Professional development is a concept with which all educators are familiar. The research for this dissertation, focusing on suburban high school teachers in Northeast Ohio, aims to show that the professional development needs of teachers vary throughout their educational careers. Additionally, this dissertation aims to help school districts…

Research has affirmed the importance of principals and mentors in supporting novice teachers; however, little is known about how teacher leaders contribute to this work. We employed a mixed methods design to examine teacher leaders' contributions to induction by surveying principals, teachers, and other staff (n = 246) and interviewing teacher…

All but four states in the nation now permit teachers to come into the profession through an "alternate route," compared to only a few 30 years ago. Alternate routes into the classroom have grown so acceptable that about one in five teachers now enters the profession through one of these programs, which offer some real benefits to the…

Mentoring and induction programs are popular within the public school system in the United States. Additionally, content-based mentoring programs exist, such as those within agricultural education. A number of studies yielded results that showed a relationship between mentoring/induction participation and teacher retention. The importance of the…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The 2011 State Teacher…