In this 2003 report, the authors describe a range of retention strategies and induction programs being offered by school authorities in Alberta. They suggest that multi-year induction programs that incorporate full mentoring relationships and offer staff development courses and workshops have the greatest potential to make a positive difference to the professional growth and retention of teachers.

The authors describe a three-level orientation program that involves regional, field office and school-based orientations based on the Peel Board of Education’s program for new teachers. They also describe a framework for a successful induction program that includes orientation, training, mentoring and assessment components as follows:

• Provide orientation to familiarize teachers with paperwork and procedures, facilitate relationships, encourage development of knowledge and skills necessary for teaching, and integrate inductees into the school culture;
• Provide training to assist with instructional methods, curricular requirements, classroom management and assessment of students;
• Provide support in the form of a mentor or other individual, via a one-on-one relationship; and
• assess inductees to track teaching performance measured against jurisdiction standards.

Written for school leaders and staff developers, this workbook-style guide offers research-based strategies for supporting, developing and retaining beginning teachers. Brock and Grady

• describe a multi-year developmental program that includes an orientation process, mentoring, directed activities, seminars, and workshops;
• describe the responsibilities of the induction team;
• assess current issues, including attrition and past retention efforts; and
• discuss program evaluation from initial assessment to the sharing of results.

Cameron reviewed literature from international and New Zealand sources that described best practices, underpinning theories and evaluations of induction approaches, including mentoring and assessment of newly qualified teachers. She made the following conclusions from her review:

• Induction programs should enable new teachers to develop confidence and teaching expertise to meet specified criteria and to establish a foundation for future professional learning;
• Effective induction programs share the following characteristics:
  • They are multi-faceted and promote consistent and aligned teacher professional learning within active professional learning communities;
  • They facilitate joint planning, and provide opportunities for observation of other teachers, feedback on teaching, and opportunities to work with other teachers;
  • They involve well-trained and well-supported mentors that use their wide range of personal, interpersonal, and professional skills to help new teachers develop their classroom practice; and
  • They employ valid and credible approaches to the assessment of beginning teachers. These approaches share an understanding of what good teaching looks like and how best to judge teaching practice. The approaches used also promote high quality teaching without creating extra work for teachers.

According to the authors of this article, successful teaching and learning in the 21st century requires that “today’s teachers must transform their personal knowledge into a collectively built, widely shared, and cohesive professional knowledge base.” Fulton et al contend that this is possible when school cultures sustain programs that introduce new teachers to the valued norms of the teaching community; where new teachers are provided opportunities to observe, reflect and discuss examples of exemplary teaching and teaching that needs improvement.

The authors state that this view of teaching requires an approach to new teacher induction that goes beyond one-to-one mentoring of a novice teacher by a more experienced colleague. Their findings suggest that

• induction should be a stage in a continuum of teacher development;
• induction should support entry into a learning community;
• mentoring is a useful component of induction, but only one element of a comprehensive induction system;
• external networks supported by online technologies can add value; and
• induction is a good investment.

The authors present recommendations for supporting comprehensive induction systems that are based on four central goals:

• Building and deepening teacher knowledge;
• Integrating new practitioners into a teaching community and school culture that support the continuous professional growth of all teachers;
• Supporting the constant development of the teaching community in the school; and
• Encouraging professional dialogue that articulates the goals, values, and best practices of a community.

Fulton et al conclude “quality teaching is the responsibility of the entire school community. Fostering a supportive community that helps new teachers become good teachers – and good teachers become great teachers – is critical to providing a rewarding career path for educators and a quality learning environment for students.”

This article discusses the benefits of engaging successful mid-career teachers in full-release mentoring programs to help beginning teachers. The authors shared the results of a U.S.-based study that identified four areas in which mentoring was found to make a significant contribution to the ongoing professional practice of experienced teachers and the districts in which they worked.

Based on research that indicates mentoring is a key component of many successful teacher induction programs, Hicks et al synthesize the theory and practice of mentoring. In this resource, the authors offer strategies to help mentors

• increase new-teacher retention;
• encourage new teachers in ten essential areas of teaching, from using assessment tools to developing a personal teaching style;
• guide new teachers in their relationships with colleagues, parents, and administrators;
• improve their own mentoring approach and develop a mentoring style; and
• avoid common mentoring pitfalls.

Taken from a review of teacher induction policies in Japan, Germany, New Zealand, and selected U.S. states, Howe describes exemplary practices including

• comprehensive inservice training;
• extended internship programs;
• mentoring that involves experienced, well-qualified and specially trained mentors;
• reduced teaching assignments for beginning teachers;
• time for reflection; and
• ongoing professional development with an emphasis on assistance rather than assessment.

Howe described the most successful teacher induction programs as those that include “opportunities for experts and neophytes to learn together in a supportive environment promoting time for collaboration, reflection and a gradual acculturation into the profession of teaching. For teachers to participate in building a new professional culture, they must be introduced early on to the skills of inquiry and given many opportunities to develop the habits of critical colleagueship.”

In this article, Killeavy offers a rationale for induction programs, describes the needs of beginning teachers, and compares the key features of induction programs from England, Wales, and Scotland that have been mandated by law since 1999, 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Killeavy states that rationales for induction of beginning teachers are widely documented and consist of three arguments posed within the continuum of ongoing professional development for all teachers. These include: “an extension of knowledge and skills to the practical arena through continuous learning while teaching; professional socialization; and commitment to whole-school improvement and the profession.”

Killeavy describes a common set of issues that new teachers face that she believes cuts across geopolitical boundaries. New teachers need and want support from their colleagues in the following areas:

• During the third month of their first year when they typically experience fatigue and decline;
• Assistance with special needs students;
• Behavior management and discipline problems;
• The major curricular concepts in the subject area(s) or grade level they will be teaching;
• Instructional strategies to differentiate curriculum (e.g., for mixed ability students);
• Exposure to more colleagues than the assigned mentor (teachers and the principal), particularly to provide feedback and develop networks;
• Accurate, supported feedback based on classroom observations and discussion of potential ways to improve;
• Time to plan with and observe other teachers;
• Dealing with parents;
• Staff relationships;
• A school or system orientation, including policies and procedures; and
• Dealing with paperwork and organizational issues that take time away from planning.

Beyond the first year, teachers need help deepening their reflection skills, linking theory and practice, enhancing instructional performance, and clarifying professional values.

The induction programs mandated in England, Whales and Scotland are a part of a continuum of career-long professional development for teachers. The policies provide

• a mentor for each new teacher;
• receive between 10% and 30% reduction of teaching responsibilities; and
• must submit to a set of two to three teacher performance evaluations based on national standards by which new teachers are evaluated.

Killeavy advocates induction as a collective professional issue and emphasizes a whole school approach to professional development as well as a three-step process of collaborative learning. She also explores the possibility of an induction process for principals.

Note: For a more detailed review of Scotland’s induction program, see O'Brien, Jim; Christie, Fiona; Characteristics of support for beginning teachers: evidence from the new Teacher Induction Scheme in Scotland; Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning; Aug 2005; Vol. 13 Issue 2. In this article O’Brien recommends a more extended model of mentoring.

The New Teacher Center (NTC) induction model is nationally recognized in the United States for its promotion of new educator development and its impact on teacher retention and student learning. The central element of the NTC Induction Model is one-on-one mentorin

g by highly-trained mentors. Additional components are designed to create a support network for new teachers and mentors, and to align with pre-service and school site/district initiatives. Key elements of the model are listed at http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_induction_model.php.

The Center works with teachers, administrators, and faculty in school districts, universities, and other educational organizations in the U.S. to build induction programs designed not only to support new teachers, but also to have lasting impact on classroom practices and school communities. Although U.S.-based, the Center’s web site offers information that may be relevant in the Alberta context including the following:

• An online newsletter (see http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_reflections.php);
• Articles and monographs (see http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_articles.php);
• Several publications and videos that can be ordered online (see http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_publications.php and http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_videos.php respectively); and
• Information about how to access their resources in online environments and by electronic means (see http://www.newteachercenter.org/ti_online_products.php).

Following a collaborative effort between the government and the Working Table on Teacher Development, the Ontario Ministry of Education launched the New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP) in June 2006. The NTIP was designed to support the growth and professional development of new teachers. It provides a full year of professional support to beginning teachers including the following elements:

• Orientation for all new teachers to the school and school board;
• Mentoring for new teachers by experienced teachers;
• Professional development and training in areas such as literacy and numeracy strategies, student success, safe schools, and classroom management; effective parent communication skills; and instructional strategies that address the learning and culture of students with special needs and other diverse learners; and
• Two performance appraisals within the required time period.

For more information about Ontario’s New Teacher Induction Program, see http://tpfr.edu.gov.on.ca/NTIP.htm and the FAQs at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/faq.html.

A review of Ontario’s NTIP was completed by Glassford et al (see summary below).

Russell examines the components of several U.S. induction programs that are deemed comprehensive and promising in terms of helping teachers realize their full potential, keeping them in the profession, promoting greater student learning, and saving money. The author suggests that higher education institutions and school districts should work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs that bridge the gap between pre-service education and the classroom. He also recommends that induction programs need to be evaluated, to ensure their quality and effectiveness, and receive long-term policy support and adequate funding at the state level.

In this report, Russell et al state that deliberate induction practices focusing on how experience informs practice are needed to support beginning teachers. They described successful induction programs that

• set expectations and assign teaching responsibilities collaboratively in accordance with a novice’s level of experience and pedagogical knowledge;
• pair new teachers with experienced mentors; mentors who help them develop reflective teaching practices, handle stress, and develop a commitment to teaching. The authors noted that in the most successful situations, mentors are trained and compensated for their time, with the cost often being recovered in subsequent years due to a lower teacher dropout rate and reduced recruitment costs;
• provide new teachers with opportunities to work with colleagues in a high-consensus, collaborative, supportive, and responsive environment; and
• involve a year of teaching as an intern with continued contact with faculties of education as well as a requirement to conduct research about teaching dilemmas they encounter. One such program is profiled in which new teachers were given a reduced salary (but full benefits) during their internship. The reserved monies funded mentor programs, master’s level education, collaborative opportunities among university, school district and business community, and professional development for veteran teachers.

The authors believe that programs with these components will help to develop proactive practitioners who are engaged in the profession, are able to share in policy-making decisions, conduct reflective self-renewing practice, and collaborate with colleagues.

This comprehensive paper profiles the results of an OECD study entitled Teachers Matter (2005) that reports on the induction programs of its member countries as well as a report by Britton et al (2003), a compilation of insights into international induction programs. Similarities and variations are discussed and unresolved questions about induction programs are raised, examples of which are listed below:

• How much of a beginning teacher’s time should be invested exclusively to learning about teaching during induction?
• How should training and work of mentors be organized?
• How can differentiated attention to theory and practice be maintained when novice teachers are often overwhelmed by the complexities and challenges of their early practice?
• To what extent do induction programs take into account the prior knowledge of novice teachers?
• To what extent can teacher collegiality be mobilized to support beginning teachers?
• Should evaluation be separate from induction support for beginning teachers?

Although these questions are being raised for consideration by developing countries that are looking to initiate teacher induction programs, the responses may prove informative.

Wayne et al share research that supports the belief that improvement in instructional practice can be accelerated when new teachers participate in induction programs that provide training targeted to beginning teachers’ needs, and pairs new teachers with carefully-selected, well-trained and well-supported mentors.

The authors also discuss research that shows much of the success of induction programs depends on the principal. Research on principal leadership and induction indicates that school leaders can promote instructional development among beginning teachers in several ways as follows:

• Insist on quality mentoring that
  • provides opportunities for new teachers and mentors to meet and observe one another's classrooms;
  • ensures mentors receive training and have expertise in the same content area and grade level as the new teacher; and
  • encourages mentors to focus on improving new teachers' instruction and not merely providing moral support;
• Integrate new teachers into school-wide learning opportunities including collaborative work in departments or grade-level teams;
• Promote learning during evaluation by acquiring and learning to apply content-specific pedagogical knowledge through classroom observations, post-observation conferences, and other direct consultation, and by connecting with external professional development in areas of individual challenge.

The authors caution that although new teachers need support, principals should be realistic in their expectations and allow new teachers some discretion in terms of what professional development they find most valuable.

Note: Wood also speaks to the important role of school leaders in teacher induction (see Wood, Ann L.; The Importance of Principals: Site Administrators’ Roles in Novice Teacher Induction; American Secondary Education; Spring 2005; Vol. 33 Issue 2).

In this article, Wong et al examine the lessons learned from new teacher induction programs in several countries. They discuss the importance of continued learning for teachers and detail how different countries train teachers. Specifically, they discuss the treatment of teachers in Switzerland and the use of collective lesson planning in China. They describe an induction program in use in New Zealand as well as the teaching practices in Japan and France. The authors concluded that although the induction approaches in the five countries differ, they have three major similarities as follows:

• Programs are highly structured, comprehensive, rigorous and seriously monitored;
• Roles are well-defined for staff developers, administrators, instructors, mentors, and advisors;
• Programs focus on professional learning within an organized, sustained professional development system that employs a variety of methods and considers induction as only one phase of a lifelong professional learning process; and
• Programs emphasize collaborative group work where experiences, practices, tools and language is shared among teachers; thereby engendering a sense of group identity and collegiality.