Date of Award

1-1-2012

Document Type

Campus Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

Sub-Department

Educational Administration

First Advisor

Zach Kelehear

Abstract

Catch and release is a practice within recreational fishing intended as a technique of conservation. After capture, the fish are unhooked and returned to the water before experiencing serious exhaustion or injury. This prevents a shortage in the supply and sustains a supply of fish. However, in field of education there is a strong need to 'catch' (recruit) teachers and prevent the 'release' of effective teachers. However, after many teachers are 'captured' and lured into the profession, they quickly abandon the field of education. This form of catch and release in the field of education does not support sustainability. Teacher retention is a national crisis with nearly one-third of all beginning teachers abandoning the profession within their first three years of teaching (National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 2007). In South Carolina alone, 28,500 teachers left the profession in the last five years, or an average of 5,700 per year. This translates to a turnover rate of approximately 10.1 % for the state. The Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA) reported the Lowcountry and the Pee Dee regions as having the largest number of vacant teacher positions, representing 55% of statewide vacancies (CERRA, 2011). Districts in these two regions, however, accounted for only 36% of all teacher positions in South Carolina (CERRA, 2011).

High quality induction district initiatives for beginning teachers have reduced the attrition rates for many states (Ingersoll and Smith, 2004). The purposes of this research was to examine the components of beginning teacher induction which might have a positive impact on novice teachers' intentions to stay in their teaching positions and to determine which aspects of induction will increase teachers' job satisfaction and commitment by examining the commonalities among their perceptions of their induction. The comprehensive question steering this study was: Which of the various components of induction programs implemented in The Lowcountry School Districts most influence the retention intentions of induction teachers?

The following research questions will guide the study:

1. How do induction teachers perceive factors of induction in their current teaching assignment?

2. Are there specific factors of teacher induction beginning teachers identify as essential for teaching? 3. Are there specific factors of teacher induction that increase job satisfaction and commitment in novice teachers? The participants for this quantitative study were first-year teachers in the Lowcountry of South Carolina during the 2011-2012 school year. First-year teachers were invited to participate in an online survey that contains a demographic questionnaire and the Perceptions of Success Inventory for Beginning Teachers (PSI-BT). The online PSI -BT inventory asked beginning teachers questions regarding their experiences andperceptions of their induction program and their retention intentions.

Rights

© 2012, Christina Lind Counts

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