Unfortunately, alternatively certified novice teachers are not being properly prepared. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, the primary concern is that all classrooms are housed with highly qualified teachers. In the present, alternatively certified novice teacher attrition has increased significantly. Many classrooms across the United States have…

Since 2002, North Carolina, under the leadership of Governor Mike Easley and the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission, has worked to improve understanding of a critical factor in student learning and teacher retention: the conditions under which teachers work. In 2006, 66 percent (more than 75,000) school-based licensed…

How does one become an effective teacher? What can be done to stem high attrition rates among beginning teachers? While many teachers are left to "sink or swim" in their first year--learning by trial and error, there remain a number of outstanding examples of collaboration and collegiality in teacher induction programs. Analysis of the…

In the continuing effort to raise the academic performance of public schools, improving teacher retention could be an important strategy for California. Keeping new teachers in the classroom could improve academic performance, because experienced teachers are, on average, more effective at raising student test scores. Better retention of teachers…

Seven higher education institutions in Massachusetts collaborated to develop and implement Project QUEST (Quality Urban Education and Support for Teachers), a support program for beginning urban teachers. Motivated by both the need to retain beginning teachers beyond the first few years of teaching and the desire to increase urban school…

A study was conducted to determine the perceived professional development and support needs for beginning home economics teachers and to determine how they use professional development and support. A census study was conducted using all beginning (having one, two, or three years of teaching experience) home economics teachers in Illinois.…

The mentoring of new teachers has proven to be an effective strategy in helping novice teachers succeed. This essay provides an overview of mentorship and suggests concrete, research-based techniques for implementing a mentorship program.

This pilot study was designed to test the hypothesis that teachers' perceptions of the career expectations held for them by their best friend by their spouse are associated with whether they, the teachers: (1) leave education for other occupations, (2) leave their school system and enter other school systems, or (3) remain in their present school…

The Condition of Education summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. The report, which is required by law, is an indicator report intended for a general audience of readers who are interested in education. The indicators represent a consensus of professional judgment on the most significant national…

Begun in 1996, Project Launch uses individual mentoring and day-long conferences to support new teachers in participating school districts in a 13-county area of North Dakota. First-year full-time teachers meet weekly with their assigned mentors to address immediate concerns and develop a teacher action plan. All participants gather for 4 days of…

This report presents suggestions for retaining beginning teachers. Research indicates that after 5 years, nearly half of new teachers leave teaching in the state where they first taught. Helping new teachers become veterans is an important step in addressing teacher shortages. New teachers tend to leave because of such factors as inadequate…

This article discusses problems of beginning teachers and suggests two categories of solutions: increased support during the initial year and increased involvement of principals in the preservice preparation program. Several responsibilities for principals in relation to student teaching are recommended. (IAH)

Offers reflections from two English teachers (one a long-time teacher and the other in her fourth year of teaching) on their careers, their relationship with each other (their mentor-mentee relationship), and their role in the English classroom. Explores many significant issues in English teaching, including the induction of new teachers into the…

This study examined teachers' first-year experiences and their intent to stay in teaching. The data used in this study came from the comprehensive National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) for 1999-2000. Results indicated that teacher induction and school leadership can influence teachers' intent to stay in…

This digest examines the spread of mentoring in the United States, obstacles to realizing the potential of mentoring as a vehicle of reform, needed research, and selected issues of policy and practice. While the education community understands that mentors have a positive effect on teacher retention, the question of what mentors should do, what…