Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons^™

The Relationship Of Mentorship And Professional Development On Special Educators’ Intent, Christine S. Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Current literature in special education has examined professional development (PD) and mentorship separately; however, no studies have investigated the relationship between PD and mentorship on special education teachers’ intent. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which participating in PD and mentorship opportunities predicted the likelihood of Early Career Special Education Teachers' (ECSETs) intent to leave the teacher workforce while examining factors related to duration and quality. Based on two conceptual models, Desimone’s (2009) best practices for professional development and Nick et al. (2012) best practices for academic mentoring, this study identified key features and characteristics …

Resilience In Early Second Career Stem Teachers Employed In Public Secondary Schools, Donald Selway

Theses and Dissertations

A troubling shortage of K-12 Science, Technology, Engineer and Mathematics (STEM) teachers exists in the United States. One solution to increase STEM teachers involves recruiting STEM professionals to transition from industry to K-12 teaching. Research indicates that fostering resilience is one way to help new STEM teachers’ retention and persistence in the field. This study explored individual and programmatic factors that increase early career and early second career K-12 STEM teachers’ resilience. Moreover, this research examined how strategic initiatives and programs assisted STEM professionals to build resilience as they transitioned into K-12 STEM educators.

This study utilized mixed-methods design to …