AUTHOR: Gilbert, Linda

TITLE: What Helps Beginning Teachers?

SOURCE: Educational Leadership 62 no8 36-9 My 2005
The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with
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Linda Gilbert
Six district partners gathered data from new teachers about what helped them most. They used the results to
fine-tune their induction processes.

The focus group of beginning teachers took the stapled sheets I handed them. "This is what the
first- and second-year teachers we surveyed told us," I said. "What do you make of this?"
We considered the pages of survey data, which included a list of new teacher support
strategies, rank-ordered by the value assigned to them by respondents, along with quotes and
summaries from open-ended questions. "Interestingly, the top four or five items are all about
spending time with other, more experienced teachers," observed Mark, one of the novice teachers
in the group. He continued, a little grimly, "We didn't get that."
Valued Strategies

The data the beginning teachers and I were exploring together came from a survey conducted
in six Georgia school districts, driven by the question, What helps beginning teachers? The
districts, partners in the Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program (GSTEP),(FN1) had
engaged in various teacher induction activities. To learn what was working best, the GSTEP
partners conducted surveys and collected additional data through other means, such as this focus
group.
In 2003, with 140 teachers responding to the survey, the five most valued strategies in order
were
1. Giving new teachers the opportunity to observe other teachers.
2. Assigning mentors to new teachers.
3. Providing new teachers with feedback based on classroom observations.
4. Providing new teachers with co-planning time with other teachers.
5. Assigning new teachers to smaller classes.
In 2004, with 222 teachers responding, the order changed slightly, but the same five strategies
were at the top:
1. Giving new teachers the opportunity to observe other teachers.
2. Assigning new teachers to smaller classes.
3. Assigning mentors to new teachers. (Tied with no. 4.)
4. Providing new teachers with co-planning time with other teachers.
5. Providing new teachers with feedback based on classroom observations.
With the exception of assigning new teachers to smaller classes, all of the five top-ranked
strategies both years involved opportunities to work with other teachers.

Teachers underscored their desire to learn from others in their responses to the open-ended
question, "What piece of advice would you give a teacher new to your school?" By far the most
common advice was to be proactive about asking for information and assistance and to take
every chance to observe what other teachers are doing. "Take advantage of the people around
you. They are a wealth of information, encouragement, and support," urged one respondent.
"Don't be afraid to ask questions from all teachers in the school. They can give you ideas about
curriculum and discipline and provide information about students," offered another.
The open-ended question "What was your biggest surprise?" generated many comments about
paperwork and non-instructional dudes as well as general laments about the lack of time to get
everything done. In 2003, 35 percent of the comments fell into this category-- quite a strong
response rate for an open-ended question. That percentage rose even further in 2004, to 45
percent.
A Healthy Dialogue

Focus group participants commented on the individual induction strategies listed. The toprated strategy--giving teachers the opportunity to observe other teachers--drew quick agreement.
As one focus group participant explained,
When I see [good teaching], it means more than having them tell me. I see how the classroom is
organized. I see things I would never know to ask about.
Another strategy--assigning mentors--sparked a particularly lively discussion, indicating a
variety of experiences across the group. Marcia expressed surprise that it ranked so high, "I'd
think other things below it would be more important. Like smaller classes--I'm surprised that's
not number one." Lisa responded thoughtfully,
Maybe being assigned to a smaller class isn't ranked number one because if it doesn't happen, as
a new teacher, you don't realize that having even five fewer kids will help. I didn't know that
until my third year, when I had a smaller class.
Returning to the topic of mentors, Heather thought that mentoring relationships sounded great
in theory, but were not always useful in practice: "The mentor ideal is not a reality," she said.
Several other teachers agreed, telling stories about how their mentors were unavailable or so
badly matched that they couldn't offer much help: "She tried and would give me all this great
material, but it was not appropriate for my students," said Naomi.
But Chris disagreed:
I will speak pro-mentor. My mentor was not the only person who helped me, but she introduced
me to the group of teachers that could help me. She helped me link to others, helped me network
with others who could provide more help.
Mark was grateful for help in prioritizing: "My mentor was good about saying, 'this is
important to do now; this can wait."'
The group also confirmed and elaborated on certain responses from the open-ended questions
on the survey. A comment about "the amount of info that people assume you should know even
though you have never taught before" clearly resonated with the group. Heather shared how she
brought her lunch each day simply because the system for buying lunch at school was so unclear.

Others added their own stories about being confronted with confusing paperwork and
requirements. These teachers also reiterated survey respondents' complaints about duties and
issues that took time away from instruction. They expressed their own frustrations with "twohour meetings with two kernels of information" and other intrusions into their planning time.
Robert said,
I had meetings during each of my planning periods last week. What I need to do to be a better
teacher, I can't do because I have to go to meetings.
Challenging Assumptions

The survey and focus group data challenged the expectations and understandings that the
university researchers and district partners, including myself, brought to the project from the
literature and our own experience. "When we reviewed the survey results, our first reaction was
surprise that mentoring was not at the top of the list--in contrast to Marcia's surprise that it was
so high. This disconnect between our expectations and the feedback led to an increased research
focus on mentoring. Through revisions in the 2004 survey and focus groups with mentors, we
collected additional data that verified that mentoring relationships varied greatly in their
effectiveness.
We were also surprised that paperwork and time pressures overshadowed classroom
management issues, long considered the area in which new teachers need the most support. In
addition, we had made assumptions that needed reexamining--such as believing that school
organizational procedures were clear to new teachers.
Most important, the survey and focus group results identified the difficulty that new teachers
had finding time to learn from others without encroaching on planning time.
In a nutshell, we learned that
* New teachers benefit from a variety of opportunities to work with more experienced
teachers. In particular, they want to observe other teachers in their classrooms.
* Mentoring is only one piece of induction support, and it can vary greatly in its
implementation.
* Time pressures, paperwork, and noninstructional meetings are a major source of stress and
frustration for beginning teachers.
Using Data for Decision Making

Many administrators in the six participating districts had previously assigned mentors or
provided other support out of good faith alone. The data from the new teacher surveys and focus
groups prompted them to reexamine and fine-tune their induction processes.
One district representative looked at the data from our beginning teacher surveys and
commented that many of the findings were closely aligned with national findings. She was right.
The fact that the data came from local teachers, however, meant that the findings had special
significance for us. These were the views of our teachers, not some anonymous national sample.
We disaggregated the data by district, using a blind comparison format. That process helped the
district representatives identify the areas in which their districts were doing a little better or
worse than surrounding ones, which enabled them to focus their support and improvements
appropriately.
Implementing change is never smooth or immediate. Nevertheless, we have been able to track
some positive initiatives coming from these findings. For example, several districts increased
opportunities for new teachers to observe more experienced colleagues. One district went to

great lengths to provide access to teachers of similar subjects. District leaders not only arranged
observations in other schools but also worked with other districts to provide appropriate matches.
The program coordinators reported an unexpected consequence: Their experienced teachers
begged for the same opportunity to observe.
Other districts created various learning communities, initially targeted to new teachers but
open to veterans as well. A broad initiative involved the creation and support of Critical Friends
Groups, in which members collaboratively examine student work and help one another think
about improving teaching practices. These learning communities offered opportunities for
productive collaboration.
Other interventions included reducing stress caused by lack of time and an overabundance of
paperwork and non-instructional duties. For example, administrators monitored the workload of
new teachers more carefully and assigned more of them smaller classes.
In addition, we are exploring how to support the people who support new teachers--the
mentors, administrators, and education leaders who can also become overwhelmed by too much
paperwork and too little time.
Make the Meetings Productive

The study yielded one final lesson-perhaps the most important one. There is an obvious
tension between the two strongest messages we heard from beginning teachers: "We want time
with other teachers" and "We want fewer meetings!" During the focus group, we asked the
participants direcdy, "How can people trying to help new teachers make sense of this
contradiction?" The answer was heartfelt:
[I don't want] meetings that don't do anything. ... Let us do something in the meeting--plan with
other teachers. I can read at home, but I don't have four other teachers at home to work with.
Make the meetings productive!
Our challenge, then, is to embed support and professional development for new teachers in the
day-to-day work of teaching by building collaborative structures that offer new teachers multiple
opportunities to interact with more experienced colleagues while doing meaningful work. Such
interactions offer both sorely needed emotional support and instructional support, potentially
developing the skills of new teachers and veteran teachers alike.
ADDED MATERIAL
Linda Gilbert is the lead evaluator for the Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program,
University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia; 706-583-0880; gilbertl@uga.edu.
Author's note: GSTEP induction leaders, the beginning teacher focus group participants, and
the six district partners representing Barrow County, Clarke County, Jackson County, Oconee
County, Oglethorpe County, and Madison County contributed to this article.
FOOTNOTE

1 The Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program (GSTEP) is a partnership grant funded by
the United States Department of Education (Grant Number P336B000009), the State of Georgia,
and the University System of Georgia. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the views of GSTEP or its funding agencies. For more
information about GSTEP, see www.coe.uga.edu/gstep.