Date of Award

8-22-2022

Type

Dissertation

First Advisor

Deirdre Greer

Second Advisor

Jan Burcham

Third Advisor

Erinn Bentley

Abstract

Even though the State of Georgia has issued suggested guidance for new teacher induction programs, not all school systems follow that guidance and varying induction practices have been implemented. Because replacing exiting teachers in the first 5 years of their career has become costly to school systems—both financially and academically regarding student achievement—it is in all stakeholders’ best interest to support new teachers to increase retention rates. The purpose of this case study was to describe 1st-year teachers’ experiences in a West Central Georgia school system induction program and to identify the retention-supporting needs these new teachers reported as part of a successful induction program. This case study included a document analysis review of the school system’s Induction Program Handbook and interviews with six teachers (two elementary, two middle, and two high school) at two points of time in the academic year. Coding the interviews for themes, I used a conceptual framework based on research-proven practices that are strong components for induction programs. This study provides an understanding of what these 1st-year teachers experienced in the induction program and what supports they identified as being most useful to them as they completed their 1st year of employment in a public PreK-12 school system. The results support existing research that outlines induction program needs to increase new teacher intention rates and describes how these supports can be structured to meet all stakeholders’ needs. Purposeful mentoring from a trained mentor, collaboration with multiple professionals, and individualized professional learning activities tailored to the unique needs of each 1st-year teacher were identified as strong retention supporting induction program components

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