ENHANCING THE 'LEARNING PROFESSION'" IMPROVING NEW TEACHER RETENTION WITH TEACHER INDUCTION

Abstract

Induction programs are policy interventions designed to address organizational and professional issues that arise during novice teachers' transition into the workplace. These issues include high attrition rates, teacher burnout, low morale and limited development of instructional expertise. Although research has provided evidence about the promise of induction programs for addressing these issues, little is known about how these programs function in different organizational contexts for different demographic and professional groups of teachers. Using survey data from a nationally representative dataset of public school teachers, this dissertation describes the characteristics of teacher induction programs and their effects on teachers' retention in different normative and organizational contexts for different groups of teachers. Induction programs increased the likelihood of teacher retention generally. This study finds that specific components of teacher induction programs, such as mentoring, common planning time and supportive communication, had different effects on retention. These effects vary according to school enrollment, schoolwide collegiality and commitment levels, and whether novices taught out-of-field. Specifically, this study found that high quality mentoring was moderated by teachers' infield certification status, schoolwide collegiality and enrollment. Common planning was moderated by schoolwide commitment levels, and supportive communication was moderated by schoolwide commitment.