The Relationship of Teacher Induction Programs to Job Satisfaction of Early Career Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of new teacher induction programs to the job satisfaction of early career teachers. This study utilized data from the 2003-2004 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics. In this current study, 5,435 teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching were identified and several variables were analyzed to explore their job satisfaction in relation to induction program participation. Results revealed a positive relationship between job satisfaction of new teachers and induction program participation and a positive relationship between participation in an induction program and if they would re-enter the profession if they could do it over. Research has indicated that there exists a strong link between the perennially high rates of beginning teacher attrition and the teacher shortages that seem to perennially plague schools. Current studies show that teacher turnover rate in increasing, and that although all occupations experience some loss of new entrants, teachers are leaving the profession at a rate that outpaces most other professions. An analysis of national data has shown that widely publicized school staffing problems are not solely – or even primarily – the result of too few teachers being recruited and trained. Instead, the data indicates that school staffing problems are to a significant extent a result of a revolving door, where large numbers of teachers depart teaching long before retirement.