State DOE asks: In Georgia, 47 percent of teachers leave the profession within five years. Why?

Update on Jan. 7, 2016: DOE has released the results of this survey , which was taken by 53,000 Georgia teachers.

Can anyone help the Georgia Department of Education figure out why teachers are leaving the field in droves?

Here is the survey DOE is asking teachers to complete:

Khushnam Mirza / SCAD-Atlanta Email Id: khushnam.mirza@gmail.com Mobile: 862-686-8224 Digital Illustration Illu for Publications 764 Prof. Thomas Burns school, education, history, book, students, challenge, testing, test, standardized, change, textbook, standards, studying, SCAD, illustration, editorial, 2014

Credit: Maureen Downey

icon to expand image

Credit: Maureen Downey

The Georgia Department of Education is studying the reasons why teachers leave public education as a profession. We are inviting current public school classroom teachers across the state to take a few moments to answer the following 7 questions to help us better understand how to reverse this trend in Georgia. We greatly appreciate your time and feedback and know that working together we can make a difference in public education in Georgia.

ALL RESPONSES ARE ANONYMOUS.

-What school system do you work for? (OPTIONAL)

-What grade levels do you teach this school year?

-How many years have you been a teacher in a public school in Georgia? (required)

-If you had a student about to graduate from high school, how likely would you be to encourage teaching as a profession?  (REQUIRED)

-In Georgia, 47% of teachers leave the profession within five years. Rank the following statements often cited as the predominant reason a teacher leaves the profession. Ranking a statement with a 1 will indicate the most predominant reason and ranking a statement as an 8 will indicate the least predominant reason that teachers leave the profession in your opinion. . (REQUIRED)

Level of benefits/compensation

Level of preparation when entering the profession

Level of teacher participation in decisions related to profession

Level/quality of ongoing support, resources and professional learning

Non-teaching school responsibilities/duties

Number and emphasis of mandated tests

School level/District level leadership

Teacher evaluation method

-Look back at question 5 and see which statement you ranked as number one. Explain why you chose this statement. (OPTIONAL)

-Please list any additional reasons why you believe 47% of the teachers in Georgia leave the profession within five years.