The perceptions of how well the mentor teacher program meets the needs of the beginning teacher, the mentor teacher, and the school division were examined in this study. There were three populations: 100 beginning teachers employed in the Newport News Public Schools with an initial employment date of August 1998, 56 mentor teachers, and 31 program administrators. Three surveys, utilizing Likert scales, were developed to collect data. Descriptive statistics were applied to the data. Data from the three populations were analyzed separately. Each set of data was disaggregated by age, gender, ethnicity, years of experience, position, educational level, and career status. Means were compared to identify differences in the perceptions of the program's effectiveness. The overall conclusion was that the program is only modestly meeting the needs of beginning teachers and mentors. In the perception of administrators, the program is meeting the needs of the school division. The data are quite clear that the closer one is to the classroom (the beginning teacher) the lower one rates the mentoring program. The beginning teachers rated the program the lowest, with mentors rating it next lowest and administrators rating it the highest. Numerous strengths and areas needing improvement were identified in the assessment. Among the strengths were sufficient emotional support from mentors, assistance with policies and procedures of the school and division, help with instructional methods, and training for mentors. Among the areas needing improvement were sufficient time for mentoring and receiving assistance; support for such activities as stimulating student learning, conducting home visits, organizing the classroom, and achieving the Virginia Standards of Learning; compensating mentors adequately; and assigning mentors to beginning teachers who teach the same grade or content. The data may be useful in guiding modifications in the mentoring program of the Newport News Public Schools or in developing an effective mentoring program in any school system. / Ed. D.

In this study, the discourse about beginning teachers is a central focus. I attempt to unravel the strands of this discourse and juxtapose the voices of beginning teachers with scholarly and authoritative voices which speak about or on behalf of beginning teachers. This thesis attempts to link narrative and narrative theory with critical and cultural theory in order to highlight the nature of this discourse about teachers at career entry. Issues of identity and the ‘process of becoming’ (Britzman, 2003) remain central throughout this work.

No description available.

The cross-case analysis described in this study examined the patterns of practice that support the beginning teacher in the elementary school environment of a large suburban school district. Bronfenbrenner’s (1976) systemic model of the educational environment as a series of nested, interacting sub-systems was used as a compass for this study. Data were collected beginning in the exo-system and continued through the meso-system and micro-system of the educational environment. Interviews with central office staff at the exo-system level, with the school administrator at the meso-system level, and with beginning elementary teachers at the micro-system were the primary means of data collection. Interview data were collected from three beginning teachers in the elementary school with the largest number of beginning teachers in the district, the principal of the school, and central office personnel. Evolving display matrices were the primary strategy for data analysis. Themes were identified at each level of the educational environment. Findings reveal consistent themes within the levels of the elementary school environment. / Ed. D.

Research is emerging that documents the use of the Tribes process in elementary and secondary schools. Inquiry into the use of Tribes in beginning-teacher-education programs has not been conducted. This study investigated teacher candidates’ perceptions of the effectiveness of Tribes training in enhancing their learning, their concerns about implementing the Tribes process, and their levels of use of Tribes during the beginning-teacher-education program and their first years of teaching. A mixed-method research design was employed to collect data to determine the value of Tribes training during the beginning-teacher-education program. The Concerns Based Adoption Model provided a conceptual framework to measure, describe, and explain the process of change experienced by teachers implementing Tribes in their classrooms as well as how that change process was affected by the leadership and collegial support in the schools. The findings describe a belief in Tribes that was developed during the training in the beginning-teacher-education program. This belief in the value of Tribes and the importance of creating learning communities helped to solidify the teacher candidates’ belief systems about teaching and provided them with a vision of their future classrooms and a framework for their philosophies of education. The findings reveal that the knowledge and skills gained during the training in the beginning-teacher-education year were transferred into the practice of all graduates. The interviews and the questionnaires indicated an array of concerns. The data revealed that high-intensity informational and personal concerns were most evident in the profiles of the newest graduates. The profiles of the some of the most experienced teachers indicated lower self and task concerns, and increased impact concerns. All groups identified collaboration concerns related to resistance from colleagues and a perceived lack of leadership for change. The findings from the interviews revealed that all but two teachers were using the Tribes process with their classes from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 Calculus. Participants highlighted the importance of school culture as well as leadership style and behaviours as important factors in the implementation of Tribes.

Research is emerging that documents the use of the Tribes process in elementary and secondary schools. Inquiry into the use of Tribes in beginning-teacher-education programs has not been conducted. This study investigated teacher candidates’ perceptions of the effectiveness of Tribes training in enhancing their learning, their concerns about implementing the Tribes process, and their levels of use of Tribes during the beginning-teacher-education program and their first years of teaching. A mixed-method research design was employed to collect data to determine the value of Tribes training during the beginning-teacher-education program. The Concerns Based Adoption Model provided a conceptual framework to measure, describe, and explain the process of change experienced by teachers implementing Tribes in their classrooms as well as how that change process was affected by the leadership and collegial support in the schools. The findings describe a belief in Tribes that was developed during the training in the beginning-teacher-education program. This belief in the value of Tribes and the importance of creating learning communities helped to solidify the teacher candidates’ belief systems about teaching and provided them with a vision of their future classrooms and a framework for their philosophies of education. The findings reveal that the knowledge and skills gained during the training in the beginning-teacher-education year were transferred into the practice of all graduates. The interviews and the questionnaires indicated an array of concerns. The data revealed that high-intensity informational and personal concerns were most evident in the profiles of the newest graduates. The profiles of the some of the most experienced teachers indicated lower self and task concerns, and increased impact concerns. All groups identified collaboration concerns related to resistance from colleagues and a perceived lack of leadership for change. The findings from the interviews revealed that all but two teachers were using the Tribes process with their classes from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 Calculus. Participants highlighted the importance of school culture as well as leadership style and behaviours as important factors in the implementation of Tribes.

In October 2009, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan declared in a speech to Columbia University’s Teacher’s College that many university teacher preparation programs are outdated and must undergo major reform in order to produce high quality teachers needed to improve academic achievement for all students (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Duncan stated that “America’s university-based teacher preparation programs need revolutionary change – not evolutionary tinkering” (U.S. Department of Education, 2009, p.2). To improve student success in the classroom, policy makers must understand the key role well-trained teachers play in achieving this goal (Boyd, Lankford, Clothfelter, Ladd & Vigdor, 2004; Loeb, Rockoff, & Wyckoff, 2007; Provasnik & Young, 2003; Rice, 2003; Rivers & Sanders, 2002). This study examined the specific aspects of an English teacher preparation program that beginning teachers implement and rely on in their classrooms on a consistent basis. In addition, this study examines how administrators/department chairs view the pedagogical competence of graduates from the English teacher preparation program. The research questions that guided this study are: (1) How do beginning teachers perceive their preparation for teaching in the urban English Language Arts classroom? (2) How do school administrators perceive the teaching ability of graduates? The participants were graduates of Southern Urban University’s English Education Master’s level program from 2005 – 2008. Data sources included Beginning Teacher Questionnaires, Administrator/Department Chair Questionnaires, in-depth phenomenological interviews with select teachers, observations of select teachers’ practice, “card sort” activity/interview, teacher artifacts and photographs. Data were analyzed inductively using the constant comparative method to determine categories and themes (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Trustworthiness was established through research methods that confirm credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). This study provides insight into how to better educate high quality teachers through the examination of an English teacher preparation programs’ daily effect and impact on their graduates and an examination of school administrators’/department chairs perception of these graduates’ performance in the classroom.

This study explores one aspect of the professional preparation of students graduating from teacher education institutions. A case study of one of the University of Canterbury College of Education’s initial teacher education programmes (the BTchLn (Primary) qualification) is the focus for this study. The purpose of the study is to illustrate what school employers from the Canterbury region, and BTchLn (Primary) graduates and teacher educators from the University of Canterbury, consider as important practices when preparing graduating-year students for the beginning-teacher employment process. This study addresses the lack of systematic research into the employment of beginning teachers within a New Zealand setting. The study employs a case study approach and involves two stages of data gathering. Quantitative data is collected in Stage One to identify potential participants for the case study. More substantive qualitative data are collected in Stage Two through semi-structured interviews conducted with samples of school principals, graduates and initial teacher education lecturers from the Canterbury region. The findings suggest that the decentralised system of employment in operation in New Zealand has made the employment process complex for teachers entering the profession because schools have developed their own individual practices and preferences in the employment-related area and advertise their beginning-teacher positions while students are still completing their programme of study. The findings also suggest that lecturers at the University of Canterbury perform an important and valued function when they prepare their graduating-year students for employment, although there are both strengths and weaknesses in their current employment-related programme and practices. This case study will inform course and qualification reviews planned at the University of Canterbury, and will be of interest to other teacher education organisations in New Zealand that prepare their graduating-year students for employment.

Thesis (M.S. Education)--Dominican University of California, 2002. / At head of title: Teacher Induction, A California Induction Program. BTSA is a teacher induction program that is administered jointly by the California Department of Education (CDE)and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-34).

Widespread critical shortages of high-quality teachers in the United States (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, Carver-Thomas, 2016) has prompted considerable research on staffing trends within the teaching profession. Research suggests both an increase in the demand for teachers and a "chronic and relatively high annual turnover compared with many other occupations" (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003, p. 31). Recent studies have highlighted the negative effects that high teacher turnover has on financial costs, school climate, and student performance. Since attrition rates appear to be higher for beginning teachers (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Ingersoll, 2012), it is important to understand why beginning teacher attrition occurs and what factors influence beginning teachers to stay in the profession, move to another school, or return to the profession. While several studies suggest multiple factors influence teacher attrition, having a better understanding of how these factors correlate with each other and how the impact of these factors changes over time will provide additional information into how time influences teacher attrition. Exploring where teaching go after they leave teaching and why some teachers decide to return to the profession will provide additional insight into the complex nature of teacher attrition patterns in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine attrition patterns among K-12 teachers who began teaching in a public school in the United States during the 2007-2008 academic year and factors that influenced teachers decisions to move from their initial school to another school, discontinue teaching, or return to the position of a K-12 teacher. This study used data collected as part of the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study (BTLS) and explores the effect that various predictor variables have on the probability that BTLS teachers will either leave teaching or move to another school. Using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to discrete-time survival analysis made it possible to simultaneously model systems of equations that included both latent and observed variables, allow for the effect of mediators, and analyze how the effect of each predictor variable changed over time. Results suggest the higher the teachers' base salary during their first three years of teaching, the less likely they were to leave the profession during their second through fourth years of teaching. Teachers who supplement their base salaries by working extra jobs are more likely to leave the profession after their fourth year of teaching. Teachers who participated in an induction program during their first year of teaching were less likely to leave the profession in Wave 2 of the study and teachers who had taken more courses on teaching methods and strategies before they started teaching were less likely to leave teaching in all waves of the study than teachers who had taken fewer courses on teaching methods or strategies. Teachers who reported higher levels of positive school climate during their first year of teaching were less likely to leave the profession in Wave 2 and 4. Teachers who indicated higher levels of satisfaction with being a teacher in their school were less likely to move schools than teachers with lower levels of satisfaction and teachers who taught in schools with higher percentages of students who were approved for free or reduced prices lunches were more likely to move schools than teachers with lower percentages of students who were approved for free or reduced price lunches. However, due to convergence issues, these results should be interpreted with caution. Weighted item response descriptive analyses suggest teachers' most important reason for moving schools was to work in a school more convenient to their home. Teachers who leave teaching are more likely to enter professions or occupations in education-related fields than occupations outside the field of education. Results also suggest teachers who leave the profession of teaching are more likely to be working in a job, either full-time or part-time, than not working in job. Finally, the majority of teachers who return to the profession of teaching do so because they missed being a K-12 teacher or they want to make a difference in the lives of others. This study contributes to the existing literature on teacher attrition by testing whether multiple relationships exist between various predictor variables and beginning teacher attrition and examines how the influence of each of these predictor variables changes over time. The study also investigates topics that have been relatively unexplored in the literature, including where teachers go when they leave the profession and factors that influence teachers' decisions to return to the profession. The results of this study may benefit researchers, teachers, educators, administrators, and policy makers interested in and/or studying teacher attrition in the United States.