Hiring new teachers and continuing their professional growth so that they remain in the profession and become effective teachers have been a challenge for decades. Research suggests that induction programs can achieve these outcomes if they are highly structured, include mentoring, focus on professional learning, and emphasize collaboration that…

This report presents current research findings on teacher preparation and effectiveness. While some critics question the role of teacher preparation as a key to teacher effectiveness, this report contends that available research supports the importance of high quality teacher preparation. Well prepared teachers outperform those who are not…

Danish upper-secondary school is currently undergoing remarkable changes. Comprehensive reforms and restructuring have transformed teacher roles and school organization. However, not all upper-secondary teachers welcome reform: on the one hand, they have to adopt norms, standards and values determined by colleagues, if they want to "fit…

Adolescents are physically inactive and non-Caucasian adolescents achieve the least amount of physical activity. Hence, supporting teachers' efforts to increase their students' physical activity during physical education is important. We examined the influence of a social cognitive theory-based intervention on teachers' efficacy to teach…

This study analyzed the effectiveness of a mentoring program in which 18 experienced teachers were released from teaching duties to act as full-time mentors for 10 new teachers each in an urban school district. Analysis of data gathered via surveys of and interviews with beginning teachers, principals, and mentors indicated that: (1) teaching in a…

This study examined the effectiveness of a fifth-year teacher preparation program that included a year-long internship as preparation for the first full year of full-time teaching. Subjects for the study were nine first-year teachers who had completed the year-long internship as part of their certification program and were subsequently employed as…

This report describes the reactions of beginning teachers, mentors, principals, and district coordinators in 12 New Brunswick, Canada, school districts to a teacher induction program that paired beginning teachers with experienced mentor teachers over one school year. Questionnaires were sent to each of the four groups. All four groups strongly…

Retention of a competent teaching force is a growing concern among the nation's educators and policy makers. Providing new teachers with quality induction programs may mitigate significant teacher attrition and teacher staffing issues now facing many school districts in the United States. This article reports positive results in the long-term…

Across America today, school districts face a problem of numbers: too many students, too few educators. In some areas, the shortage of classroom teachers is approaching crisis proportions. Attempts to address the problem of teacher supply have focused on either bringing new people into the field of education or keeping beginning teachers in the…

Exemplary Middle Grades Research: Evidence-Based Studies Linking Theory to Practice features research published throughout 2009 in MGRJ that has been identified by the Information Age Publishing's review board as the most useful in terms of assisting educators with making practical applications from evidence-based studies to classroom and school…

A needs-based developmental induction program for beginning teachers should concentrate not only on orientation and development of individual strengths, but also on the situational/contextual personal and professional concerns of first-year teachers. The successful program tries to identify and meet the instructional and noninstructional…

Teacher attrition has become a very serious problem in the United States in recent years. Studies have shown that many talented, new teachers are leaving the profession early in their careers due to feelings of isolation. In response to the alarming turnover rate, school districts have adopted mentoring programs which have been successful at…

Since 1999 all newly qualified teachers (NQTs) in England have been required to complete a statutory induction year. In Wales the induction year became statutory in 2003. This article reports on the experiences of NQTs during the year 2000-2001. All of the NQTs received their initial training in Wales, but some obtained employment in England and…

This article documents the socialization experiences of beginning teachers in five pairs of middle schools and explores the differences in the socialization experiences as they relate to the effectiveness of the middle school where these experiences took place. This research jointly studies school effects and teacher effects through the case study…

This paper reports on a small-scale case study of five newly qualified teachers in one school. The aim of the study was to identify the context and learning factors that enable and constrain the professional growth of new teachers, and to locate the place of formal induction arrangements within the broader experiences of the first year in…