Education Commons^™

Mentor Teacher And Administrator Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Mentoring Programs In K-12 Education In South Mississippi, Krystle Womack

Dissertations

The teaching profession relies heavily on mentor programs to promote teacher retention, to reduce attrition and to increase the quality of new teachers. Teachers grow professionally through gaining knowledge. Mentor teachers show professional growth through knowledge gained from mentoring programs and serving as mentor teachers.

There is a significant gap in mentoring research in that the mentoring literature is limited in perspective. Research focuses solely on the perspectives of the beginning teacher or the person being mentored, but the perspective of more than one stakeholder is needed to give the full picture of induction and mentoring. This study uses a …

Impact Of School Leaders’ Actions On Teachers And Their Practices, Dinara Metova

Dissertations

School leaders play a vital role in teachers' performance; while some leaders create an environment conducive to learning, collaboration, and achievement, others inadvertently contribute to teacher attrition and educational disparities. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of school leaders' actions on teachers and their practices. The context of this inquiry includes two stakeholder groups: 582 school leaders and 1,054 teachers from all 50 states who are members of Facebook Educator Groups. I implemented a mixed methods design by researching scholarly articles and using qualitative and quantitative survey data to find the most effective school leader practices …

The Interdependency Of Impactful Teacher Induction Programs And Teacher Retention, Wendy M. Duroseau

Dissertations

The goal of new teacher induction programs was to improve the instruction of new and beginning teachers through ongoing professional development and instructional coaching with the hopes of retaining highly-qualified teachers and improving student learning. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of new teacher induction programs based on teacher satisfaction and retention rates. This study addressed the following research questions: (1) What are the known qualities of a highly-effective teacher induction program? and (2) What can school district leaders do to improve a teacher induction program to increase teacher satisfaction and retention rates? The context of this inquiry was …

The Relationship Between Teacher Preparation And Attrition In The Teaching Field, Gerardo Trujillo

Dissertations

In this study, the researcher investigated the relationship between the preservice preparation and attrition in the field of teachers employed at Chicago Public Schools. The researcher administered a survey to teachers working in Chicago and its neighboring suburbs, and their responses revealed their perceptions about their preparation program and their real-world experiences in the classroom. The results indicated that new teachers need coursework in the areas of classroom management, social-emotional skill integration, and cultural competence. The expectation is that the findings will support the creation of a uniform policy for all universities to implement nationwide. Such a program could result …

The Resiliency Of Veteran Preschool Special Education Teachers, Monisola Komolafe

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the perceived factors that led to the resiliency and retention of veteran preschool special education teachers in public schools in California.

Methodology: This study utilized a phenomenological design to gain insight into the perceived factors influencing veteran preschool special education teachers’ resiliency and career decision to continue teaching in the field of special education for at least 10 years. Using snowball sampling, 12 preschool teachers employed in public schools in Solano County with at least 10 years of experience were selected to participate in the study. Qualitative data …

Developing A Partnership In Teacher Preparation Program Between Colleges, Universities And School Districts: A Policy Advocacy Document, Leah Gauthier

Dissertations

Teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Many are unprepared for the rigors of the job, and others become overwhelmed with new initiatives. This problem is due in part to school districts in Illinois not currently being a part of the teacher preparation accreditation process for colleges and universities. This policy advocates for creating that partnership. The findings indicate that doing so will build expertise for the new teachers and help them stay in the classrooms. This, in turn, will help improve student achievement.

The Lived Experiences Of Veteran Elementary Urban School Teachers: Why And How They Stay, Cynthia A. Anthony

Dissertations

Longevity in teaching careers depends on many things, including job satisfaction, the work environment, career stages, and strategies to manage stress and avoid burnout. Teachers who have high levels of job satisfaction are more likely to stay in the profession. Job satisfaction is dependent on the motivators in a job: administrative support, collegiality, recognition, advancement, and growth. The work environment, job demands, career development, empowerment, and bureaucracy, plays an important role in retaining teachers.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine factors that enabled and encouraged a sample of 12 veteran elementary school teachers in a small urban …

America Reads-Mississippi Future Teacher Corps: A Study Of Program Completers' Perception Of Factors Influencing The Decision To Become And Remain Classroom Teachers, Deborah Green Moore

Dissertations

Despite the number of programs in Mississippi that focus on developing and training teachers, the State continues to face a critical teacher shortage. This non-experimental, ex-post facto, quantitative study investigated the America Reads- Mississippi (ARM) Future Teacher Corps (FTC) program, an AmeriCorps program in Mississippi with a mission to improve the reading skills of students, encourage public awareness, support literacy, and help increase the number of certified teachers in Mississippi. FTC, a sub-corps of ARM, was created in 2007 to address teacher shortages through structured community education and teacher-specific training, with the goal of increasing the number of certified teachers …

Retaining Urban Middle School Teachers: An Investigation Of Influencing Factors, Jacqueline Elaine Richardson

Dissertations

President William Jefferson Clinton is often credited with beginning a new era of improving teacher quality. Since the late 1990‘s, the federal government has presented a number of reforms that have encouraged states to develop methods to address the revolving door of teachers entering and exiting schools yearly. Retaining teachers has been documented as a historical problem, specifically at the urban middle school level where the most at-risk students need and deserve more stability and effectively trained teachers. Students at-risk of failing need a high-quality teacher in order to attain high standards and graduate with the necessary skills to succeed …

The Principal's Role In Teacher Retention, Sametra Danyal Chisolm

Dissertations

As efforts are made to identify factors contributing to teachers leaving or staying in the teaching profession, teacher retention continues to pose a challenge for school administrators. Factors such as principal behaviors, principal leadership, school climate/teacher morale, professional development opportunities, and teacher mentoring programs seem to positively impact teachers' decisions to remain in the profession.

The purpose of this study was to gather data to determine whether principal behaviors, principal leadership, school climate/teacher morale, professional development opportunities, and teacher mentoring programs affect teacher retention. A questionnaire, adapted from the Mecklenburg Citizens for Public Education (formally Charlotte Advocates for Education) research …