Emerging research finds connections between teacher candidates' student teaching placements and their future career paths and effectiveness. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that influence these placements and how teacher education programs (TEPs) and K-12 school systems match teacher candidates to mentor teachers. In our study of…

Across the country, districts and schools are struggling to meet the growing demand for qualified teachers. Indeed, there are some subjects--such as mathematics, science, and special education--in which nearly every state is experiencing a teacher shortage. As a result, states often turn to underqualified teachers to fill the vacuum, a problematic…

Teacher shortages disproportionally impact high need schools that can be hard to staff. However, effective teachers have an influential role in improving low-performing schools. Focusing on recruiting and retaining teachers to low-income and low-performing schools is crucial not only to closing achievement gaps, but also to ensuring that students…

We use a novel database of the preservice apprenticeships ("student teaching placements") of teachers in Washington State to investigate the relationship between mentor effectiveness (as measured by value added) and the future effectiveness of their mentees. We find a strong, positive relationship between the effectiveness of a teacher's…

The Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession operated the New Teacher Alliance (NTA) from 2006-2009, sponsored by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Inverness Research evaluated the NTA through the four years, measuring the growth in district and school capacity to provide effective support to new teachers, and learning from new teachers…

Teacher shortages have been steadily increasing across the nation, particularly in the field of special education. According to analyses conducted by the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE), reasons for this include the fact that veteran special education teachers are retiring at a faster rate than new teachers are being…

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…

This report presents the Washington edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals…

In Walla Walla (Washington), an award-winning teacher mentoring program has boosted the new-teacher retention rate to 93 percent. With state funding, the program assigns each new teacher a "peer coach" and a "peer mentor," then provides training and support for all concerned. The program has become a good recruitment and…

The New Teacher Alliance is a major, multi-year initiative of Washington's Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession (CSTP). It aims to build capacity within participating districts and ESDs (Educational Service Districts), and eventually across Washington state, to provide high quality supports that lead to effective induction of new…

This journal examines promising approaches to supporting beginning teachers. It contains the following articles: "Facing the Future" (Suzie Boss), which discusses meeting the need for qualified teachers by using fresh ideas such as better support for novices and more training for mentors; "Building a Teacher's 'Repertoire' Takes…

The Beginning Teacher Assistance Program (BTAP) was piloted in the state of Washington during the 1985-86 school year. Each of 89 beginning teachers was assigned a mentor teacher to provide continuing and sustained support during the school year. A survey of beginning teachers, mentors, and school principals at the end of the school year yielded…

Strategies to address the problem of work and family balance have begun emerging in recent years. Many American college and universities have begun to adopt this "family-friendly policies," such as tenure-clock extensions. Each of the policies to enable work and family balance, however, is situated within the broader academic culture.…

The Beginning Teacher Assistance Program (BTAP) was established by the Washington Legislature in 1985. The primary intent of the program is to provide assistance to first-year teachers who often need support and guidance from more experienced colleagues. This report to the legislature describes the results for school year 1986-87. In order to…