Impacts of Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Results from the First Year of a Randomized Controlled Study. NCEE 2009-4034

Findings

Teacher retention at the school outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain

Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement     index	Evidence tier
Percentage retained at the same school	New Teacher Center Induction Model vs. Business as usual	Posttest	All teachers; 413 students	77.90	79.20	No	--

Teacher retention in the profession outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain

Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement     index	Evidence tier
Percentage retained in the teaching profession	New Teacher Center Induction Model vs. Business as usual	Posttest	All teachers; 413 students	93.20	92.70	No	--

Teacher retention in the school district outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain

Outcome measure	Comparison	Period	Sample	Intervention mean	Comparison mean	Significant?	Improvement     index	Evidence tier
Percentage retained in the same district	New Teacher Center Induction Model vs. Business as usual	Posttest	All teachers; 413 students	90.60	87.60	No	--

Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study Details

Setting

The study was conducted in 418 elementary schools in 17 urban school districts. This intervention report focuses only on the 215 schools in eight districts that worked with the NTC.

Study sample

The 17 school districts included in the study were selected because they expressed interest in study participation and met the following criteria: (a) the school district had at least 570 teachers in elementary schools; (b) the school district had at least 10 elementary schools in which at least 50% of students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals; (c) and the school district had schools with no comprehensive teacher induction program, no full-time mentors, and an expenditure of $1,000 or less on teacher induction per new hire. Study authors assigned participating districts to one of two comprehensive teacher induction service providers—the NTC (eight districts) or ETS (nine districts)—based mostly on district preferences. Within each district, study authors selected schools that did not have a comprehensive teacher induction program and had eligible beginning elementary school teachers, defined as teachers who: (a) taught in grades K–6; (b) were deemed by the school district to be new to the profession, from the perspective of being eligible for beginning-teacher induction services; and (c) were not receiving induction services from a teacher preparation or certification program. Study authors randomly assigned 215 elementary schools within the eight NTC districts either to receive the NTC Induction Model (110 schools) or to serve as a business-as-usual comparison group (105 schools). The study targeted all eligible beginning teachers in each participating school. The analytic sample for the teacher retention outcomes included 413 teachers (224 NTC Induction Model and 189 comparison) who completed both a baseline background survey and a followup mobility survey; these teachers came from 199 schools (105 NTC Induction Model and 94 comparison).

Intervention Group

The NTC adapted its induction model for the study to deliver required induction components in a 1-year curriculum. Beginning elementary school teachers in NTC Induction Model schools were assigned to full-time mentors, with each mentor assisting 11 beginning teachers, on average. Mentees participated in weekly meetings with mentors, monthly professional development sessions, one or two observations of veteran teachers, and an end-of-year colloquium. The NTC sought to hire mentors who had at least 5 years of experience teaching in elementary school, had been recognized as an exemplary teacher, and had experience mentoring or providing professional development to other teachers (particularly beginning teachers). Mentors were expected to spend about 2 hours each week with each mentee engaging in conversations about teacher learning activities and implementing strategies such as observing lessons, reviewing lesson plans and materials, providing lesson demonstrations, reviewing students’ work, and interacting with students. In spring of the first intervention year, 95% of beginning teachers in the NTC Induction Model group reported having a mentor, and 25% reported having multiple mentors. The beginning teachers in the intervention group also reported spending, on average, 104 minutes meeting with their mentors during the most recent full week of teaching.

Comparison Group

Teachers in the comparison group received the standard induction services, if any, that were provided to beginning teachers in their district. In spring of the first intervention year, 85% of beginning teachers in the comparison group reported having a mentor, and 23% reported having multiple mentors. The beginning teachers in the comparison group also reported spending, on average, 86 minutes meeting with their mentors during the most recent full week of teaching.

Outcome descriptions

Glazerman et al. (2008) used teacher surveys in fall 2006, fall 2007, and fall 2008 to track whether beginning teachers remained in their schools, school districts, and the teaching profession. NTC-specific findings were provided only for the fall 2006 data, describing retention after 1 year of NTC Induction Model services. For a more detailed description of these outcome measures, see Appendix B. Glazerman et al. (2008) also examined outcomes in the following domains: English language arts achievement, mathematics achievement, and teacher instruction. However, these outcomes do not meet WWC group design standards because the study authors did not provide the information needed to determine attrition, and the analytic intervention and comparison groups were not shown to be equivalent. Teachers also responded to survey items about their feelings of preparedness for teaching and their satisfaction with teaching. These outcomes are ineligible for review because they do not fall within a domain specified in the Teacher Training, Evaluation, and Compensation review protocol.

Support for implementation

The NTC at the University of California, Santa Cruz, oversaw implementation of all program activities in the eight school districts using the NTC Induction Model. School district coordinators provided local oversight. In addition to helping school districts select mentors, the NTC provided mentors with 12 days of formal training over four sessions during the intervention year. The trainings focused on the professional development content provided to teachers and the process of being a mentor. Mentors also received support throughout the school year through weekly mentor meetings and advice and feedback from school district coordinators and NTC staff. Researchers from WestEd monitored implementation in an attempt to ensure fidelity to the induction model.

Additional Sources