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

在全国范围内，留住STEM教师都是一个挑战。Robert Noyce教师奖学金项目Track 4项目旨在调查影响新科学教师在其职业生涯的前五年保留的因素。该项目将特别关注了解学区如何设计和实施成功留住教师的指导和入职计划。这项研究将包括对高需求学校的科学教师留校率、有色人种科学教师留校率和诺伊斯奖学金获得者留校率的调查。在美国，大量的资源被投入到科学教师的招聘和准备中，然而对可能对科学教师留任有积极贡献的指导和诱导经验却知之甚少。更好地理解为新的科学教师设计指导和诱导经验的循证实践可能对政策和实践都有明确的影响。本研究将使用新泽西州、宾夕法尼亚州、威斯康辛州和北卡罗来纳州十年间的州级数据，以确定新科学教师留存率最高的学区，然后进行实地考察并撰写案例研究，描述这些地区科学教师留存率高的特征。本研究分为两个阶段。在第一阶段，研究人员将检查公开可用的人员配备数据，为每个州的三组教师开发一个5年的保留图，并在研究期间跟踪其他队列。每个州的人员配备数据将被用来绘制科学教师个人的职业道路，以更全面地了解教师的保留、流动和流失情况。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科学教师保留率高的地区子集。本分析的重点是更好地理解指导和诱导计划的作用，以及文献中引用的可能影响教师留任的其他因素。本项目采用基于研究文献的理论框架，从学校背景和个人/专业背景的角度来看待教师留任问题。在项目的第2年至第5年，每年将进行一项州研究，从项目的第2年开始，从新泽西州开始。在保留有色人种科学教师、高需求地区的科学教师和诺伊斯大学理科毕业生方面取得成功的部分地区将被确定为进一步研究的对象。据估计，将确定四个州中每个州15-20个学区的样本，目的是代表地区特征的范围，以及指导和入职计划。从这些地区中，研究小组将选出5至6个模范地区进行个案研究，以探讨每个地区与辅导及入门计划相关的最佳实务、结构与组织、资金、及关键问题。本研究的预期结果包括：关于指导和诱导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、会议发言、同行评议的手稿，以及以一本书篇幅的手稿形式进行多案例研究，介绍指导和诱导方面的一般最佳做法，以及影响留用的其他因素）；制作和传播一个可共享的数据库分析工具，用于从现有人员数据集中计算实际保留率（按教学证书分类）。本研究的潜在贡献包括传播有关如何更好地支持新科学教师以使他们留在该职业的知识。此外，这项研究将为所有州提供一套可以衡量实际保留率的工具。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.