**Disclosure:
My original assistant site-supervisor has moved to a new campus and after sharing
my findings from my previous topic with my new assistant site-supervisor, she
felt it would be best for me to change my direction and explore a new
wondering. Therefore, new data collection and analysis will not begin until
school starts at the end of the month. **
Improving the Quality of Campus Support for New Teacher
Success
Needs Assessment
Over the last year, I have heard multiple teachers complain
about the lack of support they
received when joining our campus
as a new teacher. While many teachers who come into the
DoDDS – Europe system are not first-year
teachers, the majority are new to the system. Some
of the new teachers are
military spouses who are stationed overseas and some are teachers from
The States that wanted an
overseas experience. Regardless of their path, being a teacher in a
foreign country can create added
challenges for teachers. While our campus is small and the
turnover rate is largely due to
military members transferring to other locations, statistics have
shown the attrition rate for
teachers across the nation continues to increase. Improving the
support of new teachers on our
campus is needed to continue emulating a positive campus
culture and supporting student
success.
** Data Collection – will be
inserted based on campus teacher survey – week of 08/22/2012
Vision and Objectives
The vision of my action research project is to determine
the specific teacher-centered
areas new teachers on campus
need Administration to provide support and assistance in order to
increase teaching and learning
for teachers. Increasing teacher learning is important as it has a
direct effect on the overall success
of our students. From the data that is
collected through
teacher surveys, interviews,
and based on prior research related to campus support for teachers, I
plan will use my findings to
implement an improved campus support program that increases
morale, teacher and student success,
and allows teachers to have a smooth transitional
experience.
Review of the Literature and Action
Research Strategy
Studies related to the use of support systems for new
teachers show improvements in
teacher retention rates by enhancing
new teacher satisfaction. Nearly one third of new teachers
quit during their first three
years on the job (Stansbury & Zimmerman, 2009). While many of the
studies related to support
systems focus on induction groups for beginning teachers, districts
and
schools recognize the need to
also offer some degree of support for teachers who, while not new
to the classroom per se, are new
to the school, the district, or the state (Stansbury & Zimmerman,
2009). Due to the fact that
teachers have expressed frustration with the current support program,
my Assistant Site-Supervisor and
I felt it would be beneficial to look into the possible
improvements that can be made to
better support our new teacher population. Other key players
include the Continuing School
Improvement Leadership Committee and the other Administrators
on campus. It was decided that we
will begin the research by focusing on the areas of concern
related to returning teacher
experiences and the experience of teachers new on campus this year.
Once the data is analyzed it will
be shared with the leadership team and a plan will be devised to
continue to improve the quality
of support offered to new teachers. As with any program, the
first year or so of a beginning
teacher support effort is likely to be bumpy; success requires a
commitment to learn from mistakes
and to identify necessary changes in resources, policies, and
practices. The potential payoffs —
lower teacher attrition, higher teacher morale, and, most
importantly, improved teaching and
learning — make the effort worthwhile (Stansbury &
Zimmerman, 2009).
Articulate the Vision
The vision will be articulated to teacher by sharing the
basis of inquiry with the staff
members at the beginning of the
new school year through an informal oral presentation and
email. Then, teachers will be asked
to participate in the research by completing staff surveys
related to their experiences as
new teachers. They will be asked to share areas in which they
could have used a stronger
support system, as well as, they ways they believed that need could
have been fulfilled. Teachers
who have been on campus for long periods of time will be asked to
share information about how
different their first year on campus would have been if they knew
then what they know now. Teachers
who are new to campus for the first time will give
information based on the
previous support system and give feedback on areas where they felt
isolated or lost. New teachers
will be surveyed once a week during the duration of the 1st
Quarter. This will allow for
new teachers to expand on ways they need support over an extended
period of time.
Manage the organization
In order to determine the best ways to improve the support
system for new teachers, I will
send out surveys, using
SurveyMonkey, to returning teachers during the Teacher Work Week
which is the week before
students arrive. They will be asked to complete the surveys during the
week but will be given until the
end of the first week of school in order to allow for flexibility. I
will meet with the new teachers
on campus during the Teacher Work Week and explain the goals
of my research. I will put
questionnaires related to teacher support in the mailboxes of new
teachers on the Monday of each
new week and they will have until the end of the week to
complete the form in order to
give them enough time to complete it where it does not interfere
with their teaching duties and
student learning. Reminders will be sent out midweek for both
returning and new teachers to
serve as a reminder in order to help get the best possible data
sample. During the 1st
Quarter of the Semester, I will meet with the new teachers every 2 weeks
and interview them on their
experience. I will also meet with my Assistant Site Supervisor every
other week during my planning
period to share information and gain insight on the findings.
During the first phase of my
research, no additional monies or materials other than paper, will be
needed to gather data. After determining
the overall needs of the teachers, the findings will
determine the next phase of the
improvement process.
Manage Operations
To lead operations of the project and set priorities, I
will follow the action research plan
that has been devised and only
deviate from the plan if the added information would be
beneficial to research. The
vision of the research is the main focus of the plan and will determine
the steps taken in the
research. Knowing that the quantitative data related to the needs assessment
will show a significant need
for some type of change on campus in relation to new teacher
support, it will be used to
determine the amount of improvement and change that will need to
take place. The data from the
returning teachers, supporting research data, and weekly responses
and interviews from new
teachers will be used to determine the most important areas of need in
relation to new teacher
support. Once the data from the teachers
in analyzed steps will be taken
to devise a plan to make improvements.
Once in place, the changes will be shared and the
improved program will be
implemented.
Respond to Community Interest and Needs
We have all heard
the saying or seen the poster that says, “teachers make the difference.”
We see segments on the news or
read excerpts from a book telling the heart-felt story of how one
teacher made the difference in
the life of one of their students. These stories prove that teachers
have a direct relationship to
the success of their students. In order to help our teachers be
successful in teaching our students,
we must give them the necessary tools and support they need
to be successful in their
classrooms. The goal of the research project will be to determine how we
can effectively improve the
support of teachers who are new on campus and meet their
immediate needs in order to
help them meet the needs of their students.
References
Stansbury,
K., & Zimmerman, J. (2000). Lifelines to the classroom: Designing support
for
beginning teachers. West Ed. Retrieved
from:
http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/tchrbrief.pdf
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