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Teacher Inquiry: A Foundation for Mentoring Teachers
During Induction and Throughout Their Career
Dr. Michele A. Marable, Dr. Kristen A. Kurtzworth-Keen, Dr. Kelly A. Harper,
and Karen M. Dutt-Doner
Public education in the United States is faced with the challenge of keeping its teachers.
Attrition rates continue to be disappointing, with 50% of teachers leaving the field by the end of
the fifth year (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2001). Of the 3,214,900 public and
private school teachers who were teaching during the 2003–04 school year, 22% percent left the
profession while 16% moved to another school (Marvel, et al, 2003). These authors also report
factors that influence teachers’ decisions to leave teaching that included those who stayed
working in the field of education. Among these teachers who left private school teaching
positions, 51 percent reported that the workload in their new position was more manageable than
in teaching. Among the public school teachers, fifty-five percent who left teaching but continued
to work in the field of education reported that they had more control over their own work in their
new position than in teaching, while 65 percent of public school leavers who worked outside the
field of education felt that their workload in their new position was more manageable and that
they were better able to balance their personal and work life (Marvel, et al, 2003). These figures
and subsequent reasons contribute to the challenges faced by school districts to maintain a stable
work force.
Johnson and Birkland (2003) conducted a longitudinal interview study of 50 new teachers
in Massachusetts to present their reasons for staying, moving to another school, or leaving the
profession. Those who left the profession cited their experiences at the school sites were central
in influencing their decisions. Teachers who felt successful with students and whose schools
were organized to support them in their teaching; that is, providing collegial interaction,
opportunities for growth, appropriate assignments, adequate resources, and school wide
structures supporting student learning were more likely to stay in their schools, and in teaching,
than teachers whose schools were not so organized.
It is a well-documented fact that novices feel unprepared (Ryan, 1992; Kaff, 2004) and as
time passes, their insecurity continues as reported, “feelings of isolation, interest in not
abandoning university teacher preparation, and the need to learn from mentoring” (Stanulis,
Fallona & Pearson, 2002, p. 79). Among the many strategies used to support teachers, mentoring
was introduced in the early 1980s and is now mandated by over 30 states (Feiman-Nemser,
2003), and implemented in some form by at least 47 states (Brown, 2003). Ingersoll and Smith
(2004) reported that in 1999-2000, eight out of ten new teachers in the United States participated
in induction programs, and about two-thirds worked closely with a mentor. Beginning in 1989,
The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) recommended standards for special educators
entering the profession that included a minimum of one-year mentorship during the first year of
practice.