Studying the Retention of Novice Science Teachers by Learning from School District Induction and Mentoring Programs

留住STEM教师是全国范围内的一项挑战。罗伯特·诺伊斯教师奖学金计划第四轨项目旨在调查影响科学新手教师在其职业生涯的前五年留住的因素。该项目将特别注意了解学区如何设计和实施指导和入职计划，以证明成功地留住了教师。这项研究将包括对高需求学校的科学教师保留率、有色人种科学教师的保留率以及诺伊斯奖学金获得者的保留率的检查。在美国，大量资源用于招聘和准备科学教师，但对可能对留住科学教师有积极贡献的指导和上岗经验了解甚少。更好地理解基于证据的做法，为新的科学教师设计指导和上岗体验，可能对政策和实践都有明确的影响。这项研究将使用来自新泽西州、宾夕法尼亚州、威斯康星州和北卡罗来纳州的州级数据，跨越十年时间，确定具有模范新手科学教师保留率的学区，然后进行实地考察并撰写案例研究，描述导致这些学区科学教师高保留率的特征。在第一阶段，研究人员将检查公开的人员配备数据，为每个州的三个教师队列制定五年保留图，并在研究期间跟踪其他队列。每个州的这些人员配置数据将被用来绘制个别科学教师的职业道路图，以更全面地了解教师留任、流动性和自然减员的情况。通过确定在留住科学教师方面非常成功的地区，这项分析的结果将被用于为第二阶段的研究奠定基础。在第二阶段，研究人员的目标是仔细检查表现出高科学教师保留率的学区的子集。这一分析的重点是更好地了解辅导和入职计划的作用，以及文献中提到的其他可能影响教师留任的因素。该项目使用了一个以研究文献为基础的理论框架，从学校背景和个人/专业背景来考察教师留任问题。在项目的第二年到第五年，每年都会进行一项州研究，从第二个项目年的新泽西州开始。成功留住有色人种科学教师、高需求地区的科学教师和教授科学的诺伊斯毕业生的学区子集将被确定用于进一步研究。据估计，将确定每个州15-20个学区的样本，目的是代表学区的特点以及指导和入职计划的范围。研究小组将从这些地区中选择五到六个示范地区进行案例研究，以解决每个地区与指导和入职计划相关的最佳实践、结构和组织、资金和关键问题。这项研究的预期成果包括：关于辅导和上岗的作用以及其他与留用有关的因素的国别报告，以供传播(通过政策简报、会议介绍、同行审阅的手稿、一本书长的手稿形式的多案例研究，其中介绍辅导和上岗的一般最佳做法，以及影响留用的其他因素)，以及制作和传播一个可共享的数据库分析工具，用于从现有的人员编制数据集中计算实际保留率(按教学认证分列)。这项研究的潜在贡献包括传播关于如何更好地支持科学新手教师以使他们继续留任的知识。此外，这项研究将为所有州提供一套工具，用来衡量实际保留率。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Retaining STEM teachers is a challenge across the Nation. This Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program Track 4 project seeks to investigate factors that affect retention of novice science teachers throughout the first five years of their career. The project will pay particular attention to understanding the ways in which school districts design and implement mentoring and induction programs that demonstrate success in retaining teachers. The study will include examination of retention rates of science teachers in high-need schools, science teachers of color, and retention of Noyce Scholarship teacher recipients. In the United States, significant resources are devoted to recruitment and preparation of science teachers, yet the mentoring and induction experiences that may contribute positively to science teacher retention are poorly understood. A better understanding of evidence-based practices for designing mentoring and induction experiences for new science teachers could have clear implications for both policy and practice. This study will use state level data, spanning a ten-year period, from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and North Carolina, to identify school districts with exemplary novice science teacher retention, and then conduct site visits and write case studies that describe the characteristics that contribute to the high retention of science teachers in these districts.This study has two phases. In the first phase, researchers will examine publicly available staffing data to develop a 5-year retention map for three cohorts of teachers in each state, with additional cohorts tracked over the duration of the study. This staffing data from each state will be used to map the career paths of individual science teachers for a more comprehensive picture of teacher retention, mobility, and attrition. By identifying districts that are highly successful in retaining science teachers, the findings from this analysis will be used to set the stage for the second phase of the research. In the second phase, the researchers aim to closely examine a subset of districts that demonstrate high science teacher retention rates. This analysis focuses on gaining a better understanding of the role of mentoring and induction programs, as well as other factors cited in the literature that may influence teacher retention. This project uses a theoretical framework, based in research literature, that looks at teacher retention in terms school contexts and personal/professional backgrounds. One state study will occur in each of years two through five of the project, beginning with New Jersey in the second project year. A subset of districts that are successful at retaining science teachers of color, science teachers in high-need districts, and Noyce graduates teaching science will be identified for further study. It is estimated that a sample of 15-20 school districts per each of the four states will be identified, with the aim of representing the range of district characteristics, and mentoring and induction programs. From these districts, the research team will select five to six exemplar districts for case studies that will address the best practices, structure and organization, funding, and critical issues in each district related to the mentoring and induction program. Anticipated outcomes of this study include: state-specific reports on the role of mentoring and induction and other retention-related factors for dissemination (through policy briefs, conference presentations, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and a multiple-case study in the form of a book-length manuscript featuring generalizable best practices in mentoring and induction, as well as other factors influencing retention), and the production and dissemination of a shareable database analysis tool for calculating actual retention rates (disaggregated by teaching certification) from existing staffing data sets. The potential contributions of this study include the dissemination of knowledge about how to better support novice science teachers so that they remain in the profession. Further, this study will provide all states with a set of tools by which actual retention rates can be measured.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.