New Teachers Thrive With Induction Support Through the Phases of a First Year Teacher

Introduction

One of the major problems facing education today is teacher attrition and retention. In 2009, 30% of American teachers left the profession within the first 5 years (Darling-Hammond, 2009); by 2017, this rate had increased to over 50% (Papay et al., 2017). The rate has remained over 50%, including 8% of teachers who are not replaced (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019). Teachers leaving the profession report feelings of isolation and lack of support from administration (Ingersoll et al., 2014; Nehmeh & Kelly, 2018). Scholars project the attrition rate will be even more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Olson Stewart et al., 2021). In addition to the pandemic, beginning teachers are entering the field after interrupted experiences as pre-service teachers, and veteran teachers are retiring at an accelerated rate (Ingersoll et al., 2018). As a result, schools are forced to turn to inexperienced or unqualified teachers and increased class sizes to accommodate (Rich et al., 2020; Sutcher et al., 2019). Additionally, the cost to replace a single teacher in an urban district can be up to $20,000 (Podolsky et al., 2017).

Both teacher retention and attrition are positively impacted by quality induction programs. Induction programs provide support to beginning teachers through job-embedded systems of guidance and professional learning that begin in teachers’ first years in the classroom. Beginning teacher induction, when effective, has many of the same benefits as teacher collaboration, including teacher retention (Charner-Laird et al., 2016; Hong & Matsko, 2019), instructional improvement (Martin et al., 2015), and increased student achievement (Stapp et al., 2019). Induction programs work to retain novice teachers, enhance teachers’ skill sets, and improve student learning (Ingersoll, 2012). Support from induction mitigates teacher attrition and helps beginning teachers build a repertoire of skills and strategies they can use in their classrooms (Stapp et al., 2019) and throughout their careers.

Teachers do not learn best from outside experts or attending conferences. Teachers learn best from other teachers, in settings where they can collaborate across time to construct meaning of their classroom experiences with the support of a non-evaluative mentor or coach (Olson Stewart et al., 2021). An induction program with mentors and/or coaches who value beginning teachers’ voices (Stanulis & Bell, 2017) and treat teachers as individuals (Sowell, 2017) is key to developing teachers’ instructional practice, efficacy, and capacity for leadership. Educators grow in stages throughout their careers, and quality induction programs help beginning teachers thrive early in their careers.

Although increasing across the United States, induction looks different in varying contexts (Gardiner & Weisling, 2018; Kwok, 2018; Olson Stewart et al., 2021). For example, there are high-intensity and low-intensity programs that use a variety of both mentoring and coaching formats. Researchers evaluating the effectiveness of induction programs compared high-intensity activities such as mentoring and coaching, networking, group discussions, and problem solving to low-intensity activities such as school orientations, emotional support, and information sharing (Dishena & Mokoena, 2016; Moore & Swan, 2008). High-intensity activities, as opposed to low intensity activities, positively impacted teacher effectiveness (Dishena & Mokoena, 2016; Moore & Swan, 2008). Additionally, as Kwok and colleagues (2021) stated, “Induction programs should prioritize the novice teachers and their experiences to help improve their pedagogical development” (p.188). The induction program described in this chapter works to develop resilience in the profession and self-efficacy in beginning teachers by valuing teacher autonomy, engaging in high-intensity coaching and mentoring practices, and individualizing induction based on the phases of the first year teacher (Moir, 1999).