How beginning teachers organize instruction and the reasons for their decisions were explored. Four first-year teachers, two in science and two in reading, teaching sixth and eight grades, were observed and interviewed. Findings revealed substantial differences. Factors contributing to these differences are discussed. (Author/MT)

This qualitative study investigated six beginning elementary teachers' beliefs about mathematics and mathematics pedagogy and explored the relationships between their mathematics beliefs and teaching practice. A key question that was addressed was "What are the primary factors that influence beliefs, practices, and the consistency between beliefs…

This instructional resource for classroom teachers and teacher educators who are actively involved in the development and enhancement of mentoring relationships between classroom professionals describes a mentoring relationship between an experienced teacher and a first-year teacher in middle school language arts. The resource outlines lessons…

This study investigated the impact of induction assistance on two beginning physical education teachers, one in grades K-2 and the other in a middle school. The teachers were observed, videotaped, and interviewed, and a case narrative was completed for each. Results indicated that continued supervision and feedback positively affected the…

Teachers who had received a specialized preparation for middle level teaching were studied to determine the effectiveness of such a preparation program and to help form a knowledge base from which teacher education institutions could document, design, and implement middle level preparation programs. The paper reviews the literature investigating…

Establishing and maintaining an orderly classroom is a primary determinant of teaching success. This booklet presents an approach to school discipline that blends the best features of existing successful programs and current research findings. The publication, written in story form, tells of two beginning teachers who realize that their success…

In attempting to identify causes of the high rates of attrition of beginning teachers and possible solutions to their exodus, this study identified what beginning high school and middle school teachers in the Baltimore County Public School system found were their most urgent concerns and most valuable types of assistance. A questionnaire was sent…

The goal of this study was to develop theories about how novice teachers connect the process of reflectivity to their classroom management. The study focused on whether novice teachers connect their observations about situations which occur in case studies to their own experiences, whether they reflect before or after their actions, and whether…

Statistics indicate that 15 percent of beginning teachers leave the profession after the first year of teaching, and more than 50 percent leave within 6 years. This study was conducted to identify the problems and concerns faced by neophyte teachers at the middle and high school levels, and to distinguish between the concerns of first-year,…

This volume contains personal reflections by four teachers in Texas on their year-long Trinity University intern teaching experience at Mark Twain Middle School, an urban professional development school in San Antonio. Part 1 by Corinne McKamey, "To understand teaching you have to be there, engrossed in the human interactions," is a…