This paper describes a mentoring program designed to prepare novice instructors to teach a college geometry class using inquiry-based methods. The mentoring program was used in a medium-sized public university with approximately 12,000 undergraduate students and 1,500 graduate students. The authors worked together to implement a mentoring program…

It is always an enlightening experience to observe how ideas around change are executed. The Calgary Board of Education program for inducting new teachers into its system merited some investigation. For a period of six weeks, the authors participated in this process, with a view that, some elements of the program could be used in a similar format…

In this paper the author evaluates the Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) program in the Rochester City School District, Rochester, NY. The author evaluates the system's strengths and weaknesses and discusses the program's alignment with New York State requirements.

This paper was the keynote address at the June 6, 2012 Occidental College completion ceremony for new teachers completing their teacher credential program. This occasion was momentous because it was the final new teacher graduation that Occidental College would hold, due to the previously announced closure of the teacher preparation program by the…

Overall, 2011 retention rates for REACH teachers were not significantly higher than that of similar non-REACH peers in Austin Independent School District (AISD). However, data suggest that the intensive mentoring program is making a greater impact on novice teacher retention each year.

This longitudinal interpretative case study examined the constructivist beliefs and related practices of four secondary history teachers from their teacher preparation through their first year in the classroom. The results of this study showed that issues of historical content knowledge and classroom control were major barriers for the…

Research from 6 years of AISD REACH suggested the program likely influenced student performance, teacher practices, and novice teacher retention. However, little evidence showed schoolwide growth or retention stipends facilitated desired results.

A growing body of knowledge exists which describes the rewards and importance of mentors in the professional development of young men and women, particularly with relation to their interactions in professional and organizational settings. Research in both educational settings and the workplace indicates that students and employees alike are more…

Correlations for PDAS scores from year to year were moderate, and experienced teachers generally outperformed their novice peers. Data suggest a weak-to-moderate relationship between 3-year averages of teachers' PDAS and student growth scores.

Technology has emerged as a useful tool in second language teaching, yet its role in the classroom is a debatable issue amongst educators. This paper reports on the findings of our study investigating whether there are differences between novice and experienced native-English-speaking ESL teachers working in the United States in terms of their…

The student teaching component of most teacher preparation programs in the United States varies from 30 to 300 hours of field service (Levine, 2006); typically this is a culminating activity comprised of a 15-week engagement at a school in two separate grade levels. California Multiple Subject Credential candidates typically divide their 15-week…

This study aimed to investigate the nature of the induction process of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers teaching at tertiary level through individual interviews. In order to gather intended data, fifteen novice instructors teaching at four different public universities in Ankara were interviewed on a basis of two criteria: (a) having 1…

This research addresses lack of student teaching preparation. There is strong evidence that beginning teachers are not trained to adequately teach students due to their lack of preparation/content knowledge. The purpose of this study is to examine the experience of beginning teachers to try to understand why student teachers are not prepared for…

The Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) AISD Survey is a unique opportunity to gather information about school conditions from those whose views matter most--practicing educators. This report is for the 2013-2014 school year.

This brief article posits that the drive to privatize public services in the US (United States) coupled with growing economic inequality are now so extreme that they threaten a cornerstone of American liberal democracy--quality public education. The argument rests on the assumption that there is such a concept as "the public good". This idea of…