Date of Award
Summer 1992
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Kurimay, Michael D.
Second Advisor
Ganser, Thomas
Third Advisor
Martin, Thomas
Abstract
Teaching is unique among the professions because beginning teachers are often required to assume full responsibilities from the first day on the job. During the crucial period of initial adjustment, formative assistance is often needed to facilitate professional success. Beginning teacher assistance programs attempt to address this need. Such assistance is intended to: (1) benefit beginning teachers by providing a personal introduction to teaching, (2) assist in the implementation of sound teaching practices and transmit the culture of the system, and (3) increase beginning teacher retention. This study focused on the third intended benefit of beginning teacher assistance by exploring the question of whether or not variables associated with beginning teacher assistance, demographics, job-related characteristics, and motivation to enter teaching correlate with teacher retention. Two nul hypothesis were proposed: (1) participation in beginning teacher assistance/ induction has no effect upon the decision to continue teaching into a second year, and (2) none of the independent variables explored on the survey questionnaire will demonstrate stronger correlation than others with the dependent variable of retention into the second year of teaching.