High rates of special education teacher attrition negatively impact teachers and students. In an effort to address attrition and support new special education teachers, many school districts pair mentor teachers with novice teachers. Effective mentoring programs have been shown to alleviate some of the stresses of novice teaching and reduce the…

As of 2015, approximately one in five special educators received licensure through an alternative pathway. Although evidence suggests that emotional exhaustion contributes to special educator attrition, few studies examine firsthand the emotional experiences of novice, alternatively certified special educators. Guided by Tuxford and Bradley's…

Teacher retention has been studied for decades, yet it has recently assumed renewed significance due to current teacher shortages. This study was designed to determine whether teachers' job embeddedness (JE) is related to turnover. JE is found in organizational literature (Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erez, 2001) and has been a robust…

This mixed-methods, survey research explores the impact of instructional coaching in a mid-sized California school district on teacher efficacy, as assessed in part by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy's (2001) "Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale." Literature highlights instructional coaching activities, roles, and supports that can…

California's students have generally been making slow gains on nationally representative tests over the better part of the last 10 years. While these improvements are important, the gaps between subgroups of students are large and overall achievement places California in the lowest 10 percent of states (NCES, 2015). Given that teachers matter more…

The hiring of faculty is at the heart of developing and maintaining programs, as well as the success and achievement of students, in all educational systems, and the California Community College System is no exception. While hiring practices may vary in terms of specifics in the 72 community college districts in California, basic principles and…

This article is part of a larger exploratory study that followed preservice early childhood teachers through their program and into their first year of practice, giving voice to their understandings of quality teaching and learning, and insight into the ways their preservice program prepared them for the challenges of teaching in diverse settings.…

A group of preservice and first year teachers share their experiences as new teachers of Color entering the profession in urban public schools. Specifically, these novice teachers discuss the transition from an urban education teacher preparation program into the classroom and their successes and challenges enacting culturally relevant pedagogy.…

As the shortage of special education teachers has led to increasing numbers of teacher candidates enrolled in alternative certification programs, there is a need to provide systematic mentoring and coaching. The relationship between support providers and novice teachers enrolled in an alternative certification program in a diverse, urban…

Inverness Research is an independent national educational research group based in California. Its mission is to help projects assess the quality and efficacy of their efforts, and to help funders better understand the design of their initiatives and the value of their investments. Inverness Research has served by contract with CSTP (Center for…

This paper presents the voices of California beginning teachers who completed focus group discussions on their perceptions of their own development as reflective practitioners, analyzing the nature and extent of teachers' thinking. Teachers were part of the California Formative Assessment and Support System for Teachers (CFASST), which is framed…

This report is the first of four that stem from a study of The Impact of Approved Induction Programs on Student Learning (IAIPSL), conducted by Educational Testing Service (ETS) and funded by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC). The IAIPSL study began in July 2002 and continued through April 2004. The purpose of the study is…

This report presents the results of a study in which one of the job analysis surveys for the Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for the Beginning Teacher was administered to teachers and teacher educators in California. The purpose of this special administration was to determine if the multidisciplinary content in the test form (Form 1 of…