Using documentation in professional development has the potential to enhance professional visibility and credibility and to turn attention squarely to learning and teaching. This article targets providers of professional development and offers clear steps to providing an inquiry-based approach using close observation and documentation of…

Beginning teachers most often are viewed as needing significant support in all areas of teaching. As a result, professional development (PD) associated with induction programs typically is presented by experienced professionals. This article describes one induction program's attempt to draw on the strengths within its network, engaging new…

The emotional and cognitive work of becoming a teacher is often unknown to preservice teachers, leaving many to negotiate professional identities without support from teacher educators. This article examines how one preservice teacher, Ava Mendon, used language to negotiate professional identities and to build professional confidence during her…

This study summarizes the results of a survey conducted by university faculty to improve the secondary teacher education program at a public university in the southeast. The survey's primary objectives were to identify areas of needed improvement among student teachers and to identify areas in which supervising teachers desired additional training…

Survey data were used to explore the current teaching status and reasons for leaving or considering leaving teaching for 154 career changers who all graduated from a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program over a 9-year time period. Respondents provided information about reasons for leaving teaching, indicating personal/family, career, and school…

This qualitative study explored 8 urban mentor teachers' experiences and perceptions of mentoring in a yearlong field placement in an Urban Teacher Residency program. Results indicate mentors' and preservice teachers' joint work provided a context conducive for professional learning and contributing to a larger social justice mission. However,…

This article calls into question recent research on induction and mentoring and illustrates the effects of comprehensive induction programs on new teacher motivation, satisfaction, and retention. This analysis contradicts recent research and suggests that comprehensive induction can positively influence the retention and development of new…

Following worldwide trends in an effort to combat attrition rates of novice teachers, mentoring of new teachers has become a common practice. However, not all experienced teachers have the supervision and leadership skills necessary to guide new teachers through their first difficult year. In order to solve this problem, various programs have been…

The hybrid educator is an essential contributor to the development of new public school teachers. A hybrid educator is a college adjunct professor employed full time by a public school system. The role of the hybrid educator involves the navigation of two separate systems in developing new teachers: the university and the public school. This…

Given the increasing challenges faced by high-poverty urban schools, mentoring has become the panacea for policy makers interested in a quick-fix solution to the teacher quality dilemma. As a result, mentoring programs have experienced exponential growth with little empirical attention during the last decade. This 16-month qualitative…

The purpose of this paper is to present the major motives leading senior teachers to be involved in a mentoring process of newly appointed teachers and its benefits for the mentor teacher. Based on semi-structured interviews with 12 experienced teachers who participated in a university-based mentoring program in Israel, the current study found a…

Induction support for new teachers is widespread, particularly in the form of mentoring, but research evidence of effectiveness is limited. The majority of existing research has focused on the impact of induction on teacher retention. Of greater interest is the potential impact on student achievement, and on which forms of support are the most…

The author begins with an extended account of the manner in which popular accounts treat the topic of mentoring or coaching. This treatment is contrasted with the problems of coaching described in other articles in this issue, especially in connection to the National Board portfolio assessment. The distinction between "mediated" and "unmediated"…

This article describes some of the complexity embedded in mentoring relationships among teachers and analyzes them through the lens of ethical tensions. The author draws on three instances from a larger collection of cases of mentoring dilemmas situated within the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards portfolio-based assessment…

While conducting a study of mentoring teacher candidates for National Board Certification, the researchers discovered some controversial evidence in three cases written by candidate support providers who were coaching teachers to develop their portfolio entries. This evidence could be interpreted as crossing the boundaries of appropriate mentoring…