Abstract:

Research suggests that increased job satisfaction decreases the likelihood a particular teacher will leave the profession. This study explores the interaction between induction and on-going professional supports and teacher job satisfaction in the U.S. We ask about the relationship of teachers’ induction experience in their first year to their job satisfaction in the first five years of teaching, and about the interaction between teachers’ preparation, on-going professional support, and job satisfaction.
Using national survey data representative of U.S. teachers, we conducted factor analysis on two conceptual groups of independent variables: pre-service preparation, readiness, and induction experience; and on-going supports. Factors in the on-going support group relate to: quality of professional development, university coursework, reimbursements for professional development, and professional peer collaboration and mentoring. Factors in the pre-service preparation and induction supports group relate to: self-perceived readiness, preparation program elements, reduced workload, programmatic induction, and additional non-instructional work. We then conducted a nested regression including the factors to determine their association with job satisfaction. The first regression incorporates teacher characteristics. The second model includes school-level controls. The third model includes on-going support factors, and the full model includes readiness and induction factors.
A statistical analysis did not support our first hypothesis that quality induction would be associated with greater levels of job satisfaction for early career teachers. Teachers who reported receiving strong induction supports are not more satisfied than those who do not; in fact, they report lower overall job satisfaction. Additionally, because the relationship of job satisfaction to both induction supports and on-going professional development is negative, our second hypothesis that induction would have a stronger positive impact on job satisfaction than on-going supports is also unsupported.
Considering the vast resources invested in teacher preparation, induction, and replacement in the event of turnover, our findings and the existing, murky body of research offer a compelling case for further, rigorous, methodologically sound, large-scale, and induction-specific research. It will be important to continue to examine which characteristics of effective induction programs are the ones that are impacting teachers positively, as induction programs are so varied. Programs should continue to consider what their intended outcomes are – teacher retention or satisfaction, or teacher practice, or student outcomes – as well as when these outcomes should be observed. We are eager to continue to explore the understandings and assumptions surrounding these issues in an international context.

Keywords:

Induction, retention, preparation, training, novice teachers.