Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens John Fischetti Dennis Kubasko Robert Smith North Carolina Teacher Education Forum September 2006

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens This presentation will share the twelve major questions we have developed to guide our work with candidates as they consider accepting public school teaching jobs. Graduates from our secondary program include lateral entry teachers and fully licensed undergraduate and graduate candidates.

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens Session objectives: To share our study findings related to new teacher working conditions To discuss and share experiences with other North Carolina teacher education colleagues To brainstorm ways we might together influence the conditions of teachers hired for NC public schools.

Teacher Education Forum 2006 Do teacher educators have a responsibility to advocate on behalf of new teachers in terms of constantly improving their own preparation programs? A.Yes B.No

Teacher Education Forum 2006 What is the most important way teacher education programs can provide support to their graduates? A. To maintain informal contact by , occasional conversations, online networks, etc B. To formally establish a support network for all graduates C. To provide formal professional development and connections to professional associations D. To offer graduate courses to allow graduates to continue their education

Teacher Education Forum 2006 From your first-hand knowledge, what issue is most important in your graduates’ abilities to be successful as first-year teachers? A.Classroom/lab space and/or access to resources B.Teaching load and/or content preparations C.Administrative support and collegial mentoring D.Level/prior knowledge/behavior of students E.Additional duties/extracurricular responsiblities/ coaching assignments

Teacher Education Forum 2006 Do teacher educators have a responsibility to advocate on behalf of new teachers, in terms of working with school partners on the tough realities of first-year teaching. A.Yes B.No

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens Across North Carolina, first year teachers-- both lateral entry and traditionally prepared--are accepting employment in schools that may or may not be conducive to their success. Some are staying but many are leaving within three years. What can we as teacher educators do to help guide our candidate’s as they consider where to teach?

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens 1.Will I have a classroom assigned to me or will I float from class to class? –Will there be sufficient desks in my classroom for my students? 2.Will I have more than two preparations during the first year? 3.Will I teach a range of students or am I teaching only the “lowest level” students? –How are those decision made?

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens 4.Will I have regular access to a lab or other equivalent resource to conduct experiments or inquiry-based projects? –Does the lab have running water, working utilities, etc? 5.Will I get my classroom set of textbooks and other curriculum materials at the start of school or well after the school year starts? 6.Will I have a mentor in my content area? –Is he/she a positive role model and is he/she optimistic about this school?

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens 7.Is there strong principal support and involvement to work collaboratively with me on classroom management and other issues first-year teachers typically face? 8.Will I have access to an excellent and positive resource teacher to assist me with students who have IEPs and who are assigned to my classes? 9.Will I have a budget to allow me to purchase needed supplies for my classroom and lab? –What are the copying policies?

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens 10.Do I have access to a relatively new PC or laptop and do I have access to a data projector to use regularly in my classroom? 11.Do I have the option not to coach or sponsor extra-curricular activities in my first year? 12.What additional hall/lunchroom/bus or other duties are expected of me in my first year?

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens Graduates leave our program with excellent content knowledge and a strong pedagogical foundation enhanced by their classroom teaching experiences through their internships. What we have found through our study is that they face many prerequisite obstacles to success related to support, resources and space that are crucial for any professional to be able to thrive in the early part of his or her career.

Finder’s Keepers: Retention from a New Teacher’s Lens John Fischetti Dennis Kubasko Robert Smith Teacher Education Forum September 2006