This study evaluated an induction year mentorship program in conjunction with the extended Generic Special Education Teacher Training Program at Texas A&M University. A questionnaire was developed and administered in the spring of 1989 to two groups of individuals for an extended year generic special education program, eight student teachers…

Empowering teacher induction programs are developmental in nature and generally have similar philosophical orientations. They identify and meet the instructional, non-instructional, and empowerment needs of novice teachers. Induction programs that empower include the following elements: development of personal strengths and ideas; defined…

In 1989, New Zealand abolished the inspectorate that evaluated beginning teachers and made recommendations for certification. Schools were made responsible for the process of induction and recommendation of teachers for registration as certified teachers. The School of Education of New Zealand's University of Waikato developed a partnership with…

This study examined higher education institutions' compliance with Standard IIB, Criterion #35 of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), which focuses on arrangements the teacher education program has made with school districts to provide assistance to its graduates who are first year teachers. Data were obtained from…

Using guidelines established for alternative certification, Tarleton State University (Texas) has developed an accelerated teacher education program that allows nontraditional students to enter the teaching profession in an expedient and professional manner. The Tarleton Model for Accelerated Teacher Education (TMATE) was initiated and established…

This paper focuses on the experiences of two cohorts of teachers who participated in a series of inservice workshops designed to provide instruction and support for novice teachers. A case study approach is used to describe their changed perceptions and beliefs about teachers, teaching, and students during the first year of teaching. The teachers'…

The Georgia Instructor Academy (GIA) initiative is intended to provide staff development activities that enhance the quality of instruction delivered at the technical institutes. Before GIA could become functional, the following significant changes in the state's postsecondary technical education system had to occur: (1) creation of the Georgia…

The Entry Year Assistance Program of Educational Service Unit #11 in Nebraska is a staff development project to train mentor teachers, entry-year teachers, and school administrators in small, rural school districts. Schools that participate in the program select a team consisting of a mentor teacher, an administrator, and an entry-year teacher.…

The guiding of novices by experienced teachers is a principal component of the practicum in university-based teacher education programs, alternative routes to teacher certification, and programs of teacher induction and professional development. Novices learn by watching an expert teach and by being in turn observed and then receiving feedback on…

This study was conducted to compare a 1990 sample of beginning teachers with a 1985 sample of beginning teachers who had graduated from the same university. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that the 1990 sample, which had experienced greater emphasis on field experiences and structured beginning teacher induction programs, would…

The California New Teacher Project (CNTP) has demonstrated that intensive support, continued training, and informative assessments of teachers in their first professional years result in better instruction for students and higher retention rates for teachers. The 37 projects of CNTP were funded on the basis of their plans to implement alternative…

Thirty-nine rural school districts in Pennsylvania responded to a survey designed to study new teacher induction programs. The total sample population of 392 included mentor/support teachers, inductees, and induction coordinators. Based on the survey data and information from 29 districts' documents, this report gives detailed descriptions of…

A Wisconsin study examined the perceptions of participants in a state-mandated mentoring program for beginning teachers. A researcher obtained names and addresses of beginning teachers, counselors, and librarians as well as personnel serving as mentors to beginners. A total of 14 mentors and 15 beginning teachers, counselors, and librarians agreed…

Since l984, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has been operating the California Mentor Teacher Program (MTP), initiated and supported by the state, to give special help to new or inexperienced teachers and encourage competent teachers to continue teaching. The study reported in these two volumes evaluated program effectiveness and…

The Professional Development Institute (PDI) is a 4-day orientation workshop for instructors entering service in the postsecondary vocational-technical school system in Arkansas. The PDI focuses on activities designed to accomplish the four goals set by the Arkansas Division of Vocational and Technical Education: to assist the instructor in making…