Nathan Koerber, Mayra Marquez-Mendez, Adjoa Mensah, Kenneth Fasching-Varner, and P. G. Schrader (all Education) published, "Sustaining Teacher Needs: A Systematic Narrative Review Exploring Teacher Retention, Attrition, and Motivation."
This systematic narrative review analyzed 35 studies and sources to identify the factors most commonly associated with teacher retention and teacher attrition. This review, moreover, incorporated McClelland’s (2009) theory of needs to explore how these retention and attrition factors related to meeting teachers’ needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. Through this theoretical framing, the analysis revealed that teachers are more often retained when their needs for achievement are met through supportive and nurturing work environments, sustained by administrators focused on staff development. Teacher needs for affiliation are met through strong induction and mentoring programs coupled with a focus on cultivating a supportive staff through ongoing professional development and learning communities. Finally, teachers’ needs for power were most often met by providing teachers with autonomy, influence, and adequate financial compensation.