By Lin Altamirano, Jennifer Highsmith, Morgan Potts, and Aislynn Rodeghiero
Adviser: Dr. Matthew Campbell
Peabody College at Vanderbilt University
Summer 2025
The Problem
Teacher turnover has been a national problem for decades. Both public and private schools report high attrition rates, driven in part by financial strain as salaries lag behind the rising cost of living. However, the causes extend beyond compensation alone. Teachers often cite a lack of meaning in their work, poor well-being, and little recognition as important factors in their decision to leave the field.
This study, completed as a capstone project for the Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, aims to understand why independent schools are experiencing teacher turnover, especially as school leaders strive to retain their educators.
Area of Inquiry
The researchers explored how independent schools structure their reward and recognition systems for educators. They sought to understand how these systems were perceived by teachers and what impact they had on educators’ decisions to stay or leave. While the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) discusses teacher retention in several research reports and publications,[1] there are limited data on how teachers feel about recognition and rewards at their schools.
Literature and Conceptual Framework
In this context, rewards are defined as “tangible or intangible reinforcements meant to motivate or reinforce desirable behavior.” These could be bonuses, extra planning time, or staff parties. School leaders value these rewards for their potential to increase teacher motivation and retention.
Recognition, on the other hand, is “a positive acknowledgment of effort, character, or contribution regardless of a specific outcome.” Recognition helps foster belonging and makes people feel seen and appreciated.
The researchers noted that emotional labor is a large part of educators’ work. Teaching requires the ability to manage one’s emotions and emotional performance to support and guide students. However, this emotional labor is often unacknowledged.
To inform their study, the researchers drew upon several foundational theories. Among them was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow theorized that people are motivated by a progressive set of needs: They must satisfy the most fundamental “physiological needs”—food, water, shelter, etc.—first before they can move on to achieve higher goals, with self-actualization being the highest.[2] The researchers also used McClelland’s human motivation theory, which asserts that people are motivated by distinct and individualized needs that are not organized in a strict hierarchy but rather are unique to each person.[3] This means that effective leadership must adapt strategies to suit individual differences. Other theories that the researchers relied on included Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Herzberg distinguished between motivators (like recognition and achievement) and “hygiene factors,” which are extrinsic to the job (like pay and working conditions).[4] Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory also came into play. Ryan and Deci postulated that when people’s basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness or belonging) are met, they experience greater motivation, growth, and well-being.[5]
Using these theories, the researchers developed a battery metaphor that tied together retention, emotional labor, reward, and recognition.
This metaphor illustrates the theory that key elements of educators’ work, such as leadership, community, monetary compensation, professional development, and rewards and recognition, can either charge or drain an educator’s “battery,”, or their ability to perform their role’s requisite emotional labor, depending on whether they provide a positive or a negative impact. When their battery is charged, educators are more likely to feel motivated, engaged, and fulfilled, making them more able to perform emotional labor. However, when their battery is drained, educators will feel stressed, apathetic, and withdrawn, and performing emotional labor will leave them burned out.
Project Questions
The researchers developed two questions to guide their study:
- What is the current state of reward and recognition programs at NAIS member schools?
- Based on teachers’ perceptions, how does an independent school’s reward and recognition program impact attrition and employees’ future plans?
Methods and Respondents
The researchers used a mixed-methods approach to this study, primarily using a survey distributed to 4,718 teachers at NAIS member schools. A total of 533 teachers responded, yielding a 11.3% response rate. The survey included both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The multiple-choice questions were analyzed traditionally, while the open-ended questions were coded by theme, providing more nuance and insights into the results.
About 72% of the respondents were women, and 75% were white, which the researchers felt was an accurate representation of the independent school teaching force. More than eight in 10 (83%) were teachers, while 8% were department chairs, and 9% were tech coordinators. About a fifth each came from the West region (22%) and New England (20%). Almost eight in 10 (78%) worked at day schools, and 22% worked at schools with a boarding component.
Results and Findings
The researchers found that recognition systems at independent schools are inconsistent and fragmented, and that misaligned recognition often misses the mark. When it came to recognition at work, half of the respondents felt that their colleagues recognized their efforts all or most of the time, but fewer—40%—said the same about school leadership. About 15% reported that their efforts were never or rarely acknowledged. Most respondents (78%) said that recognition, to some extent, impacted their commitment to remain at their school.
The most favored kinds of recognition were professional development (81%), thank-you notes (77%), and supervisor recognition (68%). Most respondents indicated that recognition was meaningful when it affirmed their identity and effort rather than feeling performative.
Teachers reported that the most meaningful rewards were professional development, stipends, and planning time. Educators found symbolic rewards to be meaningless and awards and certificates to be outdated or even alienating.
About 56% of respondents reported that their school did not provide clear criteria for receiving rewards, and 47% were dissatisfied with the rewards they received. The researchers noted that this indicates a systemic disconnect between educator contribution and institutional acknowledgment.
The researchers also found that mid-career professionals tended to feel the least seen and supported. Educators with between 6 and 10 years of experience reported lower levels of satisfaction. If these educators leave, it can result in a lack of mentorship and a decline in long-term retention.
When asked about emotional labor, eight out of 10 (82%) of respondents said that they were emotionally drained from managing their emotions at work most or all of the time. About 42% said that they could rarely or never be themselves at work. A key finding was that emotional labor was often made exhausting by a lack of recognition and reward along racial, gender, and experiential lines. While Black and multiracial educators were more likely to say that thank-you notes and praise were meaningful, they reported less access to financial or institutional rewards. Multiracial educators were more than twice as likely as white educators to report feeling as though they wore a mask at work most or all of the time (31% compared to 15%).
While 81% of respondents were committed to staying in their position, most reported that they were doing so not because they were happy with their work but because it was familiar and they needed a job.
Finally, the researchers found that leadership was a key factor in retention and attrition. Supportive school leadership encouraged morale and commitment to work, while a lack of supportive leaders was likely to cause alienation and emotional drift. To help teachers feel charged and engaged with their work, leaders need to be present and consistent.
Recommendations
Researchers concluded that reward and recognition are two crucial aspects of teacher retention. They recommended several steps school leaders could take to improve teacher retention and well-being.
- Redesign recognition systems to reflect what educators value. Performative or symbolic rewards and recognition can fall short and fail to provide the desired result. Schools could survey teachers to get a better sense of what would make them feel seen and valued. They may prefer being recognized for more unseen work, such as mentorship, guiding students through troubled waters, or building team cohesion. The researchers recommend retiring symbolic rewards, such as Teacher of the Month plaques or certificates, in favor of more personal recognition, like handwritten notes or personalized professional development opportunities. School leaders could invite educators to help redesign systems of recognition and reward to make sure that they reflect educators’ values. Ultimately, rewards and recognition should convey trust, gratitude, and a real understanding of what the teachers contribute to the school.
- Make equity the backbone of reward and recognition. Burnout is more common among educators who belong to marginalized groups, and this can be made worse by inequitable rewards and recognition. To make sure that reward and recognition are equitable, school leaders need to acknowledge identity-based emotional labor, especially when educators are working to promote DEI work in the school and the classroom. The researchers recommend regularly evaluating existing reward and recognition programs through an equity lens: Do these reward systems tend to acknowledge one group more consistently than another? To ensure equitable recognition, highlight work that might have been overlooked.
- Develop leaders who model and sustain organizational culture. In the battery metaphor described above, school leaders operate as the “charging station” for educators’ batteries. Supportive leadership can replenish educators’ motivation, morale, and energy, equipping them for the emotional labor their role requires, while the opposite is also true. The researchers recommend providing leadership development that includes skills like emotional intelligence, active listening, and trauma-informed supervision. Leaders should use recognition as a metric of leadership performance, closing the loop between feedback and action. Schools could seek out professional development for leaders that focus on organizational culture and supportive leadership styles.
- Embed recognition into the daily life of the school. Educators need recognition that is consistent and part of their everyday work. Rather than reserving rewards or recognition for special occasions, leaders should make sure that the appreciation culture is persistent, visible, and genuine. This could be a daily appreciation or recognition effort. For example, the researchers suggest opening meetings with a moment where staff highlight a colleague who has excelled that week.
- Listen to—and invest in—mid-career educators. Mid-career educators often have the cultural knowledge and work experience to maintain a school’s institutions and practices. However, they are also more likely to feel worn down or underappreciated. Leaders should recognize the extent of mid-career educators’ work and their ability to lead. These educators should be offered leadership opportunities, autonomy over their work, and meaningful rewards for jobs well done. This could include sabbaticals, professional development, or career planning opportunities.
Notes
- [1] See the following NAIS research: Carol Bernate, “Teacher Retention in Independent Schools,” January 2022; online at https://www.nais.org/articles/pages/member/research/teacher-retention/. Brenna Foley, “Teacher Well-Being: Identifying the Reasons Behind Teachers’ Decisions to Stay or Leave,” NAIS Research Advisory, January 2024; online at https://www.nais.org/resource-center/resources/research/nais-research-advisory-teacher-well-being-teachers-decisions-to-stay-or-leave. Brenna Foley and Amada Torres “The Big Picture: Hiring & Retention in Independent Schools,” Independent School magazine, Spring 2024; online at https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/spring-2024/the-big-picture-hiring-retention-in-independent-schools/. Brenna Foley and Amada Torres, “The Workforce Forecast,” 2024–2025 NAIS Trendbook (Washington, DC, NAIS: 2024), pp. 18–30.
- [2] Abraham H. Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review, 50(4), 1943, pp. 370–396; online at https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346.
- [3] Chase McClelland, “How Motives, Skills, and Values Determine What People Do,” American Psychologist, 40(7), 1985, pp. 812–825; online at https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.40.7.812.
- [4] Frederick Herzberg, “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 1968, pp. 53–62; 2003 reprint online at https://pdodds.w3.uvm.edu/files/papers/others/1968/herzberg1968.pdf.
- [5] Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “Self-Determination Theory and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and Well-Being,” American Psychologist, January 2000, pp. 68–78; online at https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_RyanDeci_SDT.pdf.