Process and Preliminary Results in Developing a Rural Teacher Intention Survey

Across the US, schools struggle to recruit and retain teachers in rural communities. While the body of research that documents rural teacher staffing challenges is increasing, more research is needed about preservice teachers’ decisions about where to teach and how their educator preparation programs (EPPs) may influence their decision. An important step in this process is collecting data regarding preservice teachers’ intentions to teach in rural schools before entering the profession and their perceptions of experiences in EPPs that may have influenced those decisions. In this article, drawn from a larger National Science Foundation collaborative research project focusing on the impact of rural STEM teacher preparation, we outline the process of developing and validating select survey items of the Teacher Intention Survey and present initial findings.