Mentoring and Induction for Special Educators and Related Service Personnel

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Beginning Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Induction Program Experiences (2007)
Bob Algozzine, John Gretes, Allen Queen, and Misty Cowan-Hathcock.
Using survey data, this article examines the perceptions of 3rd-year teachers in a state-wide induction initiative in North Carolina. The survey was primarily quantitative, although some qualitative responses to open-ended questions enriched the data. The survey focused on perceived effectiveness of induction activities according to three stratified categorical variables: (1) induction program activities, (2) assistance received in teaching and nonteaching areas, and (3) support received from mentor, administration, and other colleagues. Overall, the group indicated that induction programs were sufficient for them to succeed during the first years of teaching.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Algozzine_2007.pdf

Bridges to Success Website
Western Oregon University
A comrehensive induction model that includes local induction, mentoring, and professional development to support early career special educators, particularly in rural areas. Distance learning technologies are employed for communication with personnel in isolated areas. Information and materials for the Bridges model can be downloaded and used to design an induction model.
http://www.tr.wou.edu/bridges

Cultivating and Keeping Committed Special Education Teachers: What Principals and District Leaders Can Do (2005)
This book highlights the problems that drive many special educators out of teaching and outlines practical recommendations that leaders can use to increase retention. Drawing on field experience as well as research findings, Billingsley provides a comprehensive framework for supporting special educators. Cultivating and Keeping Committed Special Education Teachers provides effective ways to: recruit and hire qualified special educators; provide responsive induction programs for new teachers; design effective professional development opportunities; create inclusive and collaborative schools; provide reasonable work assignments and reduce paperwork; and promote wellness by reducing stress. This book emphasizes the important role that principals play in supporting special educators and how they can make a difference in what special educators accomplish in their schools. Numerous assessments, tools, and resources are included to help leaders, mentors, and teachers improve the conditions of special education teaching.
Billingsley, B.S. (2005). Cultivating and keeping committed special education teachers: What principals and district leaders can do. Corwin Press: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Do Teacher Induction and Mentoring Matter? (2004)
This study examines whether induction (support, guidance, and orientation programs) have a positive effect on the retention of beginning teachers. The study also focuses on different types and components of induction, including mentoring programs, collective group activities, and the provision of extra resources and reduced workloads. The results indicate that beginning teachers who were provided with multiple supports, were less likely to move to other schools and less likely to leave the teaching occupation altogether after their first year. Some forms of assistance and support, however, did not appear to increase beginners' retention.
Ingersoll, R.M., & Smtih, T.M. (2004). Do teacher induction and mentoring matter? NASSP Bulletin, 88, 5-27.

Effects of Teacher Induction on Beginning Teachers’ Teaching: A critical review of the literature (2008)
Jian Wang, Sandra Odell, and Sharon Schwille.
Drawing on literature since 1997, this review explores the effects of teacher induction on beginning teachers’ conceptions and practice of teaching, and it identifies three approaches to understanding such effects, as found in the literature: (1) addressing the assumed effects of teacher induction components on beginning teachers’ teaching using theoretical assumptions as a base; (2) analyzing the effects through teachers’ self-reports; and (3) exploring the effects of using multiple data sources. Although teacher induction affects beginning teachers’ ideas about teaching, few studies capture its effects on teaching practice and student achievement. Thus, this review suggests directions for future research.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Wang_2008.pdf

Embracing Contraries: Combining Assistance and Assessment in New Teacher Induction (2008)
Brian Yusko and Sharon Feiman-Nemser.
This article provides images of mentoring from two well-regarded induction programs that integrate assistance and assessment to promote quality teaching. The programs are the Peer Assistance and Evaluation Program (PAEP) in Cincinnati, and the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project (SCNTP). The article highlights the possibilities and pitfalls of each approach.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Yusko_2008.pdf

Examining Learning To Teach through a Social Lens: How Mentors Guide Newcomers into a Professional Community of Learners (2004)
Despite the growing appreciation among professional educators, teachers unions, school districts, and university researchers of the need for effective school- based mentors, many new teachers still report a "sink or swim" experience as they enter the profession. Not surprisingly, about one third of new teachers in the United States leave the profession within the first three years. Rather than seeking a prescriptive method or program for mentoring new teachers, what may prove helpful is a deeper exploration of the social and cultural learning experiences of new teachers. Understanding the social learning experiences between new teachers and their more experienced school-based mentors may help inform those who are charged with guiding new teachers.
Street, C. (2004). Examining learning to teach through a social lens: How mentors guide newcomers into a professional community of learners. Teacher Education Quarterly, 31 (2), 7-24.

An Induction Program for Special Education Teachers (2004)
Virginia Kennedy and Nancy Burstein.
This program description illustrates the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program for Special Educators implemented by California State University, Northridge in collaboration with Los Angeles Unified School District to serve general and special education teachers in the districts closest to the university. Five major program components addressed the goals of (1) individualized support, (2) a systematic assessment process, (3) professional release days, (4) a professional development workshop series, and (5) professional conferences and materials.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Kennedy_2004.pdf

Induction Programs That Keep New Teachers Teaching and Improving (2004)
Harry Wong.
This article features schools and school districts with successful induction programs, all easily replicable. According to Wong, what keeps a good teacher are structured, sustained, intensive professional development programs that allow new teachers to observe others, to be observed by others, and to be part of networks or study groups where all teachers share together, grow together, and learn to respect each other’s work.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Wong_2004.pdf

Keeping New Teachers: A First Look at the Influences of Induction in the Chicago Public Schools (2007)
To probe the effects of teacher induction, the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) surveyed new elementary and high school teachers in Chicago Public Schools in the spring of 2005. This first look at the influences of teacher induction uses responses from these surveys to evaluate the effects of participating in induction activities on teachers' reports of the quality of their teaching experience, whether they intend to continue teaching, and whether they plan to remain in the same school.
http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/content/publications.php?pub_id=113

Leading the Teacher Induction and Mentoring Program (2007)
Barry Sweeny. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
This book provides an effective, proven model for developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining an induction and mentoring program that results in highly qualified teachers. This second edition presents step-by-step directions for each part of the program development and implementation process; links induction and mentoring to districtwide goals for improved teaching practice and increased student achievement; includes sample schedules, templates, and reproducible forms; and provides solid recommendations for avoiding pitfalls and increasing program effectiveness.

New Teacher Induction in Special Education (2003)
by Cynthia C. Griffin, Judith A. Winn, Amy Otis-Wilborn, & Karen L. Kilgore
A research brief from the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education, this paper describes the critical concerns confronting special education regarding new teacher induction and various definitions of induction. A literature review included: (a) the school and classroom conditions under which new special education teachers must perform and (b) induction for special education teachers. Given what we have learned about new teacher induction in special education, the paper draws implications from our findings and identifies needs for additional research.
http://www.coe.ufl.edu/copsse/docs/RS-5E/1/RS-5E.pdf

New Teacher Project Website.
This project partners with school districts, states, and others to enhance their capacities to recruit, select, train, and support new teachers. Services include (a) creating and operating alternative routes to attract and prepare talented people from non-traditional backgrounds;(b) modules on recruiter training and selection; and (c) preservice institutes for high-achieving individuals without prior education backgrounds. Between 1997 and 2003, NTP prepared more than 6,500 new teachers and launched 39 programs in 18 States.
http://www.tntp.org/

The Impact of Mentoring on Teacher Retention: What the Research Says (2004)
by Richard Ingersoll and Jeffrey M. Kralik
While the particulars of support, guidance and orientation programs – collectively known as induction –programs vary widely, they are generally intended to increase the confidence and effectiveness of new teachers, and thus to stem the high levels of attrition among beginning teachers, which estimates place as high as 40-50% within the first five years. This report’s primary objective is to provide policymakers, educators and researchers with a reliable assessment of what is known, and not known, about the effectiveness – the value added – of teacher induction programs. In particular, this review focuses on the impact of induction and mentoring programs on teacher retention.
http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/50/36/5036.htm

The Working Conditions and Induction Support of Early Career Special Educators (2004)
Bonnie Billingsley, Elaine Carlson, and Sheri Klein.
This article presents a profile of early career special educators _ working conditions, induction support, and career plans using data from the Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPeNSE). Most respondents reported receiving informal support from other teachers and viewed this informal support from other teachers and viewed this informal support as more valuable than other forms of support. Those who reported higher levels of induction support reported greater job manageability and success in getting through to difficult students.
http://www.monarchcenter.org/pdfs/Billingsley_04.pdf

What Are the Effects of Induction and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Turnover? (2004)
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of programs offering support, guidance, and orientation for beginning teachers during the transition into their first teaching job. This study examines whether such programs- collectively known as induction-have a positive effect on the retention of beginning teachers. The data used in the analysis are from the nationally representative 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey. The results indicate that beginning teachers who were provided with mentors from the same subject field and who participated in collective induction activities, such as planning and collaboration with other teachers, were less likely to move to other schools and less likely to leave the teaching occupation after their first year of teaching.
Smith, T.M., & Ingersoll, R.M. (2004). What are the effects of induction and mentoring on beginning teacher turnover? American Educational Research Journal, 41 (3), 681-714.

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