Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine public Indiana K-12 teacher salary levels through a quantitative analysis of private sector opinions. Research questions framing the study included significance between private sector perceptions and actual annual earnings of Indiana K-12 teachers. Private individuals throughout the state of Indiana were surveyed to determine perceived and suggested salary levels based on varying years of experience and Education levels. A literature review was conducted to research funding available to, compensation systems for, working conditions for, socioeconomic status of, and perceptions of public school teachers. The design methodology of the study involved a four-section survey e-mailed to Chamber of Commerce organizations in the Indiana counties of Adams, Huntington, Wells, and Whitley and archival data from the Indiana Department of Education for school corporations within those same Indiana counties. Statistical analysis of datasets from each source comprised of means, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages. To determine significance between perception and actual salary levels, independent sample t tests were completed for each subset of variables. Simple linear regression was used to determine if predictive significance existed in the model. Completed surveys totaled 95 from the private sector. After conducting statistical analysis, significant differences were found between the variables of perception and actual salary levels in three of the eight research subgroups with a small to moderate effect size. Predictor variables did explain significance within the model upon examining perceived and actual salary levels. The data subset regarding teachers with a bachelors degree and less than five years of experience was the only subgroup found to be not statistically significant. As a result of the inferential statistics completed, an additional hypothesis was examined to analyze the difference between suggested salary levels and actual salary levels. Significant differences were found between the variables for all subgroups with a moderate to very high effect size. Conclusions included the private sectors lack of influence on teacher salary levels, participant characteristics influence perception of teacher earnings, and the media and government are key influential factors in determining public school teacher salary levels.

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