| Summary |
With research supporting that teachers have the greatest effect on student achievement, it is imperative that highly qualified teachers are retained while new teachers are recruited to the profession. The purpose of this mixed-methods inquiry was to focus on a year-long onboarding process to see the effect on the retention of first-year beginning teachers in a rural school system in Northeastern North Carolina. Three questions guided this research: (1) How does beginning teacher self-efficacy change over the course of the first year? (2) How effective were the strategies delivered during the beginning teacher preparation program in having an impact on their first year? and (3) What supports do beginning teachers identify as helpful in completing the Educator Preparation Program coursework? This inquiry included an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design through Action Research Cycles comprising of the Plan-Do-Study-Act model. This inquiry used included multiple quantitative instruments (Ohio State Self-Efficacy Survey, Likert-type Surveys, as well as data collected by the school system) to gather and analyze data about retaining first year beginning teachers. This inquiry triangulated the quantitative data with qualitative data from focus groups. The results indicated that the year-long onboarding process did help retain beginning teachers over the course of their first year, but additional work needed to be completed in regard to building-level supports. Self-efficacy improved over the course of the year and some of the supports offered helped beginning teachers with EPP coursework. Hopeful County Schools has improved practices in regards to educating personnel on licensure requirements as well as hiring additional staff to help beginning teachers in the classroom due to this study. |
| Dissertation note | Ed.D. East Carolina University 2024. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references. |
| Technical details | System requirements: Adobe Reader. |
| Technical details | Mode of access: World Wide Web. |
