Author: Rogé James Byrd
Title: Evaluation of Attrition Rates for Novice Teachers in the School District and Development of Strategies for Improvement
Institution: Nova Southeastern University

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Evaluation of Attrition Rates for Novice Teachers in the School District and Development of Strategies for Improvement. Byrd, Rogé James, 2006: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Fischler School of Education and Human Services. Faculty Mobility/Staff Development/Teacher Induction/Beginning Teachers/Teacher Improvement

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the attrition rates of novice teachers in the school district and to develop improvement strategies for the induction program that would decrease the teacher retention problem. The program improvement strategies addressed the development, implementation, and evaluation of the current program.

Ten research questions were proposed to assist in the completion of this study. These research questions were addressed: (a) What are the school district historical attrition rates for novice teachers, (b) what activities has the school district conducted to address the novice teacher attrition, (c) what reasons do novice teachers give as for a decision to leave the school district, (d) what are the concerns and attitudes of current novice teachers within the school district, (e) what factors do teachers with more than 5 years experience cite as reasons for their success within the school district, (f) what have other Florida school districts implemented to address the teacher retention problem, (g) what are the characteristics of successful teacher retention programs, (h) what programs or strategies should be recommended to the school district to address its novice-teacher retention problem, (i) how should the development strategies to improve the novice-teacher program be implemented, and (j) how should the strategies for improvement be evaluated?

Development and evaluation problem-solving methodologies were used to develop the evaluation instrument and were used with the instrument to gather and assess the data. Formative and summative committee members assisted with procedures for both methodologies. The survey and questionnaire were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the teacher-preparation program as it pertained to novice and experienced teachers.

After the evaluation, it was recommended that the school district extend the current induction program to 3 years. In addition, the teacher orientation program required modifications that provided novice teachers with 2 weeks of intensive instructional and discipline strategies. Finally, a product was developed that provided a systematic approach and for enrichment training program to achieve multilevels of support and commitment from school-based staff.