This article explores the development of teaching identity among Teach for America (TFA) corps members through the use of storied experience. Grounded in a conceptual framework of intersectional identities, specifically Gee's notions of "institution-identity" and "affinity-identity," we consider the storied experiences of two…

We began this research by asking questions about the high number of teachers who leave teaching in their first five years of teaching. The literature on early career teacher attrition (Borman & Dowling, 2008; Guarino, Santibanez & Daly, 2006; Macdonald, 1999; Smith & Ingersoll, 2004) left us with wonders around the experiences of…

In the spring of 2005, the author began collecting data for a three-year study investigating the effectiveness of preservice preparation as measured by the transfer of pedagogical practices from preservice settings into novice inservice settings. She was interested in whether or not what was being taught, modeled, and/or espoused in a given…

With teacher turnover costing the U.S. as much as $7 billion per year (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2007), and the continuing demand for qualified teachers, it is imperative for schools to increase retention rates among their faculty (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). Retention efforts are especially important among novice…

Novice teachers often struggle in their first year. Some succumb to illness, depression, or burnout, and some even decide to abandon teaching as a career option. The classic stressors identified by new teachers have been remarkably consistent over the years, and their challenges have been well chronicled. Less has been written, however, about the…