA)-funded K–12 school districts, schools, teachers, and administrators in the United 

States today. It provides extensive data on the characteristics and qualifications of 

teachers and principals, teacher hiring practices, professional development, class size, and 

other conditions in schools across the nation. TFS focuses on a sample of public and 

private school teachers who participated in SASS, including those teachers who leave the 

K–12 teaching profession and those who change schools but continue to teach. TFS is 

conducted in the school year following SASS. The first administration took place in the 

1988–89 school year, with subsequent administrations in the 1991–92, 1994–95, 2000–

01, and 2004–05 school years. 

To access additional general information on SASS and TFS, or to find electronic copies 

of the questionnaires, go to the SASS home page (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass). For 

additional information on specific TFS-related topics discussed in this appendix, consult 

the Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). 

For additional information on 2003–04 SASS methodology, consult the Documentation 

for the 2003–04 Schools and Staffing Survey (Tourkin et al. forthcoming). 

 

Sampling Frames and Sample Selection 

Teachers sampled for TFS are drawn from the SASS teacher sample, which, in turn, is 

drawn from the SASS school sample. Because SASS and TFS are so interrelated, the 

description of sampling frames and sample selection begins with SASS and then moves 

on to TFS. 

SASS Sampling Frames and Sample Selection Procedures 

Public schools. The foundation for the 2003–04 SASS public school sampling frame is 

the 2001–02 Common Core of Data (CCD) data file, which includes 97,623 regular 

public schools, public charter schools, BIA-funded schools, Department of Defenseoperated domestic military base schools, and special-purpose schools, such as special 

education, vocational, and alternative schools. Extensive modifications to CCD (as 

described below) resulted in 90,239 schools on the SASS public school sampling frame. 

Schools were added and deleted from the CCD in order to fit the definition of a school 

used in SASS. In SASS, a school is defined as an institution or part of an institution that 

provides classroom instruction to students, has one or more teachers to provide 

instruction, serves students in one or more of grades 1–12 or the ungraded equivalent, and 

is located in one or more buildings. SASS is confined to the 50 states plus the District of 
B- 4

Columbia and excludes territories and overseas schools. The SASS definition of a school 

was generally similar to CCD with some exceptions. CCD included some schools that did 

not offer teacher-provided classroom instruction that included academic subjects in 

grades 1–12 or the equivalent ungraded levels. In some instances, schools in CCD were 

essentially administrative units that may have overseen entities that provided classroom 

instruction, or the school on CCD may have provided funding and oversight only. SASS 

collapsed CCD schools where the location, address, and phone number were the same 

based on the assumption that the respondent would consider this to be one school. To be 

considered a school, CCD only required that the entity in question have an assigned 

administrator. Unlike CCD, SASS allowed responding schools to define themselves as a 

school, and Census Bureau staff observed that schools generally responded as one entity 

in situations where the administration of two or more schools was the same. Therefore, 

some schools had to be added to the SASS sampling frame. The CCD also includes 

schools located overseas that are operated by the Department of Defense. These schools 

are excluded from the SASS sample. Finally, SASS added schools in Pennsylvania and 

California after having directly contacted their administrative units reported on CCD. 

These administrative units oversee certain types of educational entities (e.g., special 

education schools, juvenile justice facilities) within various California and Pennsylvania 

counties. This type of education is often provided at a number of locations within a 

particular county, but not necessarily at schools listed on CCD. To avoid confusion, these 

administrative units were contacted by phone, and requested to provide a list of the 

schools they oversaw. These lists were subsequently matched to CCD. If any of the 

schools from these lists were not already on CCD, they were added to the SASS sampling 

frame at that time (for more details see the Documentation for the 2003–04 Schools and 

Staffing Survey [Tourkin et al. forthcoming]). 

The SASS sample is a stratified probability proportional to size (PPS) sample. All BIAfunded schools are included in the sample. All other schools undergo multiple levels of 

stratification. Non-BIA schools are first stratified by type (high American Indian 

enrollment, public charter, or regular). Within type, schools are stratified by state or state 

group (for nonregular schools). Within state or state group, schools are stratified by grade 

level (elementary, secondary, and combined). Non-BIA-funded schools are 

systematically selected for the sample from a hierarchically sorted list using the PPS 

algorithm within each stratum (systematic selection from a sorted list results in implicit 

stratification). In applying this algorithm, a measure of size for each non-BIA-funded 

school is used to determine whether the school is selected with certainty, or whether a 

probability sampling procedure is applied (for a more detailed explanation of PPS 

sampling, consult Sampling Techniques [Cochran 1977]). The measure of size used is the 

square root of the number of full-time-equivalent teachers reported for each school or 

imputed during sampling frame creation. Any non-BIA-funded school with a measure of 

size greater than the sampling interval (the inverse of the rate at which the sample is 

selected) is included in the sample with certainty and excluded from the probability 

sampling operation. In the 2003–04 SASS, these procedures produced a non-BIA sample 

of 10,202 public schools (455 high American Indian enrollment schools, 303 public 

charter schools, and 9,444 traditional public schools) and a BIA-funded sample of 166 

schools. 
B- 5

Private schools. The 2003–04 SASS private school sample consists of schools selected 

from a list frame and an area frame.1

 The area frame improves coverage, because the list 

frame omits about 8 percent of eligible private schools. Both frames are from the 2001–

02 Private School Universe Survey (PSS); the schools in these frames were combined to 

create the complete frame. The SASS private school sample contains 3,622 schools; 

3,443 schools are from the list frame and 179 are from the area frame. 

Like public schools, private schools undergo multiple levels of stratification. Within each 

stratum, private schools in the list frame were systematically selected from a 

hierarchically sorted list using a PPS algorithm (resulting in implicit stratification). In 

applying this algorithm, the measure of size used was the square root of the 2000–01 PSS 

number of teachers in the school. Any school with a measure of size larger than the 

sampling interval was excluded from the probability sampling process and included in the 

sample with certainty. 

 

Teachers. The sampling frame for the 2003–04 SASS teacher questionnaires consists of 

lists of teachers provided by schools in the SASS sample. Teachers are defined as staff 

who teach a regularly scheduled class to students in any of grades K–12. The SASS 

Teacher Listing Form was collected by Census Bureau field representatives as early as 

possible in the 2003–04 school year from all public (including public charter), private, 

and BIA-funded schools in the SASS sample to obtain a complete list of teachers 

employed at each school. Within each school, teachers were classified into four strata 

based on their minority status or years of teaching experience. The strata to which 

teachers were assigned, in hierarchical order, were Asian or Pacific Islander, American 

Indian or Alaska Native, new teachers (3 or fewer years teaching), and experienced 

teachers (more than 3 years teaching). The goals of the teacher sampling were to select at 

least 1,600 Asian or Pacific Islander teachers, at least 1,600 American Indian or Alaska 

Native teachers, and a minimum of 2,300 new teachers by sector. No oversampling of 

new teachers in public schools was needed because of the large number of sampled 

schools with new teachers. In private schools, new teachers were oversampled by a factor 

of 1.5. Within each stratum, teachers were selected systematically with equal probability. 

The sample of 63,135 teachers was selected from all schools that provided teacher lists. 

About 11 percent of public schools and 16 percent of private schools that met the SASS 

definition of a school did not provide teacher lists. No teachers were selected from these 

schools. 

 

1

 During each administration of the PSS survey, the PSS private school register is updated prior to survey 

mailout. Two sources are used to update the register: (1) the list frame, a synthesis of association, state, and 

commercial listings of private schools; and (2) an area sample, an independent listing of private schools 

included in a sample of geographical areas. A nationally representative sample of primary sampling units 

(PSUs)—each PSU consisting of a single county or a group of counties—is chosen for the area sample. The 

area frame consists of the list of PSUs of which the nation is composed. 
B- 6

TFS Teacher Sampling Frames and Sample Selection Procedures 

The 2004–05 TFS sample consists of 7,429 teachers out of the 51,223 public and private 

school teachers who participated in the 2003–04 SASS. The TFS teacher sample is 

selected from the pool of teachers who participated in the previous year’s SASS. Similar 

to SASS, the 2004–05 TFS sample includes teachers from the public (including public 

charter) and private school sectors. 

The sampling frame for TFS consisted of the 51,748 public, private, and BIA-funded 

school teachers who completed interviews for SASS. Teachers from BIA-funded schools 

were included in the sampling frame, but were dropped from the TFS sample because 

there were so few teachers from BIA-funded schools on the frame (151 BIA-funded 

schools were dropped from the TFS sample). The number of teachers in the sampling 

frame is slightly lower than the total number of interviewed teachers in SASS (51,847) 

because it excludes 99 teachers who were reported to have died or left the country at the 

time of the teacher status collection in the fall of 2004. 

The TFS sample was selected using the SASS teacher base weights (the inverse of the 

sampled teacher’s probability of selection) as the starting point, because the SASS 

teacher final weights were not completed in time for sampling. The SASS final teacher 

weights are more reflective of the teacher population. Subsequently, an adjustment factor 

was used in the production of the TFS teacher final weights to take into account the 

differences between the base and final weights. The weighting adjustment factor adjusts 

for all stages of weighting that occurred between the base and final weighting 

calculations for SASS teachers (for additional information, please see the chapter on 

weighting in Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. 

forthcoming). 

The TFS sample is a stratified sample that was allocated by sector, status, and minority 

status in order to allow comparisons of teachers by strata: status (stayers, movers, and 

leavers)2

 within sector (traditional public, public charter, and private), teaching 

experience groups (3 or fewer years of teaching experience, more than 3 years of 

teaching experience), grade level taught (elementary, middle, and secondary), and 

minority status (minority or non-minority). All teachers who responded to the 2003–04 

SASS were stratified by these five variables in the following order: sector, status, 

teaching experience, grade level taught, and minority status. 

All of the strata, except for status, were defined based on data from teachers’ SASS 

records. To determine whether a teacher in the TFS frame was a stayer, mover, or leaver, 

each SASS sampled school was mailed a Teacher Status Form (TFS–1) at the beginning 

of the 2004–05 school year asking for current information about the previous year’s 

teachers. The information collected on this form was used to stratify each teacher into the 

following categories: 

 

2

 Definitions of these and other terms are contained in the “Summary of Variables” section at the end of 

appendix C. 
B- 7

 Leavers – teachers in the 2003–04 school year who left the teaching 

profession before the 2004–05 school year began. 

 Stayers – teachers in the 2003–04 school year who remained a teacher at 

the same school for the 2004–05 school year or teachers whose status was 

not reported (left blank) by the school. Teachers whose status was not 

reported in the TFS–1 were assumed to be stayers because in any given 

year most teachers are stayers. These teachers account for approximately 

1-2 percent of all stayers. 

 Movers – teachers in the 2003–04 school year who remained a teacher for 

the 2004–05 school year but in a different school or teachers who worked 

in a school in the 2003–04 school year that closed or merged with another 

school. 

 Unknowns – teachers whose status was reported by the school as having 

left, without any other information given. 

To best achieve the comparisons discussed above (e.g., across sector, teaching 

experience, grade level taught, etc.), the sample was allocated to the strata based on the 

teacher’s sector, status, and minority status. The following rules were applied: 

 Optimize the reliability of comparisons of current teachers with former 

teachers by selecting all leavers; 

 Optimize the reliability of comparisons of movers with nonmovers by 

selecting all movers from private schools; 

 Subsequently, select all private school teachers with an unknown status 

and approximately 50 percent of traditional public and public charter 

school teachers with an unknown status, because they are more likely to 

be movers or leavers; 

 Optimize the reliability of comparisons of minority with nonminority 

movers by selecting approximately 70 percent of minority movers from 

traditional public and public charter schools and 50 percent of nonminority movers from traditional public and public charter schools; 

 Optimize the reliability of comparisons of stayers with movers and leavers 

by allocating the remaining sample in the following way: 1,760 traditional 

public school stayers, 120 public charter school stayers, and 900 private 

school stayers. 

Once the sample sizes were determined within status, sector, and minority status, the 

sample was allocated to strata (i.e., sector, status, teaching level, teaching experience, 

minority status) proportional to the cumulative measure of size (SASS teacher initial 

basic weight) within each stratum relative to the cumulative measure of size of the 

status/sector/minority level. This maximizes the reliability of status/sector/minority status 

estimates. 

Within each TFS stratum, teachers who had completed interviews in the 2003–04 SASS 

were sorted by a measure of size (the 2003–04 SASS teacher initial basic weight, which 
B- 8

is the inverse of the probability of selection prior to any corrections identified during data 

collection), main subject taught as reported by the teacher in SASS (i.e., special 

education, general elementary, mathematics, science, English/language arts, social 

studies, vocational/technical, and other), Census region, SASS private school affiliation 

stratum (for private school teachers only), SASS school locale (based on the 1990 Census 

geography), SASS school enrollment, and SASS teacher control number. 

 

After the teachers were sorted using the above variables, they were selected within each 

stratum using a systematic probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling procedure, 

which implicitly stratified the sample. This procedure is similar to that used in the SASS 

school selection. Any teacher with a measure of size (SASS teacher initial basic weight) 

greater than the sampling interval was included in the sample with certainty. Since TFS 

selection probabilities are not conditioned on anything, the selected sample sizes equaled 

the allocated sample size. At this point, 40 BIA teachers were dropped from the TFS 

sample.

Teacher Follow-Up Survey Methodology 

Data Collection Procedures 

Before the administration of the 2004–05 TFS, the survey items and methodology were 

tested and improved. In an effort to develop questionnaire items that would accurately 

capture current and former teachers’ responses to key questionnaire items, a cognitive 

study was conducted to identify problems that could be corrected prior to the survey’s 

administration. The results of this study were used to make revisions to the survey items; 

a second, smaller study was conducted to test some of the key revisions. The second 

study was also a usability test3 of an internet instrument, which was added as a reporting 

method for the 2004–05 TFS. For details, see the appendix on the pretest and usability 

test in the Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. 

forthcoming). 

TFS data collection began with the sample selection in fall 2004. The Teacher Status 

Form was mailed to each school that had at least one teacher who participated in the 

2003–04 SASS. A knowledgeable person at the school (e.g., a school administrator or a 

member of the office staff) was asked to complete the form by indicating the current 

teaching or other occupational status of each teacher listed on it. 

Collection of Teacher Status Forms ended in November 2004. Approximately 99 percent 

of schools provided information about SASS teachers. The TFS sample of 7,429 teachers 

was drawn from a sampling frame of 51,748 teachers who completed interviews for 

SASS. 

 

3

 A usability test is a way to identify how users actually interact with a system; in this case, the TFS 

internet instrument. The goal of a usability test is to find out what is and is not working well in the 

instrument. 
B- 9

In January 2005, as part of an experiment on response rates for mailed vs. internet 

questionnaires, approximately one-third of the sampled teachers were mailed a Former 

Teacher Questionnaire or a Current Teacher Questionnaire to complete. The remaining 

respondents were offered the option of completing the questionnaire on the Internet and 

were mailed a letter that included a user name and password to use to access the survey 

on the Internet. At the end of January, internet respondents were also mailed paper 

questionnaires. As part of the experiment, roughly half of all respondents received 

monetary incentives in an effort to increase response rates. Presumably, with these 

incentives, the number of cases sent to field for follow-up would be reduced. For more 

information on the internet and incentive experiment, please see the section on data 

collection in the Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. 

forthcoming). 

Follow-up efforts began in April 2005. Approximately 6 weeks after the initial delivery 

of the questionnaires, each sampled person who had not completed the questionnaire was 

sent a new one, and the internet groups were reminded about their internet option. Cases 

were included in nonresponse follow-up if the sampled teachers had not returned a 

completed paper questionnaire or completed it online. Supervisors at 12 regional Census 

offices coordinated work of field staff, who in turn contacted all nonrespondents either by 

phone or by visiting them personally. Data collection ended in June of 2005. 

Data Processing and Imputation 

Census Bureau data processing staff were responsible for checking in completed 

questionnaires, capturing data, and implementing quality control procedures. 

Questionnaires classified as complete were submitted to a series of computer edits 

consisting of a range check, a consistency edit, and a blanking edit (for further 

information, including definitions, please see the section on data processing in the 

Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey, [Cox et al. forthcoming]). 

After these edits were run and reviewed by analysts, the records were put through another

edit to make a final determination as to whether the case was eligible for the survey and 

whether sufficient data had been collected for the case to be classified as complete. After 

the final edits were run, there were still some cases with “not-answered” values for some 

items. Values were created for these items in the next step of the data processing, which 

was imputation. 

The imputation procedure consisted of three stages. In the first stage, items were imputed 

with a valid response using data either from other items in the same TFS questionnaire or 

from items in the related 2003–04 SASS school or teacher questionnaires. In the second 

stage, hot deck imputation, subsample ratio imputation, and random subsample ratio 

imputation methods were used (these methods are described in the imputation chapter of 

the Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey [Cox et al. forthcoming]). 

In the final stage, all remaining unanswered items were imputed manually by Census 

Bureau analysts. After each stage of imputation, computer edits were run again to verify 

that the imputed data were consistent with the existing questionnaire data. Imputation 
B- 10

flags, indicating which imputation method was used, were assigned to each variable. For 

further information, please see the section on data processing and imputation in the 

Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). 

Response Rates 

Unit response rates. The weighted unit response rate for all teachers in the 2004–05 TFS 

was 91.8 percent.4 Table B-1 summarizes the weighted and unweighted response rates for 

cases in the 2004–05 TFS by data file (i.e., current and former teachers) and by sector of 

teachers’ base-year schools (i.e., public or private). The response rate for current teachers 

includes teachers who stayed in the same school for the 2004–05 school year (stayers) 

and those who moved to a new school (movers). Both stayers and movers completed the 

Current Teacher Questionnaire.

A comprehensive unit nonresponse bias analysis was conducted for the 2004–05 TFS. 

The analysis evaluated the extent of potential bias introduced by teacher nonresponse at 

the unit level. An examination of response rates revealed no substantial evidence of a bias 

at the unit level. For further information on nonresponse bias analysis, please see the 

Documentation for the 2004–05 Teacher Follow-up Survey (Cox et al. forthcoming). 

Table B-1. Unweighted and base-weighted response rates for the Teacher Follow-up Survey, by 

Table B-1. sector and teaching status: 2004–05 

Teacher sample Unweighted response rate 

(percent) 

Base-weighted response 

rate (percent) 

 

 Total 

Current teachers 

Former teachers 

91.02 

92.17 

89.95 

91.82 

92.03 

89.64 

Public1

 Current teachers 

 Former teachers 

92.03 

92.49 

91.16 

91.90 

92.06 

90.25 

Private 

 Current teachers 

 Former teachers 

88.33 

90.96 

84.56 

91.14 

91.86 

86.58 

1 The public sector includes teachers from traditional public and public charter schools. 

NOTE: Base-weighted response rates use the inverse of the probability of selection and the sampling 

adjustment factor. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up 

Survey (TFS), “Current and Former Teacher Documentation Data Files,” 2004–05. 

The overall response rate represents the response rate to the survey taking into 

consideration each stage of data collection. For a teacher to be eligible for TFS, it was 

necessary to have received the Teacher Listing Form (TLF) from the school during the 

2003–04 SASS data collection, which provided a sampling frame for teachers at that 

school, and for the teacher to have responded to the SASS teacher questionnaire. This 

 

4

 For the formula to calculate the unit response rate, see Standard 1-3 in the NCES Statistical Standards

(NCES 2003–601). 
B- 11

overall response rate is the product of the survey response rates shown in table B-2: 

(SASS TLF response rate) x (SASS teacher questionnaire response rate) x (TFS 

questionnaire response rate). The overall response rates by sector and teacher status for 

the 2004–05 TFS are shown in table B-2. 

Table B-2. Unit response rates for the Schools and Staffing Survey and Teacher Follow-up Survey, 

Table B-2. by sector: 2003–04 and 2004–05 

Base-weighted TFS 

response rate, 2004–

05 (percent) Overall response rate 

Teacher sample 

Base-weighted 

SASS Teacher 

Listing Form 

response rate 

(percent) 

Base-weighted 

SASS teacher 

data files 

response rate, 

2003–04 

(percent) 

Current 

teachers 

Former 

teachers 

Current 

teachers 

Former 

teachers 

 Total 88.27 84.55 92.03 89.64 68.68 66.90 

Public1 89.20 84.90 92.06 90.25 69.72 68.35 

Private 85.40 82.40 91.86 86.58 64.64 60.92 

1 The public sector includes teachers from traditional public and public charter schools. 

NOTE: Base-weighted response rates use the inverse of the probability of selection and the sampling 

adjustment factor. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing 

Survey (SASS), “Public and Private School Teacher Documentation Data Files,” 2003–04; Teacher Followup Survey (TFS), “Current and Former Teacher Documentation Data Files,” 2004–05. 

Item response rates. Item response rates indicate the percentage of respondents that 

answered a given survey question, or item. The weighted TFS item response rates are 

produced by dividing the number of sampled teachers who responded to an item by the 

number of sampled teachers who were eligible to answer that item, adjusting by the final 

weight. Table B-3 provides a brief summary of the item response rates for both 

questionnaires. The item response rates in the table are weighted and do not reflect 

additional response loss due to respondents’ refusal to participate in the survey. 

On the former teacher questionnaire, there were five items that had a weighted response 

rate of less than 85 percent, and on the current teacher questionnaire, there were seven 

items that had a weighted response rate of less than 85 percent. As on the unit level, 

nonresponse bias analysis conducted at the item level for the 2004–05 TFS revealed no 

substantial evidence of bias. 
B- 12

Table B-3. Summary of weighted item response rates for the Teacher Follow-up Survey, Table B-3. 

Table B-3. by questionnaire: 2004–05 

Questionnaire 

 Range of item

response rates

(percent)

Percent of items with 

a response 

rate of

85 percent or

 more

Percent of items

with a response rate 

of

70.0–84.9 

percent

 Percent of items 

with a response 

rate of less than 70 

percent

 

Former Teacher 

Questionnaire 40.81–100.00 94.00 2.00 4.00

Current Teacher 

Questionnaire 63.00–100.00 95.85 3.55 0.60

NOTE: Weighted response rates use the inverse of the probability of selection and the sampling adjustment 

factor. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Teacher Follow-up 

Survey (TFS), “Current and Former Teacher Documentation Data Files,” 2004–05. 

Weighting 

The general purpose of weighting is to scale up the sample estimates to represent the 

target survey population, which for the 2004–05 TFS includes stayers, movers, and 

leavers. For TFS, a base weight (the inverse of the sampled teacher’s probability of 

selection) is used as the starting point. Next, a weighting adjustment is applied to reflect 

the impact of the SASS teacher weighting procedure. Next, a nonresponse adjustment 

factor is calculated and applied using information about the respondents that is known 

from the sampling frame data. Finally, a ratio adjustment factor is calculated and applied 

to the sample to adjust the sample totals to the frame totals in order to reduce sampling 

variability. The product of these factors is the final weight for each TFS respondent, 

which appears as TFSFINWT on the data file. 

Variance Estimation 

The preferred method of calculating sampling errors of complex sample designs, such as 

that of SASS, is replication. Replication methods involve constructing a number of 

subsamples (i.e., replicates) from the full sample and computing the statistic of interest 

for each replicate. The mean square error of the replicate estimates around the full sample 

estimate provides an estimate of the variance of the statistic. The replicate weights are 

used to compute the variance of a given statistic. Each SASS data file includes a set of 88 

replicate weights designed to produce variance estimates. The set of replicate weights for 

each file is applied to the respondents in that file. 

For TFS, the replicate weights are derived from the SASS teacher replicate weights, 

making appropriate adjustments for the TFS sampling procedure. The TFS base weight 

for each TFS respondent was multiplied by each of the 88 SASS replicate weights 

divided by the SASS teacher full-sample base weight for that respondent. To calculate 88 

replicate weights, which should be used for variance calculations, these TFS replicate 
B- 13

basic weights were processed through the remainder of the TFS weighting system. The 

replicate weights for TFS respondents are TFRPWT1 – TFRPWT88. 

A variance estimate is obtained by first calculating the estimate for each replicate, then 

summing the squared deviations of the replicate estimates from the full-sample estimate, 

and finally dividing by the number of replicates: 

∑ − =

88

1

2 ( ˆ ˆ) / 88

k

k y y 

 where k = 1, 2 .....88, 

yk = kth replicate estimate, and 

 y = the full sample estimate. 

The computation of sampling errors for either TFS or SASS data using these replicate 

weights can be done easily with one of the following software programs: WesVar 

Complex Sample Software, SUDAAN (SUDAAN programs can be written within a SAS 

statistical package), Stata 9, or AM Statistical Software.5

Reliability of Data 

TFS estimates are based on samples. The sample estimates may differ somewhat from the 

values that would be obtained from administering a complete census using the same 

questionnaire, instructions, and enumerators. The difference occurs because a sample 

survey estimate is subject to two types of errors: nonsampling and sampling. Estimates of 

the magnitude of the TFS sampling error, but not the nonsampling error, can be derived 

or calculated. Nonsampling errors are attributed to many sources, including definitional 

difficulties, the inability or unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, 

differences in the interpretation of questions, inability to recall information, errors made 

in collection (e.g., in recording or coding the data), errors made in processing the data, 

and errors made in estimating values for missing data. Quality control and edit 

procedures were used to reduce errors made by respondents, coders, and interviewers. 

Caution Concerning Change Estimates 

Care must be taken in estimating change over time in a TFS data element, because some 

of the measured change may not be attributable to a change in the educational system. 

Some of the change may be due to changes in the sampling frame, to questionnaire item 

wording, or other changes. For example, the definition of locale codes based on the U.S. 

Census was revised in 2000 and again in 2003. Changes in how schools are categorized 

may, therefore, account for at least some changes that are noted from previous 

 

5

 For information on each of these software programs, please see their respective websites: 

www.westat.com/wesvar, www.rti.org/SUDAAN/, www.stata.com, and am.air.org. 
B- 14

administrations. This impacts the urbanicity variable included in the report, which is 

based on the 2000 Census definitions for locale codes. 

The definition of locale codes changed between the 1999–2000 and 2003–04 

administrations of SASS. To facilitate the transition, locale codes based on geographic 

concepts from both the 1990 and 2000 Decennial Census are included on the 2003–04 

SASS data files. (SLOCP_99 uses the 1990 Census metropolitan areas, and SLOCP_03 

and URBANS03 use the 2000 Census metropolitan areas). The specific categories 

reported in the locale codes are based, respectively, upon the 1990 or 2000 definitions for 

central city, urban fringe of large or medium-sized central city, large or small town, and 

rural areas either inside a metropolitan area or outside a metropolitan area. The 1990 

Decennial Census geographic areas were based upon countywide definitions of 

metropolitan or nonmetropolitan areas. By the 2000 Census, urban and rural 

classifications were based on a subcounty level. 

In 2003, the Office of Management and Budget changed the geographic classifications, 

replacing “central city” with “principal city” and “Standardized Metropolitan Statistical 

Area” (SMSA) with “Core-based Statistical Area” (CBSA). However, these newer terms 

and locale codes could not be used in the 2003–04 SASS because the 2003 geographic 

classification of schools or school districts had not been completely implemented into the 

Common Core of Data (CCD) or the Private School Universe Survey (PSS), which serve 

as the sampling frames for SASS, by the time the 2003–04 SASS data were collected. 

Since then, the 2003–04 CCD and 2003–04 PSS have incorporated a new set of 12-level 

locale codes. 

Only the urbanicity variables that utilize the 2000 definitions (SLOCP_03 and 

URBANS03) are included on the 2004–05 TFS data files. Therefore, caution should be 

taken when comparing urbanicity estimates from the 2004–05 TFS of the respondent’s 

base year school with previous administrations, because the locale codes are not based on 

the same definitions. 

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C- 1

Appendix C: Summary of Variables
C- 2
C- 3

Summary of Variables 

Table C-1 displays variables that are used in this report. Variables beginning with the 

letter “F” (e.g., F0581) refer to items on the 2004–05 TF S questionnaires; variables 

beginning with the letter “T” (e.g., T0399) refer to items on the 2003–04 SASS teacher 

questionnaires; and variables beginning with the letter “S” (e.g., S0632) refer to items on 

the 2003–04 SASS school questionnaires. Definitions for the remaining variables follow 

table C-1. 

Data file

Variable Variable name location1

Age2 AGE_T 2 Yes

Base salary T0399 3 Yes

Certification type, public school teachers T0166, T0188 3 Yes

Certification type, private school teachers T0442, T0443 3 Yes

Community type2 URBANS03 2 No

Comparison of current employment to teaching F0581-F0600 1 No

Full-time teaching experience, public T0036 3 Yes

Full-time teaching experience, private T0039 3 Yes

Industry status F0557 1 Yes

Main assignment field2 ASGN03_S 2 No

Main occupational status F0553 1 No

Percent of K–12 students approved for free or 

 reduced-price lunch2 S0632, NSLAPP_S 3,2 Yes

Percent of enrolled students who were

 minorities2 MINENR 2 Yes

Plan to remain in teaching, 2003–04 T0383 3 No

Plan to remain in teaching, 2004–05 F0562 1 No

Race/ethnicity2 RACETH_T 2 Yes

Reason for leaving teaching F0567-F0578 1 Yes

Reason for moving to another school F0161-F0171 1 Yes

School enrollment2 SCHSIZE 2 Yes

School level2 SCHLEVEL 2 No

Sector (public/private)2 SECTOR 2 No

Sex2 GENDER_S 2 No

Stayer/mover/leaver status2 STTUS_TF 1 No

Teaching status T0026, T0029 3 Yes

Type of move between schools F0159 1 No

1

 The variables in this report have three possible data file locations. Questions that were asked 

during the Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) administration and are included on the TFS data files 

are indicated with a 1. Because TFS teachers participated in the 2003–04 SASS (i.e., the base year), 

some questions were not repeated in the TFS data collection. SASS questions (e.g., sex, 

race/ethnicity) that have been added permanently to the TFS data files are noted with a 2, and

SASS questions that have been merged with the TFS data files for this analysis are noted with a 3.

2 See explanation in text below.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools 

and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public and Private School Teacher Data Files," "Public and Private 

School Data Files," 2003–04; Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS), "Current and Former Teacher 

Data Files," 2004–05.

Table C-1. Summary information for the variables used in this report

Recoded 

(yes/no)
C- 4

AGE_T (Age): A SASS created variable based on respondents’ reported year of birth. 

AGE_T is a continuous variable that was created by subtracting the teachers’ reported 

year of birth from the year of data collection (2003). 

URBANS03 (Community type): A SASS frame variable based on the physical location 

of the school in which the respondent taught during the base year. 1 = “Central city,” 

which includes schools located in large and mid-size central cities, as defined by the 

Census Bureau. 2 = “Urban fringe/large town,” which includes schools located in urban 

fringes of large and mid-size central cities, in large towns, and in rural areas inside a core 

based statistical area or consolidated statistical area. 3 = “Rural/small town,” which 

includes schools located in small towns or rural areas outside a core based statistical area 

or consolidated statistical area. In this report, these categories are based on the 2000 

Census definitions of locale codes. Please see the “Caution Concerning Change 

Estimates” section above for information regarding how locale code definitions have 

changed over time. 

ASGNO3_S (Main assignment field): A created variable based on respondents’ answers 

to the main assignment field question on the 2003–04 SASS but included on only the 

TFS data files. 1 = early childhood and general elementary, 2 = special education, 3 = arts 

and music, 4 = English and language arts, 5 = mathematics, 6 = natural sciences, 7 = 

social sciences, 8 = all others, which includes teachers who reported a main assignment in 

computer science, English as a second language, foreign languages, health education, 

vocational/technical education, or all miscellaneous others. 

NSLAPP_S (Percent of K–12 students approved for free or reduced-price lunch): A 

SASS created variable that is computed by dividing the number of K–12 students 

approved for free or reduced-price lunch in the respondents’ schools (S0634) by the 

number of K–12 students enrolled in the respondents’ schools, provided the respondents’ 

schools participate in the National School Lunch Program (S0632 = 1). Recoded into four 

categories for this report: 1 = less than 15 percent, 2 = 15–49 percent, 3 = 50 or more 

percent, 4 = school did not participate in free or reduced-price lunch program. 

MINENR (Percent of enrolled students who were minorities): A SASS created 

variable based on the percentage of enrolled minority students as reported by the 

respondent’s base year school. MINENR is a continuous variable and was created by 

dividing the number of minority students enrolled in the school (NMINST_S) by the total 

number of K–12 and comparable ungraded students enrolled in the school (ENRK12UG). 

Recoded into three categories for this report: 1 = less than 10 percent, 2 = 10–34 percent, 

3 = 35 or more percent. 

RACETH_T (Race/ethnicity): A SASS created variable based on respondents’ reported 

race and ethnicity. The 2003–04 SASS allowed respondents to mark more than one racial 

category. Recoded into six categories for this report: 1 = White, non-Hispanic; 2 = Black, 

non-Hispanic; 3 = Hispanic, single or more than one race; 4 = Asian, Native Hawaiian, or 

other Pacific Islander, non-Hispanic; 5 = American Indian or Alaska Native, nonHispanic; 6 = more than one race, non-Hispanic. 
C- 5

SCHSIZE (School enrollment): A SASS created variable based on the number of K–12 

and ungraded students enrolled in the respondents’ schools (ENRK12UG). Recoded into 

four categories for this report: 1 = less than 200, 2 = 200–499, 3 = 500–749, 4 = 750 or 

more. 

SCHLEVEL (School level): A SASS created variable based on the grade levels offered 

at respondents’ base year schools. 1 = elementary, 2 = secondary, 3 = combined grades. 

Elementary schools include those with any of grades K–6 and none of grades 9–12. 

Secondary schools include those with any of grades 7–12 and none of grades 1–6. 

Combined schools include all other cases. 

SECTOR (public/private): A SASS frame variable, determined by a school’s 

classification on the SASS sampling frame. 1 = public, 2 = private. On SASS and TFS, 

private schools fall into one of nine categories according to their affiliation: CatholicParochial; Catholic- Diocesan; Catholic- Private; other religious- Conservative Christian; 

other religious, affiliated with a religious school association; other religious, not affiliated 

with a religious school association; nonsectarian- regular; nonsectarian- special emphasis; 

nonsectarian- special education. 

GENDER_S (Sex): A SASS created variable based on respondents’ gender as reported 

on the 2003–04 SASS (T0408). 1 = male, 2 = female. 

STTUS_TF (Stayer/mover/leaver status): A TFS created variable. 1 = leaver, 2 = 

stayer, 3 = mover. Leavers are teachers who left the teaching profession after the base 

year. Stayers are teachers who were teaching in the same school in the current school 

year as in the base year. Movers are teachers who were still teaching in the current school 

year but had moved to a different school after the base year.