Date of Completion

5-11-2013

Embargo Period

5-11-2013

Keywords

policy implementation, mentoring, mentorship, teacher induction, High Leverage Policy

Major Advisor

Casey Cobb

Associate Advisor

Morgaen Donaldson

Associate Advisor

Robin Grenier

Associate Advisor

Anysia Mayer

Field of Study

Education Administration

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Open Access

Open Access

Abstract

This dissertation is comprised of three separate yet related papers focused on Connecticut’s new beginning teacher induction program: the Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) program. The study uses data collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with twenty two participants including program leaders at the Connecticut State Department of Education as well as district-level personnel, beginning teachers and their mentors, in three school districts in Connecticut. The first paper examined the implementation efforts of three districts and identified factors influencing their implementation. It found that local districts’ understanding of procedural requirements were closely aligned with state-level intentions but that substantive understandings were incomplete, particularly as they applied to the connection between new teacher learning and student achievement. The second paper examined the role of TEAM and the mentoring relationship and the degree to which new teachers and their mentors believed their participation in TEAM contributed to their professional learning. The study found that both teachers and mentors believed their experience with TEAM led to new professional learning, but their ability to communicate the relationship between their experiences and student learning outcomes were less explicit. The third paper analyzed the TEAM program using the High Leverage Policy (HLP) framework developed by the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education. The study found that the TEAM program contains major elements of the HLP framework but that additional time and research is necessary for a full evaluation of its influence on professional learning and student achievement.

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