First-Year Teachers' Perceptions of Mentors' And Principals' Participation in the induction Process

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of first-year teachers in the state of Georgia regarding the extent to which mentors and principals participated in the induction of first-year teachers. Questionnaire data were collected from 105 first-year teachers within the Central Savannah River Area in the State of Georgia. The data were reported based on the following themes: Staff Support; Curriculum Support; Parental Communication; and Student Needs. This study found that statistically significant differences were evidenced between mentors' participation in the induction activities of first-year teachers and the degree to which principals participated in the induction activities of first-year teachers. Overall, mentors were involved in first-year teachers' induction activities to a moderate extent. However, first-year teachers indicated that principals were involved in induction activities to a minimal extent. The findings also indicated significant differences were identified based on gender and school level assignment of first-year teachers as it related to principals' participation. With guidelines from the Georgia State Department of Education through the Georgia Mentor Teacher program, mentors participated in the induction process to a higher extent than principals by being more involved in first-year teacher induction activities. One of the conclusions suggests that success of the induction process for first-year teachers is dependent on the role of the mentor. Additional research into the differentiation of the roles of the principal and mentor in induction programs is recommended. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education. In Education Administration, under the direction of Barbara J. Mallory.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2007

Author dc:creator

• Young, Frances Vereen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jennie Rakestraw
• Abebayehu Tekleselassie

• ETD
• First-year teacher
• Mentor
• Principal
• Teacher induction
• Teacher retention
• Teachers

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/216

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1216