Rural Music Teacher Retention and Turnover

This chapter examines music teacher retention and turnover in rural settings, issues challenging the sustainability of rural music education programs. This chapter first situates teacher retention and turnover in the United States in terms of the current related literature on rural teacher turnover. Following this is a review of the research on music teacher turnover and a summary of what is known about rural music staffing trends. A third section addresses factors influencing music teacher retention such as working conditions, support networks, the isolation experienced by educators in rural areas, and the perceptions held by music teachers themselves. A discussion of the impacts of music teacher turnover on rural music programs follows before a concluding section with suggestions for future research and advocacy to mitigate issues in retaining rural music educators.