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New teacher induction programs are becoming common practice across the United States in an effort to ensure that teachers remain in the profession, become effective practitioners, and in turn increase student achievement. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of three teacher variables on student achievement in reading and mathematics. The teacher variables were level of participation in an optional component of the new-teacher induction program (regular attendees, irregular attendees, and non-attendees), years of experience, and advanced degrees.
The participants in this study were teachers new to a large suburban school district in a Midwestern state that offered a comprehensive induction program for all teachers new to the district. This induction program included mentoring, seminars, and opportunities to collaborate with other teachers. In addition, the program was developed to support the district teaching standards, which are directly tied to the district's new teacher appraisal system. All of the teachers in the study were required to participate in all components of the induction program, except for an optional after-school professional-development series of workshops focusing on components of the teaching standards and supporting the research-based needs of new educators such as support for classroom management, effective lesson design, parent communication, and general effective instructional strategies (e.g. active engagement and cooperative learning).
Results of a Multivariate Analysis of Covariance revealed no significant differences in student achievement in reading and mathematics due to teacher participation in the optional professional-development workshops, years of experience or advanced degrees on student achievement. This finding may have been due in part to the fact that all teachers in the study received support from a mentor in reading and mathematics. Limitations were addressed including issues related to the assessments themselves and the timing of data collection at the end of the first year rather than at the end of the new educator phase. Implications for the program addressed the idea of using multiple measures for student achievement and including a fidelity check for instructional implementation.