UC San Diego

Novice teacher attrition is a valid concern for public education. Some studies have found that 40-50% of novice teachers will leave the profession before they reach their fifth year of teaching. Previous literature states that novice teachers leave because of job dissatisfaction, school conditions and feeling ineffective with their students. This study uses a mixed methods design to explore novice teacher commitment by examining four novice teacher domains: teacher beliefs, pre and early teaching experiences, feelings of effectiveness and community context. Three research questions were created to guide this exploration : (1) what are novice teacher beliefs about teaching and how do they relate to feelings of effectiveness and school context? (2) What are novice teachers' pre and early teaching experiences and what is their relationship to teacher beliefs and feelings of effectiveness? And (3) how do novice teachers talk about their commitment to the profession and is their commitment related to their beliefs or experiences? Ecocultural theory and the efficacy construct were utilized to better understand how novice teachers develop feelings of effectiveness and how the teaching context affects the aforementioned novice teacher domains. The mixed methods approach included three key data sources: a teacher survey, semi-structured interviews, and school documents. All three sources were analyzed looking for common patterns among data points. Qualitative and quantitative findings indicate that teaching context is of principal importance and serves as a mediator between the novice teacher and her beliefs, feelings of effectiveness, and commitment to the teaching profession. Additionally, qualitative analysis indicated that novice teachers are more likely to remain in the profession past their first five years if given probationary or permanent status and the appropriate school structural supports. Among the most critical structural supports are protected collaboration time, administrative support, and support staff support. Recommendations include providing novice teachers with weekly protected collaboration time, creating positive interactions between novice teachers and their administration, and supplying novice teachers with school support staff. These recommendations all support the novice teacher in their feelings of effectiveness in the classroom and subsequent commitment to the teaching profession