Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
5-2020
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Irma Harper
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Christie Bledsoe
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Karen Maxwell
Abstract
This study addressed the problem of retention for novice teachers in struggling schools. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore a mentoring program in a large school district in Louisiana. Data were collected using questionnaires derived from the teacher questionnaire of the National Teacher and Principal Survey 2015–2016 School Year, in-depth mentor and novice teacher interviews, and mentoring artifacts. Findings indicated that friendships, relationships, common planning times, modeling, feedback, reflection, and training were critical to the success of novice teachers. Additional findings revealed that the end-of-year reflection, cohesiveness, communication, and reciprocity were the most effective components of the mentoring program for the mentor teachers. For novice teachers, cohesiveness, communication, and reciprocity were the most effective components. It was concluded that this study’s district should consider having mentors meet their novice teacher at the beginning of the school year and provide additional training on the curriculum, classroom management, and relationships. In addition, novice teachers need training on teaching special needs and English Language Learners and school processes such as providing remediation for struggling students and tracking students’ progress. Mentors and novice teachers would benefit from having a schedule that allows for common planning times and availability to improve the components of classroom observations, observation feedback, and end-of-year reflection. It was recommended to increase the number of days for the induction program to reduce stress for the novice teachers.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Feaster, Geneva J., "Supporting Novice Teachers in Struggling Schools: Exploring a Mentoring Program's Components" (2020). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 225.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/225
Editorial Review Approval