The Effects of Los Angeles Universal Preschool On Quality Preschool Teacher Retention in Los Angeles County

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) programs has a positive effect on the retention of quality preschool teachers in Los Angeles County. In prior work, preschool teacher retention is associated with wages, program structure, program process, professional development, and teacher support. We lack definitive data on specific measures of these factors and well as combinations of these factors. By comparing different preschool programs with different operating guidelines we could more easily isolate these factors and measures. This study took place within the confines of a large stable organization, the Early Education Division of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where some but not all classrooms are part of LAUP. This study compared the survey results of 31 LAUSD preschool teachers who implement LAUP programs and 55 LAUSD preschool teachers who implement non-LAUP programs. The study's objective was to provide policymakers, early educators, and researchers more reliable data on the specifics of the variables and combination of variables that promote quality preschool teacher retention in Los Angeles County. Overall this study found that when program guidelines implement workplace standards that promote teacher retention, they do make a difference for teachers. Additionally, the workplace variables that most contribute to teacher retention in Los Angeles County are teacher's relationships with supervisors and co-workers, work hours, and amount of paperwork, and adequate access to instructional materials.