Effective mentoring programs help to recruit new teachers and improve teacher retention rates (e.g. Ingersoll & Strong, 2011, Rideout & Windle, 2010). Many school districts require mentoring programs for new teachers; however, they do not always have the resources to prepare their teachers to mentor beginning teachers. Clinical faculty…

The continuing shortage of agricultural education instructors has been documented across the state and nation. Secondary instructor retention may help reduce the shortage and position changes each year. Identifying the challenges facing beginning teachers as perceived by beginning teachers, veteran teachers, and building administrators can help…

The rationale of this article is that schools and their leaders need to establish and formalize a system which focuses on integrating staff effectively into the organization's community and instituting esteem and competency. Competent educators in a professional community constitute two of the three dimensions that build the capacity to create…

This digest focuses on the evolution of beginning teacher induction programs over the past two decades, and discusses the reasons why such programs are essential to the professional development of teachers. An overview is presented of existing induction programs, and observed outcomes of these programs are briefly discussed. In considering what…

The Model Teacher Induction Project will: (1) identify needs of beginning teachers; (2) develop and implement a model teacher induction program designed to meet those needs; (3) assess the effects of the model program on new teachers in a school setting; (4) inform the teacher education community about the program; (5) study the subsequent…

This study investigated what new Korean elementary teachers wanted to learn and what experienced teachers, regarded as potential mentors, expected to teach to beginning teachers. The study was conducted to help determine the contents of a mentoring program being developed for new elementary teachers by using needs assessment. Separate…

The 15 papers in this publication are grouped under three categories: issues in inservice education, intervention strategies, and institutional approaches. The major issues raised are: (1) What are the key issues in inservice education? (2) If some issues are deemed more important than others, who has the right and/or power to decide which, and in…

This document presents a two-year overview of the University of Alabama/Birmingham First-Year Teacher Pilot Program, designed to share the responsibility for aiding beginning teachers among the teacher training institution, the local educational agency, and the State Department of Education. Objectives of the program were to determine first-year…

This book explores the reasons that beginning teachers struggle and provides research-based plans for helping them make the most of their initial teaching years. It proposes Beginning Teacher Assistance Programs (BTAPs) as a practical strategy for success. BTAPs draw on the knowledge and expertise of teachers, principals, central office…

A training needs assessment instrument was developed by a school district (Lubbock, Texas) with 59 campuses that each plan and provide site-based staff development. The instrument was designed to obtain information regarding self-perceptions of educators' efficiency level in various professional teaching competencies/skills, and their…

A National Institute of Education research model suggests that both teacher preparation and research on teaching move closer to the classroom setting. (Author/LH)

The West Virginia Department of Education mandated that each county create an induction program for beginning teachers to begin in the fall of 1991. Although state guidelines suggested certain common elements, each county would set up its own program to meet the needs of teachers in that county. Because a rich source of information for program…

This study arose out of a concern of the Nedlands College staff about the lack of written objectives on the aims of the teacher education program. A survey was conducted among members of the staff addressing their expectations with regard to students. The final objective of the survey was to define good teaching and the aims and objectives of a…

Papers by teacher education practitioners, on the topic of evaluation of teacher education programs, with responses by evaluation experts, are presented: (1) "Teacher Education's Evaluation of Graduates: Where Are We Going and How Do We Know When We Get There?" (J. T. Sandefur); (2) "Requirements of a Data Base for Effective Program Evaluation"…

Teaching is a very difficult field to master, and the challenges faced by beginning career and technical education (CTE) teachers are especially great. Teacher induction, which usually takes 5-6 years, is the total of all the teacher's experiences from the moment the first teaching contract is signed until the teacher is comfortably established as…