Supporting Beginning Teachers, Second Edition

SECOND EDITION

“In this second edition of her book Supporting Beginning Teachers, Tina Boogren uses the strong foundation of her first edition to provide breakthrough concepts regarding teacher support and specific strategies to manifest them.”

Readers will:

“Tina Boogren is brilliant and provides the much-needed roadmap to ensure a successful journey for first-year teachers.

This book will not disappoint!”

— T INA NUNN Principal, Rose Union Elementary School, Edmond, Oklahoma

Understand the causes of high teacher turnover rates

Learn how to create a comprehensive mentoring

C L A S S R O O M

S T R AT E G I E S

SECOND EDITION

Review numerous strategies pertaining to four

Tina H. Boogren

types of support—(1) physical, (2) institutional, (3) emotional, and (4) instructional

Discover how to foster positive mentor-mentee relationships

Find reproducible tools, templates, and reflection questions to enhance their understanding of the material

Visit MarzanoResources.com/classroomstrategies to download the free reproducibles in this book.

ISBN 978-1-943360-63-5 90000

MarzanoResources.com 9 781943 360635

S E R I E S

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

program, designed to build new teachers’ expertise by targeting their unique needs

“As an instructional coach and veteran educator, I found this book to be full of great ideas to help with teacher attrition.

I highly recommend this book for any educator or administrator who wants to build a positive culture not only for beginning teachers but for all educators.”

— L EXI A. WICHELT Instructional Facilitator, Hastings Public Schools, Nebraska

Part of The Classroom Strategies Series, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice.

SECOND EDITION

— R OBERT J. MARZANO Chief Academic Officer, Marzano Resources

N

ew teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. To help retain and develop beginning educators, professional guidance and support during their initial years in the classroom are vital. In this second edition of Supporting Beginning Teachers, author Tina H. Boogren provides updated research and additional strategies for mentoring the newest educators. With this book’s framework for designing a meaningful and comprehensive teacher mentoring program, K–12 mentors, coaches, and school leaders can develop new teachers’ confidence and expertise.

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

T H E

Tina H. Boogren

Copyright © 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher and the authors.

555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 888.849.0851 FAX: 866.801.1447 email: info@MarzanoResources.com MarzanoResources.com Visit MarzanoResources.com/classroomstrategies to download the free reproducibles in this book.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Boogren, Tina, author.

Title: Supporting beginning teachers / Tina H. Boogren.

Description: Second Edition. | Bloomington, IN : Marzano Resources, [2021] | Series: The classroom strategies series | Previous edition: 2015. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021042600 (print) | LCCN 2021042601 (ebook) | ISBN 9781943360635 (Paperback) | ISBN 9781943360642 (eBook) Subjects: LCSH: First year teachers. | Teachers--In-service training. | Mentoring in education.

Classification: LCC LB2844.1.N4 B66 2021 (print) | LCC LB2844.1.N4 (ebook) | DDC 371.1--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042600 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021042601

Production Team President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton Editorial Director: Todd Brakke Art Director: Rian Anderson Copy Chief: Jessi Finn Senior Production Editor: Laurel Hecker Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein Copy Editor: Jessi Finn Proofreader: Sarah Ludwig Cover Designer: Rian Anderson Editorial Assistants: Charlotte Jones, Sarah Ludwig, and Elijah Oates

Table of Contents Reproducibles are in italics.

About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 How to Use This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1

Research and Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Beginning Teacher Attrition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Retention for Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Mentoring Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Unique Needs of Beginning Teachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Translating Research and Theory Into Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2

Elements of an Effective Mentoring Program. . . . . . . . . . 11 Selecting High-Quality Mentors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Establishing the Program’s Mission, Vision, and Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Developing Effective Relationships Between Mentors and Mentees . . . . . . 17 Providing Specific Types of New-Teacher Support Matched to the Mentee’s Individual Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Mentee Questionnaire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Mentor Questionnaire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Mentoring Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chapter 2 Reflection Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3

Physical Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Help Arrange the Physical Layout of the Classroom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Give a Tour of the Building and District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Describe a Typical Day at School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

v

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SUPPORTING BEGINNING TEACHERS

Help Prepare for the First Week of School (and Beyond) . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Establish Classroom Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Assist With Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Review Absence and Substitute Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Prepare for Special Populations of Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Help Initiate Communication With Families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Additional Strategies and Support Staff for Physical Support. . . . . . . . . . 45 Chapter 3 Reflection Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

4

Institutional Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Explain the School Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Introduce Collaborative Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Foster Relationships With Coworkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Help Create a Personalized Learning Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Help Secure Membership in Professional Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Suggest Attending Educational Conferences and Professional Development Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Explore Educational Research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Additional Strategies and Support Staff for Institutional Support. . . . . . . . 55 Chapter 4 Reflection Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

5

Emotional Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Engage in Active and Supportive Listening. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Check In Regularly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Validate the New Teacher’s Feelings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Send Encouraging Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Celebrate Success. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Offer Alternative Communication Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Provide Self-Care Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Share Strategies for Closing the Stress Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Additional Strategies and Support Staff for Emotional Support. . . . . . . . . 69 Self-Care Action Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Self-Care Calendar Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Chapter 5 Reflection Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

6

Instructional Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Establish a Common Language of Instruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Employ a Process for Increasing Expertise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Ta ble of C on t e n t s

Provide Opportunities to Observe and Discuss Effective Teaching. . . . . . . 86 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Additional Strategies and Support Staff for Instructional Support. . . . . . . . 88 Teacher Progress Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Chapter 6 Reflection Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Epilogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Appendix: Reflections of a Beginning Teacher. . . . . . . . . 93 Reflection Theme: L ooking Back on the First Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Reflection Prompts: L ooking Back on the First Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Reflection Theme: S upporting Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Reflection Prompts: S upporting Students. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Reflection Theme: C ultivating a Work-Life Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Reflection Prompts: C ultivating a Work-Life Balance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Reflection Theme: C elebrating Success and Finding the Strength to Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Reflection Prompts: C elebrating Success and Finding the Strength to Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Reflection Theme: R emembering That It Gets Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Reflection Prompts: R emembering That It Gets Better . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

References and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

vii

About the Author

Tina H. Boogren, PhD, is a fierce advocate for educators and an award-winning educator, best-selling author, and highly soughtafter speaker. Dr. Boogren has proudly served as a classroom teacher, mentor, instructional coach, and building-level leader and has presented for audiences all over the world.

Dr. Boogren is deeply committed to supporting educators so that they can support their students. She conducts highly requested and inspiring keynotes, workshops, and virtual webinars that focus on quality instruction, coaching, mentoring, and educator wellness, and she hosts a weekly podcast, Self-Care for Educators With Dr. Tina H. Boogren. Additionally, she is codirector of Solution Tree’s Wellness Solutions for Educators™ with Dr. Timothy D. Kanold.

Dr. Boogren was a 2007 finalist for Colorado Teacher of the Year and was a recipient of her school district’s Outstanding Teacher Award eight years in a row, from 2002 to 2009. She is the author of numerous books, including In the First Few Years: Reflections of a Beginning Teacher; Supporting Beginning Teachers; The Beginning Teacher’s Field Guide: Embarking on Your First Years; 180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators; Take Time for You: Self-Care Action Plans for Educators, which was the Independent Publisher Book Awards’ gold winner in the Education category; and Coaching for Educator Wellness: A Guide to Supporting New and Experienced Teachers. She is a coauthor of Educator Wellness: A Guide for Sustaining Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Social Well-Being with Timothy D. Kanold and Motivating and Inspiring Students: Strategies to Awaken the Learner with Robert J. Marzano, Darrell Scott, and Ming Lee Newcomb and is a contributor to Richard Kellough and Noreen Kellough’s Middle School Teaching: A Guide to Methods and Resources and Robert J. Marzano’s Becoming a Reflective Teacher.

Dr. Boogren holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, a master’s degree with an administrative endorsement from the University of Colorado Denver, and a doctorate in educational administration and policy studies from the University of Denver.

To book Tina H. Boogren for professional development, contact pd@Marzano Resources.com.

ix

Introduction

Supporting Beginning Teachers is part of a series of books collectively referred to as The Classroom Strategies Series. This series aims to provide teachers, as well as building and district administrators, with an in-depth treatment of research-based instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance student achievement. Many of the strategies addressed in this series have been covered in other works, such as Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001), Classroom Management That Works (Marzano, 2003a), The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017), and Improving Teacher Development and Evaluation (Marzano, Rains, & Warrick, 2021). Although those works devote a chapter or part of a chapter to particular strategies, The Classroom Strategies Series devotes an entire book to an instructional strategy or set of related strategies.

Supporting Beginning Teachers was originally written in response to the question, How can school leaders support their new teachers in becoming and remaining strong and effective educators for years to come? The answer to that question was to design purposeful and comprehensive mentoring programs. This second edition still serves to answer that same question but also incorporates all I have learned in the seven intervening years from both research and experience in the field. Since the publication of the first edition, I have helped schools and districts completely redesign their mentoring programs in profound ways. By building on the core tenet of matching the type of support to the individual teacher’s unique needs, schools and districts can purposefully retain their quality beginning teachers in order to increase their expertise year after year.

You will find the foundation of this edition mirrors that of the first edition but with notable exceptions. This edition presents the latest research and theory and provides additional strategies and recommendations that were not presented in the first edition.

Additionally, this edition incorporates the greatly enhanced and expanded instructional framework of The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017) as part of the instructional support chapter, an update that many readers have been longing for.

This book begins with a brief but inclusive chapter that reviews the updated research and theory on retaining and supporting new teachers. Although you might be tempted to skip this chapter and move right into those chapters that provide specific strategies for implementation, it is essential to examine the presented research and theory, as those findings serve as the foundation for the rest of the book. Indeed, a basic purpose of Supporting 1

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SUPPORTING BEGINNING TEACHERS

Beginning Teachers and other books in The Classroom Strategies Series is to present the most useful strategies based on the strongest research and theory available.

Because research and theory can provide only a general direction for mentoring programs, Supporting Beginning Teachers goes one step further and translates that research into applications for those who support new educators. Chapter 2 outlines a general philosophy and set of principles that administrators can use when creating and overseeing a mentoring program and that mentor teachers and coaches can apply to their work with beginning teachers. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 provide specific, targeted strategies designed to support the unique needs of new teachers, presented in four general categories of support: physical (chapter 3), institutional (chapter 4), emotional (chapter 5), and instructional (chapter 6).

How to Use This Book Mentors, coaches, and school or district leaders can use Supporting Beginning Teachers as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of different ways to support educators during their initial years in the profession. Additionally, school or district leaders might use it to enhance building- or district-level support systems for new teachers. As you move through the chapters, you will encounter reflection prompts. It is recommended that you answer these questions as a way to internalize the content. Additionally, such interaction with the text allows you to deepen your understanding of the material presented in each chapter. Groups or teams of teachers, mentors, coaches, or leaders who wish to examine the topic of how to best support their beginning teachers may also use this book.

When this is the case, group or team members should respond to the reflection prompts independently and then share their answers with one another. The appendix includes a number of personal essays that I wrote during my own first years of teaching, each of which explores a different theme related to the first few years in the classroom. Mentors can read and discuss these essays with mentees, as well as use them to reflect on their own experiences during their first year of teaching and what mentoring means to them.

1 © 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

R E S E A R C H AN D T H E O RY

Retaining effective teachers continues to pose a challenge for the education community, just as it did when the first edition of this text was published in 2015. Teachers change jobs and leave their careers at rates similar to those in professions considered highturnover fields, such as nursing. In the United States, the annual turnover rate for teachers is 16 percent, with 8 percent changing schools and 8 percent leaving the profession entirely (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016). In Australia, between 30 and 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within the first five years (Dadvand & DawbornGundlach, 2020), and in Canada, some provinces face attrition rates as high as 40 percent for those in their first five years (Reid & Cranston, 2021). Even in Finland, where teachers are highly appreciated and known for their commitment to the job, there are concerns about job satisfaction, recruitment, and an increase in turnover (Räsänen, Pietarinen, Pyhältö, Soini, & Väisänen, 2020). Sadly, these rates are even higher in diverse settings (Gray & Taie, 2015), with data showing that public schools located in urban or rural areas with high rates of poverty and significant minority populations tend to have the highest turnover rates (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019; Ingersoll & May, 2012).

While the fallout from COVID-19 will not be known for some time, it is clear that more teachers are considering leaving the profession now than before the pandemic (Loewus, 2021). According to a March 2021 survey by the EdWeek Research Center, 54 percent of teachers said they are somewhat or very likely to leave teaching in the next two years, compared to 34 percent of those surveyed before the pandemic (Loewus, 2021).

While attrition rates are high for all teachers, they are especially concerning for beginning teachers.

3

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SUPPORTING BEGINNING TEACHERS

Beginning Teacher Attrition

Salary Classroom resources Student behavior and classroom management Accountability pressures and decreased autonomy in the classroom Professional development opportunities Autonomy and input into decision making School leadership and administrator support The fact is that teaching is a difficult, complex job, starting on day one. In their very first year on the job, new teachers are bombarded with things that they must know and be able to do—everything from classroom management techniques, to building community within the classroom, communicating with families, securing supplies, creating lesson plans, assessing students, learning to collaborate with colleagues, and increasing student engagement and achievement, just to name a few. All of these responsibilities can put incredible stress on new educators. If beginning teachers feel stressed and unsuccessful at work, the reasons they chose a career in education may not be enough to keep them in it. Andrea M. Kent, Andre M. Green, and Phillip Feldman (2012) found that educators who start out underprepared, overwhelmed, and undersupported quickly become frustrated and burned out, and choose to leave the profession early. According to Marcus A. Winters and Joshua M. Cowen (2013), teachers who are not successful in improving student learning can become disengaged as a result and end up leaving the profession, while those who find success with student achievement stay more engaged and are therefore retained longer.

Note that beginning teacher attrition is particularly high among those who do not take a traditional path into the profession. About one-fourth of new teachers are alternatively licensed. For alternative licensure teachers, the attrition rate is almost 8 percentage points higher than the attrition rate for teachers who have graduated from a traditional university teacher prep program (25 percent versus 17 percent; Brasher, 2016). In terms of

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

The phrase teacher attrition refers to classroom teachers’ choosing to quit teaching. More than one-third of teachers, roughly 44 percent, leave the profession within the first five years (Ingersoll, Merrill, Stuckey, & Collins, 2018; Shaw & Newton, 2014). These data raise the question, Why are so many new teachers leaving? For those who leave of their own accord, family or personal matters, including health needs, pregnancy, moving, and caring for family members, often influence their decisions (Ingersoll et al., 2018). However, aspects of the job itself also contribute. One survey indicated that the number-one reason that teachers leave is stress (Will, 2021). Other cited reasons for leaving included dissatisfaction with working conditions such as the following (Brown, 2020; Callahan, 2016; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019; Ingersoll et al., 2018).

Researc h a n d Th e or y

5

turnover, Desiree Carver-Thomas and Linda Darling-Hammond (2019) found that “those who entered the profession through an alternative certification program were 25% more likely to leave their schools than were full-time teachers who entered teaching through a regular certification program” (p. 13). Researchers identified two key contributors here: (1) a lack of teacher preparation and (2) a lack of on-the-job support (Redding & Smith, 2016). Those who leave cite feeling unprepared and overwhelmed.

Retention for Effectiveness These staggering attrition rates mean beginning teachers are leaving the profession before they can become highly effective educators. Based on a review of thirty studies, Tara Kini and Anne Podolsky (2016) found the following: • Teaching experience is positively associated with student achievement gains throughout a teacher’s career.

• As teachers gain experience, their students are more likely to do better on other measures of success beyond test scores, such as school attendance.

• Teachers make greater gains in their effectiveness when they teach in a supportive and collegial working environment, or accumulate experience in the same grade level, subject, or district.

• More experienced teachers confer benefits to their colleagues, their students, and to the school as a whole.

Also of note, when experienced teachers retire or quit, beginning teachers often replace them. This pattern has led to a teaching workforce with less and less experience overall: “In the late 1980s the modal teacher had 15 years of teaching experience; by 2008, the modal teacher was a beginner in his or her first year of teaching” (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011, p. 204). During the 2015–2016 school year, 11.2 percent of all teachers were new to their jobs; 37.8 percent of those new hires were first-year educators (García & Weiss, 2019). Because teaching experience is positively associated with student achievement (Kini & Podolsky, 2016), the possibility of a student moving through a K–12 system with beginning teachers year after year poses some challenges and reminds educators that increasing teacher retention and reducing turnover is essential.

Clearly, schools must retain teachers in order to build their expertise, and the key to retention is providing them with the support that they need (Shaw & Newton, 2014).

In a sense, teacher retention is an educational imperative: “If the most precious product developed in education is the student, then our most prized commodity should be the classroom teacher” (Shaw & Newton, 2014, p. 101). Developing and retaining highly

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

On the whole, new teachers are desperate for support, and without it, many will leave the teaching profession before they reach their potential (Brown, 2020).

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SUPPORTING BEGINNING TEACHERS

qualified teachers takes time and purposeful effort, however, and attrition rates make this a challenging goal.

There is hope, however.

Mentoring Programs

According to Richard Ingersoll and Michael Strong (2012), when new teachers are part of a mentoring program, they are more dedicated to and satisfied with their jobs and are more likely to remain in the profession. A 2016 study by the Learning Policy Institute found that if beginning teachers receive mentoring, collaboration, and additional resources, and are part of a strong network, first-year turnover is reduced by more than half (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2016). These types of support are essential for building competence and efficacy among beginning educators. Sadly, only 2.5 percent of new teachers receive this type of comprehensive support (Sutcher et al., 2016).

This study also found that mentoring is more successful when beginning teachers have the following (Sutcher et al., 2016).

A mentor who teaches in the same content area as the mentee Planning periods that are shared with other teachers in the mentee’s content area Scheduled time for collaboration on a regular basis A comprehensive mentoring program is certainly an investment for a school or district.

The system must dedicate resources to hiring and training mentors and reserve time in mentors’ and mentees’ schedules. But the alternative is even more costly. According to the Learning Policy Institute (2017b), each new hire in an urban school can cost the district upwards of $20,000, when considering “expenses related to separation, recruitment, hiring, and training.” Clearly, this is a substantial investment in a new teacher, which does not pay off if the teacher leaves within a few years. In the early 2000s, the cost of teacher turnover in the United States ranged from approximately $4,400 in a small rural district to $18,000 in a large urban district. Accounting for inflation, the total national costs exceeds $8 billion a year (Sutcher et al., 2016).

Additionally, when a teacher leaves a district, the district also loses the money invested in that teacher’s professional development, curriculum orientation, and school-specific knowledge (Graziano, 2005). These costs add up quickly, particularly given the increasing

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

According to the American Institutes for Research (2015), “the mentorship relationship is one in which one colleague supports the skill and knowledge development of another, providing guidance to that individual based on his or her own experiences and understanding of best practices” (p. 1). Similarly, Elena Aguilar (2017) defined a mentor as “an insider in a system, an expert in a field, who supports a novice.” By developing a mentoring program, school leaders can ensure that all their beginning teachers receive this expert support.

Researc h a n d Th e or y

7

number of teachers who quit. And the costs are not just monetary—high turnover rates among beginning teachers have produced a continuous cycle of inexperienced educators.

This trend has serious implications for student achievement, since students with highly skilled teachers achieve at higher levels than students with less skilled teachers (Marzano, Frontier, & Livingston, 2011).

Keeping students focused Creating quality lesson plans Utilizing effective questioning techniques Monitoring students’ needs and adjusting lessons accordingly Creating a positive classroom climate Conquering the challenges of classroom management These skills and others learned through mentoring help new teachers become more effective in a shorter amount of time, and this effectiveness has a positive impact on student achievement (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Teachers’ belief (or lack thereof) that they are successful with their students is central to whether they stay in the profession (Johnson & Birkeland, 2003). The bottom line is that when teachers are successful in increasing student achievement, they like their jobs more, and when they like their jobs, they are much more likely to stay. Therefore, the ultimate goal of a mentoring program should be to generate success for beginning teachers by responding to their unique needs.

The Unique Needs of Beginning Teachers In order to successfully support and retain beginning teachers, school leaders and mentor teachers must first understand how the needs of new teachers differ from the needs of experienced educators. Ellen Moir (1999; New Teacher Center, 2016b) identified a series of specific mental and emotional challenges that usually occur during the first year of teaching, and her model has gained widespread recognition among educators. Moir (1999) organized the challenges into five phases: (1) anticipation, (2) survival, (3) disillusionment, (4) rejuvenation, and (5) reflection, with beginning teachers returning to the anticipation phase at the end of the first year. Figure 1.1 (page 8) displays these phases in an image that teachers often call the dip chart.

Of course, not every new teacher progresses through these phases at the same time or in an entirely linear fashion. Feelings from the survival phase may endure beyond the early fall. Teachers may experience moments of rejuvenation or reflection earlier in the year after a successful day in the classroom or a long weekend. A strong support network may

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

As an investment in retention, teacher expertise, and student achievement, mentoring programs pay dividends. Ingersoll and Strong (2012) noted that mentoring programs offer many advantages for new teachers in terms of instructional prowess, including learning skills that greatly benefit them and their students, such as the following.

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SUPPORTING BEGINNING TEACHERS

Anticipation

Anticipation Reflection

Survival

Disillusionment Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

July

Source: © 2016 by the New Teacher Center. Used with permission.

Figure 1.1: The phases of a first-year teacher’s attitude toward teaching.

help a teacher avoid sliding into disillusionment (Duggan et al., 2017). However, comprehending these phases can greatly help those who support beginning teachers understand the challenges they face.

During the first anticipation phase, beginning teachers feel excited to have their own students and are hopeful in their quest to make a difference. Their concerns during this phase may include setting up their classrooms, locating materials, and establishing relationships with colleagues, school leaders, students, and parents or guardians. Not surprisingly, this phase coincides with the beginning of the school year.

In the survival phase, new teachers begin to realize the realities of day-to-day work.

Teachers in this phase have little time for planning or reflection—they are overwhelmed and simply trying to stay afloat. Even in the face of challenges and difficulties, most beginning teachers attempt to maintain their energy and dedication to students, though they may find themselves falling short. This phase often occurs around the second to third month of school.

New teachers often “hit the wall” during the disillusionment phase. At this time, they may begin to question their commitment, capability, and self-worth, and they sometimes even become ill from stress. The disillusionment phase is the greatest challenge for the first-year teacher to overcome and typically falls between late October and January.

The next phase—rejuvenation—often arrives shortly after winter break, once new teachers have had the opportunity to rest and spend time with family and friends. Time away from the stresses and pressures of the classroom can give beginning teachers a fresh outlook on their profession and a renewed sense of accomplishment. Teachers in this phase feel more hopeful and begin to focus on their students’ academic growth and their own teaching competence. Rejuvenation can last into the spring.

As the school year comes to a close, new teachers enter the reflection phase. Here, they begin to look back on all they have learned throughout the year, including which strategies

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

Rejuvenation

Researc h a n d Th e or y

9

were effective, which strategies were ineffective, which strategies went untried, and what they could do differently next year. At the end of the year, many teachers also feel strong emotions related to saying goodbye to their first group of students.

Leaders and mentors will often contemplate whether they should share the phases and the dip chart (figure 1.1) with beginning teachers for fear of scaring them in some way.

On the contrary, it is important to share this information with new teachers so they understand that their ever-changing emotions are normal. Isolation can be a terrifying experience, particularly for the newest educators, so a mentoring program should aim to reduce isolation by increasing a sense of belonging. When beginning teachers understand that their highs and lows are normal—and even expected—they can focus their energy on what they should do rather than feel paralyzed by how they feel.

Translating Research and Theory Into Practice Subsequent chapters draw from the research and theory in this chapter and from sources such as The New Art and Science of Teaching (Marzano, 2017) and Improving Teacher Development and Evaluation (Marzano et al., 2021) to discuss how to effectively support beginning teachers. Each chapter provides a number of strategies that mentors can implement to help support a beginning teacher both in the classroom and outside it. As mentioned in the introduction (page 2), as you progress through the remaining chapters, you will encounter reflection prompts to help you process the content presented.

© 2015, 2022 by Marzano Resources. All rights reserved.

As they close out the school year, new teachers typically re-enter the anticipation phase.

During this time, they begin to think ahead to the following year. Having had the opportunity to reflect, beginning teachers usually feel ready to enter the next school year with new ideas, streamlined procedures, and different strategies to try out in the classroom.

SECOND EDITION

“In this second edition of her book Supporting Beginning Teachers, Tina Boogren uses the strong foundation of her first edition to provide breakthrough concepts regarding teacher support and specific strategies to manifest them.”

Readers will:

“Tina Boogren is brilliant and provides the much-needed roadmap to ensure a successful journey for first-year teachers.

This book will not disappoint!”

— T INA NUNN Principal, Rose Union Elementary School, Edmond, Oklahoma

Understand the causes of high teacher turnover rates

Learn how to create a comprehensive mentoring

C L A S S R O O M

S T R AT E G I E S

SECOND EDITION

Review numerous strategies pertaining to four

Tina H. Boogren

types of support—(1) physical, (2) institutional, (3) emotional, and (4) instructional

Discover how to foster positive mentor-mentee relationships

Find reproducible tools, templates, and reflection questions to enhance their understanding of the material

Visit MarzanoResources.com/classroomstrategies to download the free reproducibles in this book.

ISBN 978-1-943360-63-5 90000

MarzanoResources.com 9 781943 360635

S E R I E S

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

program, designed to build new teachers’ expertise by targeting their unique needs

“As an instructional coach and veteran educator, I found this book to be full of great ideas to help with teacher attrition.

I highly recommend this book for any educator or administrator who wants to build a positive culture not only for beginning teachers but for all educators.”

— L EXI A. WICHELT Instructional Facilitator, Hastings Public Schools, Nebraska

Part of The Classroom Strategies Series, this clear, highly practical guide follows the series format, first summarizing key research and then translating it into recommendations for classroom practice.

SECOND EDITION

— R OBERT J. MARZANO Chief Academic Officer, Marzano Resources

N

ew teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. To help retain and develop beginning educators, professional guidance and support during their initial years in the classroom are vital. In this second edition of Supporting Beginning Teachers, author Tina H. Boogren provides updated research and additional strategies for mentoring the newest educators. With this book’s framework for designing a meaningful and comprehensive teacher mentoring program, K–12 mentors, coaches, and school leaders can develop new teachers’ confidence and expertise.

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

Supporting BEGINNING TEACHERS

T H E

Tina H. Boogren