Beginning teachers enter the classroom with diverse backgrounds, training, expectations, and needs. Yet too often, write the authors, induction programs resemble a one-size-fits-all poncho rather than a well-tailored coat. Reviewing the research, the authors write that high-quality mentors, a focus on improving instruction, and allocated time are…

Districts nationwide are implementing teacher induction programs as a strategy to increase both beginning teacher retention and student achievement. The induction of beginning teachers has been widely acknowledged as important for teachers' feelings of success and their retention (Darling-Hammond, 1994; Huling-Austin, 1989; Smylie, 1994).…

This article explores the relationship between school contextual factors and teacher retention decisions in New York City. The methodological approach separates the effects of teacher characteristics from school characteristics by modeling the relationship between the assessments of school contextual factors by one set of teachers and the turnover…

Almost a quarter of entering public-school teachers leave teaching within their first three years. High attrition would be particularly problematic if those leaving were the more able teachers. The goal of this paper is estimate the extent to which there is differential attrition based on teachers' value-added to student achievement. Using data…

This article explores how beginning teachers use and learn from curriculum materials. As part of a longitudinal study of beginning English teachers who teach in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, the researchers tracked teachers' responses to and use of materials over time, and how these materials shaped their classroom practice. The…

Student teaching is a cornerstone of teacher preparation, yet it remains one of the most difficult experiences to understand. Calls for an ecological approach to research on student teaching prompted this study in which the experience is examined from the perspective of the three key triad members. Using activity theory, this study explores how…

New York City represents a microcosm of the changes that are shaking the very foundations of teacher education in this country. In their efforts to find teachers for hard-to-staff schools by creating multiple pathways into teaching, districts from New York City to Los Angeles are in the midst of what amounts to a national experiment in how best to…