Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education

Advisor

Roberta Schomburg

Committee Member

Sandra Duncan

Keywords

new teachers, teacher attrition, teacher effectiveness, teacher induction, teacher preparation, teacher retention

Abstract

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effect of new teacher inductions programs on new teacher retention in urban school districts. Teachers are leaving urban school districts at alarming rates. The expectation that every student will receive a quality educational experience is becoming increasingly less common for the neediest students, who are often minorities in rural or urban settings, or who have special needs (Snodgrass, 2018). Urban school districts and institutions of higher education need to determine strategies that will retain highly effective educators in the field. This applied dissertation was designed to provide insight into how to improve new teacher induction in urban school districts.

The researcher administered a 4-part 30-item survey to gather necessary data to determine the impact of the components of a new teacher induction program. The researcher used the program objectives of the district’s new teacher induction program to align themes. Survey statements were organized around the three goals of the New Teacher Induction Program: teacher effectiveness, student achievement, and teacher retention. Each part of the survey related to the layered support new teachers receive while participating in the school district’s new teacher induction program: New Teacher Institute, Mentor Support, Principal Support and Teacher Retention. Survey results were tallied, analyzed, and reported.

The effects of each section were quantified and compared. The results of the analysis indicated that the Principal section of the New Teacher survey had the largest effect on teacher retention. Informed by the Activity Theory as the framework, the role of principal in the experiences of new teachers can be conceptualized as influential because of the value system and social practices that are attached to principals as sources of learning.

Based on the results of the statistical analysis, scores in all three sections of the survey instrument were correlated with high teacher retention (i.e., higher scores in a section corresponded with higher probability that a teacher would stay the following year). Data were limited and the parameter estimates for each section were not significant at a 0.05 level. Nonetheless, the effects of each section were still quantified and compared and the data showed that the Principal section had the largest effect on teacher retention even though this effect was not statistically significant.

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