Supporting Educators for Student Achievement

Induction with Mentoring

Individualized Support for
New Hires

Developing and Retaining
Great Educators

Supporting Educators for Student Achievement

• Public school teachers who change jobs usually say they do so for a better teaching opportunity or because they are dissatisfied with administrative support or school conditions (Graziano, 2005).
• Four major trends emerge from research literature about why new teachers leave their positions:
  • New teachers feel overwhelmed by the expectations and scope of the job;
  • New teachers feel isolated and unsupported in their classrooms;
  • New teachers are unclear about expectations;
  • New teachers' own expectations don't match the actual job. (Massachusetts Association of Teachers, 2006)
• It is often assumed that teachers leave because of low salaries, but according to the National Center for Educational Statistics only about 5% leave for salary. In fact, teachers are much more likely to report lack of administrative support as the reason for their departure. (NCES, 2005)

Promising Strategies

• Provide comprehensive induction with mentoring to all new hires to ensure they have the support they need to succeed;
  
  
• Recognize and respond to the individual needs of each new hire;
  
  
• Recognize the importance of job-embedded professional development to developing and retaining great educators.

Ellen Moir,  Phases of First-Year Teaching, California New Teacher Project, published by the California Department of Education (CDE), 1990.

Mark Littleton & Pam Littleton, Evolution of a Teacher, Inspiring Teachers Publishing, Inc.

Ellen Moir, Listening to the Voices of New Teachers, New Teacher Center at UCSC.