Teaching, though viewed as one of the most honorable professions, also has the regrettable reputation of having one of the highest attrition rates of any occupation. The most often quoted statistics claim that 30% of new teachers will leave the profession within the first 3 years and 50% will be gone by the end of their fifth year in the classroom. This mass exodus comes at a great expense to the new teacher in the way of high university fees, lost time in training, and disillusionment. For school districts, the cost of turnover in teachers stretches the capacity of an already inadequate budget and diverts limited financial, personnel, and time resources. Students also lose out on the advantages of being taught by a practiced and experienced teacher. Many studies have been conducted to determine the disconnect between the expectations and the realities of teaching in the classroom. The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to add to the body of knowledge that asks, "Why are teachers leaving, and how do we get them to stay?" In this investigation, 20 beginning teachers who attended 1 of 6 local southern California universities were surveyed and interviewed in an attempt to discover how well (according to their own perceptions) their university preparation program actually set them up for success in the classroom. The findings suggest that while the university preparation programs are producing confident teachers in the areas of Curriculum, Communication, and Technology, the beginning teachers report ongoing challenges in the areas of Classroom Management and Discipline, Assessments, and working with Diverse Populations. Three key recommendations for the preparation programs would be to increase the length of the student-teaching assignment to a full year in order to provide maximum real world experience; secondly, develop better articulation between the university preparation programs and the Induction Programs so as to avoid repetition of services; and lastly, promote a philosophy in the local school districts that discourages the placement of beginning teachers in the toughest assignments.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/U0003498943 |
| Creators | Robertson, Colleen. |
| Publisher | California Lutheran University. |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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