Date of Conferral

2014

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Paul Englesberg

Abstract

An urban elementary school in the northeast was lacking formal methods to evaluate its

support systems for teachers. This formative evaluation of the school's support systems for new teachers and staff was conducted using a mixed methods design to address the problem. The purpose of this evaluation was to determine the indicators of progress or need of improvement of effectively supporting teachers through mentoring, professional development, and collaboration. The theoretical framework for the study was Kirkpatrick's 4 levels of evaluation: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. The evaluation was also guided by questions about the extent, perceived effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses of the support systems. Data were collected using surveys from 33 teacher participants and interviews with 10 teacher participants. Qualitative data analysis involved emergent coding for themes and sub-themes. Inconsistent support emerged as a support weakness and a comforting school community emerged as a support strength. Frequencies and ratios of survey items were calculated and reported. Key findings were that 60% of the participants perceived the support systems to be adequate and 79% perceived the mentor and new teacher meetings to be effective. However, 36% of respondents reported that all support systems needed some improvements. A full report including recommendations was prepared for the stakeholders at the school and district levels. Implications for positive social change include higher retention and enhanced performance of beginning teachers, which may help to improve learning outcomes for students.

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