Nursing faculty are challenged by changing expectations of undergraduate education, decreasing resources, and widespread technology use. Stressors on new faculty include time, lack of peer support, inadequate feedback, and family-work imbalance. Suggestions for new faculty development include orientation, mentoring, and strategic planning for…

Describes a high school mathematics teacher's experiences mentoring new teachers in one public school district, noting the importance of: establishing a community of learners for teachers, understanding that teachers learn better if they have a vested personal interest in the topic, and providing ongoing support. The paper presents examples of…

Discusses research on new-teacher induction from the Project on Next Generation of Teachers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Describes three types of school-based professional cultures: veteran-oriented, novice-oriented, and integrated. Emphasizes the importance of organized onsite, ongoing support for new teachers. (PKP)

This article discusses the results of interviews with eleven new teachers about what their major fears are when starting to teach. Previous research about teachers' concerns points to a number of problem areas (Fuller 1969; Rutherford and Wall, 1990; Borko and Putnam 1996; Veenman 1984). New data reveal underlying patterns that, at first glance,…

This paper considers the professional responsibility of schools in England to provide effective induction practices in the context of a central government mandated policy. It looks at individual schools as "habitats" for induction and the role of school leaders and LEAs as facilitators or inhibitors. Notions of professional…

Experienced English teachers can proactively help newcomers in their schools in different ways by relying on research and case studies that focus on the stated needs of new teachers. The efforts of a community of colleagues will serve to sustain newcomers so that they can gain confidence over time, refining their teaching proficiencies to…

This article is a recollection of events as the author began her teaching career. Her first experience was an "alternative route" she claims, since it involved her joining the Peace Corps and accepting a teaching position in Uganda. In the article, she discusses that although the breadth and depth of induction programs vary widely both…

Learning to teach is a developmental process. This process begins in some fashion when a person enters formal schooling and ideally continues throughout life, with good teachers always becoming better teachers. Teaching is perhaps the only career in which people have such an extended term of development. Unfortunately, nearly all of this growth in…

In recent decades, federal, state, and local policies have demonstrated renewed efforts to address the concerns of both teacher quality and quantity, resulting in initiatives to attract, reward, and retain qualified people in the teacher profession. Initiatives to address the problems of teacher quality and quantity often take the form of…

The importance of the principal's role in making a teacher's first year successful is documented in this Research Report, which examines the needs of new teachers and how they can be addressed. It discusses problems related to their inexperience and how principals can instill in them the confidence they often lack. (Contains 4 online resources.)

The words "mentoring" and "induction" are often confused and misused. These two terms are not synonymous. Induction is a process used by districts to train, support, and retain new teachers. It is a highly organized and comprehensive staff development process, involving many people and components, which typically continues as a sustained process…

Interviewed beginning Palestinian teachers about their perceptions of the attributes of a good mentor. Results indicated that these Palestinian teachers did not differ significantly from their colleagues in other countries. Their concerns concentrated around professional and educational needs. However, many found it difficult to identify…

This small-scale pilot study investigated the role of school principals in the induction of new teachers in Ontario, Canada. Building upon the theoretical framework of Bolman and Deal (2002), as well as interviews, document analysis, and review of extant literature, the following findings were established: (a) Principals expressed that the…

The purpose of this paper was to examine the cross-national performance of fourth- and eighth-grade students in mathematics on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003. The TIMSS assessment data were used to identify nations that have a competitive edge in the critical area of mathematics. The Trends in International…

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) sent a research team to Montclair State University (MSU) on September 25-26, 2008 to conduct interviews with individuals who play important roles in the university's teacher preparation program. These interviews, along with additional documentation provided by MSU and identified by the AED research…