Reexamining the Relationship of Georgia’s Rural World Language Teachers’ Efficacy to Teacher Attrition

U.S. schools, including those in rural America, have struggled with a shortage of world language teachers for decades. Using Bandura’s framework of self-efficacy teaching languages, the researchers conducted a study using the same methods as an earlier study of rural world language teacher attrition in Georgia. Contrary to those findings, results in the present study indicate that teacher efficacy is not a factor in one’s decision to remain in or leave the teaching profession in Georgia; environmental factors appear to be a stronger indicator of rural world language teacher attrition. The study also has implications for teacher and administrator preparation programs.