Teachers’ Perception of Support from New-Teacher Induction Programs in Two Rural Tennessee School Districts

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore teachers’ perceptions of the support they received while participating in a new teacher induction program. Two rural school systems were the subjects of the study; one from Middle Tennessee and one from East Tennessee. A variety of participants participated in the study with teaching experience ranging from 0-to 30 years, grade levels taught ranging from Kindergarten-grade 12, a variety of content areas, and ages ranging from 22-57. Responses were collected using focus group interview sessions and survey questionnaires. The analysis process included organizing data, reading data, coding data, describing themes, narrating themes, and interpreting results. The responses yielded three global themes: (a) support from mentors; (b) support from school-level administrators; and, (c) support from district-level administrators. Results from the study indicate teacher input concerning induction programs provide school systems with an opportunity to serve their new teachers at a higher level and may possibly allow for a reduction of teacher attrition. Future research is needed in other rural districts to determine if the participants’ perceptions of this study are consistent with other rural systems. Moreover, due to the racial homogeneity of this study, further research is needed to determine the perceptions of new teacher induction programs from teachers of color.