Date of Award

Spring 6-1-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Department

Education: Curriculum and Teaching

First Advisor

Jennifer Flores Samson

Second Advisor

Carla España

Third Advisor

Sumin Lim

Abstract

This qualitative case study explores the factors motivating mid-career (4–15 years) in New York City (NYC) to stay in the profession beyond the novice years (1–3 years), as well as the challenges they face. Utilizing self-determination theory and language ideologies as theoretical frameworks, this study captures the motivating factors and challenges of 15 mid-career bilingual teachers across NYC. Findings indicated that relationships with students and colleagues, professional growth, supportive administrators, and alignment between language ideologies and program structures served as motivating factors to remain in the profession by reinforcing teachers’ sense of relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Motivating factors that supported the teachers’ needs and language ideologies were associated with a desire to remain in the profession; conversely, a lack of needs met and misalignment of language ideologies revealed conflict about remaining in the profession. Participants described systemic challenges related to instructional resources and material development as well as structural constraints on instructional autonomy. A deep commitment to support multilingual learners bolstered mid-career Latine bilingual teachers’ motivation to remain in the profession despite noted challenges. The findings underscore the importance of supporting bilingual teachers’ needs so that mid-career bilingual teachers can be retained to reduce the overall teacher shortage.

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