Date of Award

Fall 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Cathy Compton-Lilly

Abstract

Abstract This is collective case study focuses on coaches working in a university-based induction program that supports early career teachers during their first three years of teaching. Interviews were conducted over a fall semester to document coaches’ perspectives on the critical incidents encountered by their coachees and the strategies they used to support resolution. New teacher attrition rates have contributed to a shortage of qualified teachers in the targeted schools and districts. This study was designed to explore a program that has yielded three-year teacher retention rates of over 90 percent for the past seven years. Six university induction program coaches were interviewed three times to gain their perspectives on the critical incidents new teachers encountered and how they supported teachers as they navigated these critical incidents. This study findings can inform coaching and mentoring programs on the qualities and strategies necessary to support for new teachers and suggest implications for future research. Coaching and mentoring programs can yield positive benefits for new teachers and result in higher retention when priority is given to coach/coachee relationships, new teacher well-being, and the successful negotiation of critical incidents.

Rights

© 2025, William Roy Blakeney Jr.

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