In "Will Schools Change Forever," Waite and Arnett contend our educational system, and our society as a whole, have been confronted with two pandemics, COVID-19 and systemic racism (2020). Both of these pandemics have acerbated challenges schools must address and have exposed chronic inequities in educational systems. Our inquiry is case…

With the intent of improving pre-service music teacher preparation for successful teaching in urban classrooms, the purpose of this research study was to explore beginning music teachers' perceptions of preparedness for teaching in urban settings. Though much research exists on urban teacher preparation in general education, few researchers have…

As engineering learning experiences increasingly begin in elementary school, elementary teacher preparation programs are an important site for the study of teacher development in engineering education. In this article, we argue that the stances that novice teachers adopt toward engineering learning and knowledge are consequential for the…

Attrition among new teachers with fewer than 5 years of experience was high in an urban high school in Texas. The high attrition rate is a problem for students, because high teacher turnover can result in teachers with low expertise. In this study, the conceptual framework used was Hord's professional learning community (PLC) model, which…

This embedded case study examines the leadership practices of eleven teacher leaders in three urban schools to identify how these teacher leaders attempt to change the teaching practice of their colleagues while working as professional learning community leaders and as mentors for new teachers. Using a theoretical framework integrating complex…

This case study examined action research conducted by bilingual education teachers in urban schools as a tool for progressing from novice-to-expert teachers. We described a longitudinal study across four cohorts of first-year bilingual education teachers as action researchers (n = 9). The study investigated the following: (1) how school leaders…

Research shows that teacher quality is the single most critical factor in whether students succeed. However, efforts to improve teacher quality are often offset by the high rates of turnover, with 40-50 percent of public school teachers leaving within the first five years, and even higher rates in schools serving less advantaged students…

The statistics are familiar: almost 50% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years in the classroom. The challenge of recruiting and retaining teachers carries high costs for today's schools and students. This book uncovers some of the reasons behind the elevated attrition rates in the field of education through a long-term…

"What Should I Do?" is a practical guide to the everyday dilemmas of the urban classroom. It offers a lifeline to both beginning teachers who are struggling to be successful and to the teacher educators who are trying to prepare them for these challenges. The author uses narratives of practice, written by novice teachers, to help readers…

While the challenge to retain highly competent teachers affects all schools, the crisis is critical in urban districts, which historically suffer from high teacher turnover (Ingersoll, 2004). This high turnover is especially problematic in the content areas of science (Ingersoll & Perda, 2010). Through ethnographic case studies the first year…

Retaining teachers is a pressing issue facing many urban middle schools in the southern US. Urban middle schools continually face increased teacher turnover rates in spite of state mandated induction and mentoring programs. Drawing from Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, the purpose of the qualitative case study was to examine urban middle…

This mixed-methods study analyzes the induction programs for alternate route beginning teachers in low socioeconomic, urban schools. The researcher surveyed 53 teachers at the end of their first year and conducted six in-depth follow-up interviews. The study found that half the teachers did not receive an induction program congruent with state…

Early career science teachers are often assigned to classrooms with high numbers of English language learners (ELLs). For the underprepared early career science teacher, these circumstances are challenging. This study examines the changes in beliefs and practices of an early career science teacher who taught high numbers of ELLs in an urban…

Recent accountability policies seek to "grade" teacher preparation programs by the teaching evaluations of their graduates. This article addresses the problematic nature of the linear thinking underlying such reforms by examining the construction of teaching practices of Mauro, a first-year secondary science teacher who taught…

This year-long, multicase study employs cultural-historical theory to analyze the learning to teach process of nine novice English teachers enrolled in two different teacher preparation programs in the same large city: a university-based program and an Urban Teacher Residency. Broadly, this research investigates how novice English teachers learned…