Novice teachers' perceptions of their first year induction program in urban schools

The study examined and evaluated perceptions of first year teachers on the effectiveness of induction activities, assistance, and support following participation in their induction program. This was a quantitative study of novice teachers in an urban school district. Teachers from all teaching disciplines, both at the elementary and secondary level, participated in the study. The researcher used the Novice Teacher Perceptions Assessment to survey 171 teachers. Of the 171 surveys distributed, 144 were returned and analyzed for this study. From the survey data, descriptive statistics and frequency counts were obtained for demographic information items and specific induction activities, assistance, and support. All data were analyzed for the effectiveness of teacher induction program components. The results of this study revealed that novice teachers were provided with six factors that were important to them. The factors were: information concerning the school and its culture; support for emotional stress; assistance in instructional strategies; the allocation of resources; and overall support of the induction program in relation to mentors and reflection. Perceptions were consistent among the demographics; namely, the subject taught, grade level taught, gender, age, ethnicity and environment. Novice teachers ranked ten activities they valued while in the induction program. The activities most valued were the support they received in assistance with discipline problems; feedback from observations, and the opportunity to observe other teachers. On the contrary, novice teachers least valued the support given to them relating to the physical aspect of their classrooms. This included classroom arrangement, designing bulletin boards and learning centers.