Research suggests comprehensive teacher inductions have little effect in 1st year

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Research suggests comprehensive teacher inductions have little effect in 1st year

Written By: Mathematica Policy Research
7-11-08
Categorized in: EducationNews Commentaries

The report, Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Results from the First Year of a Randomized Controlled Study, presents implementation and impact findings for beginning elementary school teachers after one year of induction services. The study tests whether comprehensive teacher induction affects teacher retention rates, classroom practices, and student achievement, compared to the induction programs that districts normally provide. Beginning teachers in schools randomly assigned to receive comprehensive induction services were offered weekly mentoring from a full-time mentor (who provided services such as observing the beginning teacher in his/her classroom and providing feedback), opportunities to observe other teachers in their classrooms, and professional development workshops on topics such as classroom management and lesson planning. Two comprehensive induction providers were included in the study â€” the Educational Testing Service and the New Teacher Center at the University of California-Santa Cruz.

View, download, and print the full report as a PDF file (1.69 MB)
View, download, and print the Executive Summary as a PDF file (241 KB)
View, download, and print the body of the report as PDF file (1.3 MB)
View, download, and print the Appendices as a PDF file (630 KB)

Comments (1)

Martin Haberman

Said this on 9-11-08 At 07:27 am

"This is a crucial piece of research. For the last half century I and others have maintained that it takes three years for a new teacher to really learn what they are doing and reach a satisfactory level of competence.There is also the possibility that the mentors and coaches chosen were not sufficiently skillful, or, that the first year teachers studied were inadequate in the first place. I would hypothesize that all three of these things ( three years on the job, more skillful mentors and better teachers selected) are all causing these findings. HEF has interviews for selecting teachers and mentors that would resolve these questions. In the interim, the study itself casts a dark shadow on programs that hire teachers to only work in classrooms for a year or two." Martin Haberman, Distringuished Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

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