Abstract
Background
Teacher turnover is a major issue for early childhood organizations and it is critical to understand reasons for leaving their current teaching position at the organizational level to create more stable early care and education environments.
Objective
The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the 16-item Early Childhood Job Attitude Survey (ECJAS), and to determine which organizational-level factors predict teachers’ actual turnover.
Method
Data from 84 early childhood early head start and head start teachers were collected at two time points in the United States. Internal consistencies and the factor structure of the ECJAS scale were tested.
Results
Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis suggested that 14-items load onto the ECJAS and it revealed three subscales: workplace satisfaction, classroom responsibilities, and on-going support. The internal consistency and the construct validity across three factors were adequate. Examining the associations between early childhood teachers’ job attitudes, measured by the ECJAS, and their actual turnover, we conducted the multilevel analysis and found that teacher perceived workplace satisfaction predicted their turnover after controlling for teachers’ age, race, marital status, educational attainment, program types, and employment position.
Conclusion
Early childhood organizations are encouraged to use these findings to make organizational changes and to retain their teachers.