ORCID
Devon Brenner: 0000-0002-2030-2837
Jenn Whitfield: 0000-0001-8949-3865
Diana Outlaw: 0000-0002-9072-4090
Dana Franz: 0009-0000-9250-705X
Keith Hubbard: 0000-0002-7002-1697
MSU Affiliation
Social Science Research Center
Creation Date
9-15-2026
Creation Date
2026-09-15
Abstract
TPR2 Project Survey Instruments: Teacher Intention, Initial Employment, and Follow Up Surveys
This document contains three longitudinal survey instruments developed for the Investigating STEM Teacher Preparation and Rural Teacher Persistence and Retention (TPR2) project to examine the factors that influence pre-service and early-career teachers' decisions about the geographic location in which they choose to teach, with particular attention to rural and small-town placement. The surveys track participants across three key stages of the teacher pipeline: entry into a teacher preparation program, transition into initial employment, and completion of the first year of professional teaching.
Teacher Intention Survey (TIS): Administered during a participant's teacher preparation program, this survey collects demographic and background information, along with data on participants' intended geographic area of teaching (rural/small town vs. urban/suburban), the grade levels and subject areas they are pursuing certification in, and the degree to which program experiences—such as field placements, coursework, and financial incentives—are shaping their geographic preferences.
Initial Employment Survey (IES): Administered after participants complete their certification, this survey captures their employment status, the geographic characteristics of any position accepted or sought, the factors that influenced their job search and acceptance decisions, and the role their teacher preparation experiences played in those choices.
Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS): Administered after participants' first year of professional teaching, this survey assesses whether they have remained in the profession, whether they have stayed in or moved between rural/small-town and urban/suburban schools, their satisfaction with their current geographic placement, and their likelihood of remaining in their current role or location over the next five years.
Together, these instruments provide a longitudinal dataset for understanding how teacher preparation experiences, personal and community factors, and school-level characteristics influence rural teacher recruitment and retention.
Keywords
rural teacher recruitment, rural teacher retention, teacher preparation programs, geographic location preference, longitudinal survey instrument
Publication Date
9-2026
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Brenner, Devon; Whitfield, Jenn; Outlaw, Dana C.; Franz, Dana P.; and Hubbard, Keith, "TPR2 Project Survey Instruments: Teacher Intention, Initial Employment, and Follow Up Surveys" (2026). Publications. 858.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/works_publications/858
