Due to escalating teacher retirement and rising student enrollment, the nation faces a severe shortage in qualified teachers.  America will need to hire some two million K-12 teachers over the next decade. In addition, lower percentages of people are choosing teaching as a career and many young teachers are choosing to leave the field of education (Colb, 2001).  Accordingly, 10% of new teachers leave the profession within their first year, 20% leave within three years and 30% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching (Darling-Hammond, 2000).  Although high-wealth suburban districts will always have a glut of applicants, low-wealth urban districts face a hiring demand of 700,000 or more teachers over the next decade. 

Bennett, (2003) projects a shortfall of 7,000 teachers in Georgia alone.  The staffing situation is particularly acute in the rural areas of the state.  According to figures provided by Teach for Georgia, (2003) approximately 7% of all teacher vacancies for the 2003-2004 school year existed within the 41 county Valdosta State University area.

Since the 1970’s and the early 1980’s, researchers show teacher attrition to be a problem.  Charters (1970) and Murnane (1981) recorded that 25% of all people with teaching certificates never begin teaching or leave teaching within a few years.  Nationwide about 30% of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years (National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, 2000).

Southern states lose nearly half of their new teachers within five years (Southern Region Education Board, 2001).   In Georgia 3 and 5 year attrition rates are 25% and 30% respectively.  Based on information from several studies, the best and brightest of the new teachers appear to be the most likely to leave (Henke, Geis, & Chin, 2000; Murnane et al., 1991; Schlecty & Vance, 1981).  No matter how well they did in college, teachers can be overwhelmed by their first years in the classroom.

There is considerable evidence that inexperienced teachers are more likely to leave teaching.  Many new teachers find they are unprepared for the reality of the classroom.  Henry (1986) found that the reason beginning teachers leave is their inability to cope with teaching problems.  Historically, the teaching profession has not had a structured process of inducting new teachers into the workplace (Lortie, 1975; Tyack, 1974).   Although elementary and secondary teaching involves intensive interaction with students, ironically the work of teachers is largely done in isolation from colleagues.  This is especially consequential for beginning teachers, who, on accepting a teaching position in a school are often left on their own to succeed or fail within the confines of their own classroom – an experience many liken to being “lost at sea” (e.g., Ingersoll, 2003; Johnson, 1990; Johnson & Birkeland, 2003; Sizer, 1992).   Indeed critics have long assailed teaching as a profession that “cannibalizes” its young” and in which the initiation of new teachers is akin to sink or swim, trial by fire, or a boot camp experience.

Not surprisingly then, teaching has also been characterized as an occupation with high levels of attrition, especially among beginners (Grissmer & Kirby, 1989, 1997; Lortie, 1975; Veenman, 1985).

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 stipulates that schools have a qualified teacher in every classroom.  Many schools are faced with an inadequate supply of qualified teachers.  It is imperative therefore that the education system find a way to retain qualified teachers who come into the system.  The annual recruitment and placement of entering teachers is a time consuming and costly burden on public school administrators (Georgia Educator Workforce Research and Development Division, 2001).   In addition, high rates of teacher attrition are also disruptive to program continuity and planning (Theobald, 1990).  According to Bempah and colleagues (1994), high levels of teacher attrition create significant decreases in student performance.  Ingersoll and Rossi, (1995) found that high rates of teacher attrition may indicate underlying problems and disrupt the effectiveness of schools.  Accordingly, higher retention rates of qualified teachers would result in the establishment of a more stable, satisfied and highly competent work force (Fetler, 1997).   Recruitment and retention then must be central to any strategy to maintain a high standard of K-12 instructional practice.

Teacher’s early experiences determine their long-term classroom performance, (Feinman-Nemser, 1983; McDonald, 1980; McDonald & Elias, 1983; Rust, 1994), and their decisions to stay in the profession (Adelman, 1991; Feinman-Nemser, 1983; Gold, 1996).   Teacher’s choices to stay in or exit the profession are shaped by occupational and organizational conditions present in their school (Ingersoll, 1999).  Burch (1993) found that specific conditions of beginning teachers’ workplaces have a strong effect on their decision to remain in teaching.  Those conditions involve support by staff and experienced or mentor teachers.  Burch observed that the support offered by mentor or experienced teachers was identified by both beginning and experienced teachers as having the strongest effect on their decision to stay in teaching. 

Likewise the Georgia Retention Study (Georgia Educator Workforce Research and Development Division, 2001) includes that having collegial support and a climate that was conducive to teamwork were important aspects of the work environment for teachers.  New teachers found that having the support of their colleagues, especially in mentoring programs, was an asset to their teaching experience.  Participants mentioned mentoring as a needed support for the recruitment and retention of new teachers.  Researchers have also shown that mentoring dramatically increases the retention rate of new teachers.  Ingersoll and Smith (2004) indicated that beginning teachers who were provided with multiple supports, were less likely to move to other schools and less likely to leave the teaching profession after their first year.

Well-designed teacher induction programs reduce turnover rates and increase teacher effectiveness during their early career (Weiss & Weiss, 1999).   Such programs provide an array of assistance to new teachers, ranging from help with policies and procedures, to guidance and classroom management, to feedback on instructional strategies and other aspects of professional practice.  They also connect new teachers to a network of colleagues and resources and reduce the isolation that too often characterizes teachers’ early professional experiences.

In some instances, induction programs also help veteran teachers to adjust to a new school or a new assignment.  Danielson (1999) found that mentoring helps novice teachers face new challenges; through reflective activities and professional conversations; they improve their teaching practices as they assume full responsibility for a class.  Danielson also concluded that mentoring fosters the professional development of both new teachers and their mentors.  In a study of new teachers in New Jersey, Gold (1996) reported that the first year attrition rate of teachers trained in traditional college programs without mentoring was 18%, whereas the attrition rate of first year teachers whose induction included mentoring was only 5% (Gold, 1996).  In an analysis of effects of a teacher induction program in New Brunswick, Canada, Scott (1999) found that 96% of beginning teachers and 98% of experienced teachers felt that they had benefited from the induction program.  Hegsted (1999) found that the benefits of mentoring are both career-related and psychosocial.  Experienced teachers believed mentoring allowed them to help others, improve themselves, develop collegiality, and profit from novice teachers’ fresh ideas and energy. 

The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (2002) found that the most significant factor affecting achievement is teacher quality.  Based on evaluations, the commission recommended that teacher preparation and professional development be reinvented, including the creation and funding of mentor programs for beginning teachers.  The Federal No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2002, has also emphasized the importance of new teacher induction programs.  Researchers have also shown that mentoring dramatically increases the retention rate of new teachers.  During the past twenty years, numerous studies have been completed on a variety of different types of mentoring and induction programs.  Several researchers seem to provide support for the hypothesis that well-conceived and well-implemented teacher mentoring and induction programs are successful in increasing the job satisfaction, efficacy, and retention of new teachers (Ingersoll & Smith, 2004).    It is expected that mentoring relationships play a critical role in the support, training and retention of new teachers (King & Bey, 1995).   The National Association of State Boards of Education (1998) believes that well designed mentoring programs lower the attrition rate of new teachers.  This should be the goal of all teacher induction programs. 
 

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