October 2007

We have made it through the first month of the new school year. The experienced teachers and most students have settled into their academic routines for the year. But research suggests that the new teachers may still be struggling. They have learned about and practiced teaching while enrolled in Minnesota’s standards-based, teacher preparation programs. Now they are finally in their own classrooms – but in a new school, with new students, in a new community, and working with new colleagues and administrators. They may even be teaching a new curriculum. This can all be very overwhelming. How do we support these new teachers once they leave our programs?

In a 2003 article in the journal Educational Leadership, Sharon Feiman-Nemser comments, “More states are mandating induction programs than ever before, and many urban districts offer some kind of support to beginning teachers, usually in the form of mentoring.” Induction is another term often used for supporting new teachers. MACTE continues to believe that induction or mentoring programs are an important initiative that needs to be supported by the Board of Teaching. The new teachers who find themselves in these situations are important to all of us. They represent the product of MACTE teaching and BOT guidance and licensure. They have the ability to connect with their students to inspire learning but are in need of continued support in order to remain in the profession.

Unfortunately we are seeing large numbers of these new teachers leave the profession in the first few years. According to Richard Ingersoll and coauthor Thomas Smith, “The teaching occupation suffers from chronic and relatively high annual turnover compared with many other occupations.” They also note, “The turnover problem, although high for the entire teaching occupation, affects beginning teachers more than others.” Ingersoll and Smith found that about 20% of new teachers who leave teaching report staffing changes in their school or district led to their departure. For the new teachers that do remain, staffing changes often result in them being placed in new positions and often new schools. The University of Minnesota found that only 49% of their second year teacher graduates held the same position they had during their first year of teaching. So, once again, a large portion of new teachers find themselves as “new teachers” in their second year.

How do we, as teacher educators, ensure that these new teachers are receiving the support they need? Ingersoll, Smith, Feiman-Nemser and a number of other researchers have explored the value of mentoring or induction programs for new teachers. The research concludes that mentoring and induction programs help us retain our new teachers. We can’t afford to lose new teachers in the licensure fields where we already have shortages. We don’t want to lose good new teachers in any licensure area. And, we want to help all new teachers develop into even better teachers.

It’s a good time of year to think about our new teachers. As we continue through the coming academic year, MACTE would like to work with the Board of Teaching to support, plan, and implement a teacher induction/mentoring program for new teachers throughout Minnesota.