Approximately 70 percent of beginning teachers stay in the profession for at least five years, according to the Center for American Progress. Eighty-seven percent of teachers stay for at least three years. These numbers show a roughly 10 percentage point improvement in teacher retention, in comparison to past studies.

It is unclear why teacher retention is rising. “Between 2003 and 2007, there were not any major structural changes to the teaching profession that can explain the increase to 70 percent,” according to policy analysts Robert Hanna and Kaitlin Pennington. “Teacher salaries generally grew by less than the rate of inflation, and the economy was strong over this period.”