The Teacher Induction Study investigated 2 state-mandated beginning teacher programs and examined the translation of state policy by 4 school districts, 13 individual schools, and 32 classrooms. From the case histories of 16 teams, 2 case histories were selected for further study. One case illustrated how institutional factors influenced team interactions in a positive way, while the other case pointed out negative influences. Data were collected from: (1) individual journals kept by the beginning teacher, the peer teacher, the building level administrator, and other education personnel; (2) interviews with each of the team members; (3) five 1-hour classroom observations of each beginning teacher and two 1-hour observations of each peer teacher; (4) a demographic questionnaire detailing background and experience of each team member; and (5) a performance evaluation by the beginning teacher of the team's effectiveness. Results indicated that the presence or absence of certain institutional factors (e.g., policy, inservice, lesson plan requirements) either facilitate or hinder entry into teaching and affect perception of success in the first year of teaching. (CB)