Kindergarten teachers' work is unique because they juggle the roles of caregiver to young children, tending to their physical, emotional and educational needs, and managing their kindergarten unit. The year of internship and transition into teaching is particularly intense. For new kindergarten teachers (NKTs) to fully integrate in the…

The current study explored changes in first-year teacher self-efficacy of 77 teachers in Virginia during COVID-19. Data included four survey times (August, October, February, and June) to measure changes in first-year teacher self-efficacy. The results found that teacher self-efficacy was highest entering the school year but significantly…

Widespread skepticism exists about preparation programs' impact on novice teachers' learning to teach. This is not new. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers question whether preparation matters. Despite these questions and a growing consensus about the importance of teachers, we have a limited understanding of when, why, and how teacher…

The majority of U.S fourth graders are not proficient in reading. With lawmakers in some U.S. states enacting "Read by Grade 3" laws, it is important for teachers to be well prepared to teach reading to their students. The purpose of this study was to explore novice kindergarten through second grade (K-2) teachers' perspectives of their…

School districts seek to increase teacher retention in response to nationwide teacher shortages. The problem is that teachers who have taught for 5 years or less have the highest attrition rates compared to other teachers, with more than 44% of new teachers leaving the profession within the first 5 years. The purpose of this qualitative case study…

The experiences and perceptions of novice educators' willingness to remain in teaching have been without clear research. The problem addressed by this study was the need to understand why novice educators remain in the field in order to support districts and legislators in updating policies and funding measures. The purpose of this qualitative…

Policymakers and researchers have dedicated increasing attention to the state of the kindergarten-through-grade 12 (K-12) teacher preparation programs (TPPs) amid concerns over potential teacher and staff shortages in many school districts and states. With many districts and states facing staffing challenges and declining levels of both interest…

Kindergarten Teachers' (KTs') work is different from that of school teachers' because they juggle the role of being caregivers for young children and tending to their physical, emotional and educational needs, with the task of being 'managers' or 'leaders' of their kindergarten units (Guo et al. in Teach Teach Educ 27(5):961-968, 2011a; Aizenberg…

Professional development is an important tool for supporting early childhood teachers in implementing developmentally appropriate practices and child-guided instruction in the classroom. This phenomenological study explored five U.S. novice early childhood education teachers' experiences with professional development. Specifically, we explored how…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a state-wide process used to determine which Teaching Works High Leverage Practices (Ball, 2016) pre-service teachers could be expected to implement at a proficient level by the completion of their preparation program (Initial HLPs), followed by two sets of high leverage practices novice teachers could…

Background: The Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP) seeks to address poor performance in Grade 3 mathematics. The programme focusses on eliminating inefficient counting methods and promoting strategic mathematical skills, including numerical sense, mental calculation and rapid recall skills. Additionally, MSAP supports teachers' professional…

This study explored the year-long development of 159 (N = 159) novice K-2 teachers' self-efficacy for literacy instruction, within a literacy-specific induction initiative with sixteen high-need, predominantly rural school districts. Findings reveal novice teachers' self-efficacy for literacy instruction grew significantly throughout the year.…

In China, recent social and economic development have resulted in further attention being given to the development of preschool education. Culturally, many Chinese parents have held high expectations of their children's early learning and academic success in later studies. Hence, a high-quality preschool service has become a contentious issue. The…

In this mixed-methods explanatory sequential study, the researcher explored how primary teachers describe their experience with teacher autonomy and self-efficacy and examined how those two constructs relate to job satisfaction and to each other. Specifically, this study used K-2 novice and veteran teachers in public rural elementary schools in…

The first year of teaching has and continues to be fraught with challenges for early educators in public school contexts across the United States. A persistent problem that has been documented across the globe is the ability of novice teachers to engage in developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) with their students. We examine this issue…