In recent years there has been an increase in the number of programs offering support, guidance, and orientation for beginning teachers during the transition into their first teaching job. This study examines whether such programs—collectively known as induction—have a positive effect on the retention of beginning teachers. The data used in the analysis are from the nationally representative 1999–2000 Schools and Staffing Survey. The results indicate that beginning teachers who were provided with mentors from the same subject field and who participated in collective induction activities, such as planning and collaboration with other teachers, were less likely to move to other schools and less likely to leave the teaching occupation after their first year of teaching.

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What Are the Effects of Induction and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Turnover

This article, based on a longitudinal interview study of 50 new teachers in Massachusetts, presents respondents’ reasons for staying in their schools, moving to new schools, or leaving public school teaching within their first 3 years of teaching. Although the respondents’ prior career orientations, financial situations, and preparation played a role in their career decisions, their experiences at the school sites were central in influencing their decisions. Teachers who felt successful with students and whose schools were organized to support them in their teaching—providing collegial interaction, opportunities for growth, appropriate assignments, adequate resources, and schoolwide structures supporting student learning—were more likely to stay in their schools, and in teaching, than teachers whose whose schools were not so organized.

Pursuing a “Sense of Success”: New Teachers Explain Their Career Decisions:

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This is an account of the largest on-the-scene study of U.S. schools ever undertaken. Called A Study of Schooling' and carried on over 4 years, trained investigators went into more than 1,000 classrooms in 38 elementary and secondary schools in seven different sections of the United States. These schools were located in urban, rural, and suburban areas. The investigators talked to teachers, students, administrators, school board officials, parents, and other members of the community. The result is this landmark report, written by one of the country's most astute and experienced educators. His message is one of cautious optimism, despite the extensive problems uncovered, and he provides a realistic agenda for improvement. This report will be a rich and stimulating resource for all those concerned with the education of our youth.

The Schools We Deserve@@@A Place Called School: Prospects for the Future

Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for Improvement:

Within the context of an impending teacher shortage, this article considers the professional cultures that new teachers encounter in their schools. Using new entrants’ accounts, we characterized th...

Counting on Colleagues: New Teachers Encounter the Professional Cultures of Their Schools

ed by Benjamin Dotger Results of this study were published in Teacher College Record, 104, 273-300.

"Lost at Sea": New Teachers' Experiences with Curriculum and Assessment.

Background/Context In order to develop effective strategies for retaining able and committed teachers, it is important to understand how new teachers experience their work with their colleagues. A previous qualitative study conducted by the authors and others presented a conceptual framework for understanding new teachers’ experiences of the professional culture of their schools. The prior work suggested that new teachers might be more likely to stay in teaching and remain at their schools when they work in what the authors called integrated professional cultures, which promote frequent and reciprocal interaction among faculty members across experience levels; recognize new teachers’ needs as beginners; and develop shared responsibility among teachers for the school. Focus of Study This study uses the concept of integrated professional culture to frame an inquiry about new teachers’ experiences at their schools and with their colleagues. Research Design The study examines the experiences of a representative random sample of 486 first- and second-year teachers surveyed in four states (California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Michigan). Participants were chosen using two-stage stratified cluster sampling. The mail survey achieved a response rate of 65 percent. The authors conducted descriptive analyses of the questionnaire data and summarized new teachers’ experiences in a series of comparative tables. Conclusions/Recommendations The data revealed that many novice teachers report that their work is solitary, that they are expected to be prematurely expert and independent, and that their fellow teachers do not share a sense of collective responsibility for their school. In integrated professional cultures, new teachers interact with experienced colleagues in an ongoing way. However, the authors found that approximately one-half (in CA and MI) to two-thirds (in FL and MA) of new teachers generally plan and teach alone. In integrated professional cultures, new teachers are recognized as novices and offered extra assistance; however, the authors found that less than one-third (MI) to less than one-half (CA) reported that extra assistance was available to them. Finally, in integrated professional cultures, teachers share a sense of collective responsibility for the school. However, less than half of the new teachers in the four states reported that teachers share responsibility for the students in their school. Taken together, these findings reveal that many new teachers work without the support of integrated professional cultures. Given these findings, the authors discuss in detail what policymakers and school leaders can do to address the critical challenge of supporting new teachers.

On Their Own and Presumed Expert: New Teachers’ Experience with Their Colleagues

In this article, the authors consider three sources of support for new teachers—hiring practices, relationships with colleagues, and curriculum—all found in earlier research to influence new teachers’ satisfaction with their work, their sense of success with students, and their eventual retention in their job. They find that a "support gap" exists: new teachers in low-income schools are less likely than their counterparts in high-income schools to experience timely and information-rich hiring, to benefit from mentoring and support by experienced colleagues, and to have a curriculum that is complete and aligned with state standards, yet flexible for use in the classroom. Such patterns of difference between high-income and lowincome schools warrant careful consideration because they reveal broad patterns of inequity, which can have severe consequences for low-income students. Survey data for this study were collected from random samples of teachers in five states. One survey, focusing on hiring practices and teachers’ relationships with colleagues, was administered to 374 first-year and secondyear teachers in Florida, Massachusetts, and Michigan. A second survey, focusing on curriculum, was administered to 295 second-year elementary school teachers in Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Washington. The inequitable patterns of support for teachers reported here have important implications for the work of state policymakers, school district administrators, and principals. The authors describe these and offer recommendations for policy and practice in the conclusion.

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Susan M. Kardos

Papers

Counting on Colleagues: New Teachers Encounter the Professional Cultures of Their Schools

"Lost at Sea": New Teachers' Experiences with Curriculum and Assessment.

On Their Own and Presumed Expert: New Teachers’ Experience with Their Colleagues

The Support Gap: New Teachers' Early Experiences in High-Income and Low-Income Schools.

Keeping New Teachers in Mind.