Julia Archer was elated when she accepted her first job teaching social studies at Whitman Middle School. She had just completed a graduate-level teacher preparation program at a prestigious university, and she was eager to make a difference with students as a permanent staff member.
Julia's first week, however, quickly dampened her enthusiasm. Although the principal held a brief orientation for new teachers, the meeting was a perfunctory overview of school procedures, not a chance to build a support network or discuss the school's vision. Julia then learned that she would have four different course preparations for her five classes—and that the classes had become "dumping grounds" for students with chronic behavior, attendance, and learning difficulties. Her new colleagues in the social studies department were friendly, but few had time to help Julia address the serious challenges in her classroom. As a new teacher, Julia also soon realized that she lacked an adequate repertoire of teaching materials.
Nothing in her teacher preparation program, including her one-year internship at another school, had prepared Julia for the isolation she would experience during her first months at Whitman. As a new teacher in a probationary period, Julia was concerned that seeking assistance for her classroom problems would be viewed as a sign of incompetence. She also began to question whether her colleagues shared her philosophy of teaching and learning, and this compounded her concerns. As the school year wore on, Julia wore out. Teaching left her with feelings of disillusionment and failure, shattering her idealism. By June, Julia decided to leave teaching and pursue another career.
The Profession That Eats Its Young
Julia's story encapsulates the thousands behind the staggering teacher attrition rate in the United States today. Nearly 30 percent of teachers leave in the first five years, and the exodus is even greater in some school districts. Further, research indicates that the most talented new educators are often the most likely to leave (Gonzales and Sosa 1993). Given comparisons to fields such as medicine and law, which recognize the needs of new professionals more fully, some observers have dubbed education "the profession that eats its young."
Teacher turnover threatens school reform, which requires years of sustained staff effort. And even for teachers who remain in the classroom, difficulties in the formative professional years can have a continuing negative effect. "When we don't ease the way into schools, it's a signal about how people—including teachers, parents, and the kids—are valued," notes Mary E. Diez, director of the Master of Arts in Education program at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ultimately, students suffer the consequences of inadequate support for beginning teachers.
Nearly two million new teachers are projected to enter U.S. schools in the next decade, and the challenge of supporting them effectively has become a critical issue. "The demand for new teachers is a real concern—and an opportunity," says James Rowley, associate professor at the University of Dayton. "It's a chance to bring in fresh young minds." But recruiting talented, competent educators is only a first step; schools must also help novice teachers develop staying power. Linda Darling-Hammond, executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, asserts, "To retain new teachers, we must do two things: design good schools in which to teach and employ mentoring."
Schools That View New Teachers as Learners
The need to design schools that are good places for educators, novice and experienced, is a perennial concern. In many cases, creating a positive induction experience for new teachers is an essential component of this reform. At the core of such support efforts is the recognition that all teachers, particularly new teachers, are learners. In addition to learning how to effectively work with a variety of students, new teachers are in the throes of developing a professional identity and navigating a new school culture. As Fuller's classic (1969) research suggests, new educators often progress through predictable, developmental stages of concern, gradually shifting from a primary focus on survival to a primary focus on student learning.
Education leaders who understand the typical realities of new teachers can anticipate and address the needs of these novices. Class assignments are a starting point. North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt Jr., chair of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, notes, "Teachers with the least training are assigned to teach the most disadvantaged students." Schools can often avoid setting beginning teachers up for failure by more carefully considering their teaching schedules.
Schools and universities are also seeking ways to build a better bridge from preservice preparation to the early years of teaching. Diez points out that beginning teachers often experience problems when the beliefs they developed during their university-based teacher preparation stand in contrast to the school culture they encounter in their first teaching assignments. "We need to work with new teachers to help them articulate their beliefs—not so they can be argumentative, but so they can advocate," she states. "New people need an orientation during which they can begin to discuss the vision and the mission of the school, not just 'here are the keys, here are the procedures.'" Recruiting practices that enable beginning teachers to consider the curricular approaches of individual schools are another way to ensure more appropriate teaching assignments for novices.
New teachers also benefit when universities work more closely with school districts. Although university faculty sometimes assist beginning teachers after preservice preparation, some school districts and universities are establishing more formalized partnerships. Among these partnerships are collaborations that develop cadres of trained mentors to bolster beginning teachers.
Mentoring: Relationships to Grow On
From classrooms to commission chambers, education leaders are recognizing the power of mentoring. In California, a state study found that among the many approaches to supporting new teachers, the most effective focused on the relationship between the new teacher and a support provider (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing 1992). "Simply put, new teachers need somebody to talk to," says Terry Janicki, consultant at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. As part of the California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program, the state recently earmarked $17 million toward mentors (technically called "support providers") for beginning teachers.
Support programs that focus on mentoring relationships have caught on at the state and district level nationwide. "The chance to connect to a veteran peer is a powerful resource," Rowley says. As instructional leaders and master teachers, mentors can be a professional lifeline for their new colleagues.
For Mindy Cline, a kindergarten teacher in Centerville, Ohio, mentor Barb Roberts smoothed the initial transition into teaching. From the mundane to the philosophical, Roberts lent a hand—and an ear—in Cline's new classroom. She helped Cline arrange her room, reviewed her early lesson plans, and introduced her to other school staff. Even though Cline had participated in a five-year preparation program with a full-year internship, she still benefited from Roberts's gentle guidance.
As a requirement of the Centerville mentoring program, Roberts and Cline observed each other teaching. They also had four days of release time, which they used to visit other schools and gather instructional ideas. During the course of her induction year, Cline frequently sought Roberts's input on her classroom practice. "Barb made me feel real successful, but she also let me fall a few times," Cline admits. "She supported me, yet she gave me the space to try new things and see how they worked."
At one point, Cline experienced classroom management difficulties and sought Roberts's assistance. Together, they devised a new classroom management program, and within three weeks, Cline's class exhibited significant improvement. "Barb also helped me to avoid burning out," Cline says. "When she saw that I was constantly working quite late, she advised me to go home. She told me that I might have flawless bulletin boards, but if I was physically exhausted, I wouldn't be very good for my students."
Making Mentoring Meaningful
Roberts, who serves on the Centerville School District mentoring committee, believes that the success of mentoring new teachers hinges on systemic support of the mentoring program. In Centerville, the union local negotiated release time and $1,000 stipends for mentor teachers. "The stipends and credit hours are a real incentive for our mentors," Roberts says. "They also formalize the program, give it credibility, and communicate that the program is valued." For Cline, Roberts's protégé, the stipend also made a difference. "Knowing she was being paid kept me from feeling I was imposing on her," she says.
Although schools have developed many models of mentoring, successful programs share key components. "Having leaders, particularly principals, who are committed to the notion of helping beginning teachers find success, makes a critical difference," says Rowley, who serves as a university connection with mentor teachers in Centerville.
In addition to tangible incentives and district support, mentors also require specialized professional development. "Educators need to be trained to know how to effectively help new teachers," Roberts says. In Centerville, experienced teachers apply to become mentors and participate in coursework. And each year, the district mentoring committee gives careful consideration to the matches between mentors and new teachers. Mindy Cline believes she benefited from the careful selection process. "As a reading resource teacher, Barb really understood my content concerns," Cline says. "But because she wasn't a member of my teaching team, I felt comfortable seeking her advice on my team's dynamics."
Feedback and Time
Many mentor training programs focus on teaching how to provide appropriate feedback to new teachers. "The support providers give descriptions, not value judgments, about what they observe in the new teacher's classroom," Janicki explains. Although mentors may help new teachers learn and understand state standards for teacher practice, the role of the mentors is to be confidential support providers—not formal evaluators. In California, this supportive role is exemplified through the individual induction plans that mentors develop with beginning teachers based on the state's standards for teaching.
For Janicki, time is the fundamental resource for effective teacher support programs. "Doing this well requires a time commitment on the part of schools," he says. "Policymakers need to recognize that support providers need time to work with beginning teachers. Not allowing adequate time can doom a program. You can't do this on the fly."
Professional Payoffs
Although mentoring a new teacher in California costs nearly $5,000 (including administrative expenses), studies show that the approach is financially effective. By reducing the teacher dropout rate, the California New Teacher Project, the precursor to today's state effort, saved money on recruitment and rehiring (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing 1992).
The budget books tell only part of the story, however. The greatest benefits of supporting new teachers can be found in the classroom. "I wouldn't be the same teacher today if it weren't for my mentor," says Cline. "Reflection is a large part of my teaching today, because Barb modeled the importance of reflecting on my practice." Mentors, too, benefit from their relationships with beginners. "Mindy brought a lot to me in the area of new curriculum," Roberts notes. "We all become better teachers through these relationships." Following Roberts' lead, Cline, now in her seventh year of teaching, recently pursued the training to become a mentor herself—and continue the cycle of support.
