A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Appendix A

Research Framework for APEC Study on Teacher Induction

The purpose of this study is to describe practices of teacher induction across APEC members and to provide members with detailed information about selected models that are viewed as successful. Teacher induction refers to those practices used to help beginning teachers become competent and effective professionals in the classroom. The audience for the study consists of educational administrators at the APEC member, state, provincial or regional, and local levels; education policy makers; and the people who provide training and mentoring for teachers--that is, educational leaders responsible for enhancing teacher performance.

A U.S. planning group which met at Pelavin Research Institute in Washington, D.C., on November 29, 1994 proposed that the purpose of the study is to identify:

1. Aspects of the structure of the education system and historical and cultural factors that affect teacher induction;

2. Prominent features of successful models of induction across APEC members.

The framework presented below is divided into two sections. The first section presents the major research questions for the study. The second section discusses the study's two components.

Research Questions

I. Historical and cultural factors and aspects of the structure of the education system that affect teacher induction

1. What is the nature of teaching work?
   • What are the responsibilities?

   • What is the teacher's role? (Instructor, role model, researcher, disciplinarian?)

   • How is a teacher's daily time allotted?

   • What are the administrative expectations of teachers (i.e., the extent that teachers are expected to complete paperwork on their students such as attendance records, grades, letters to parents, etc.)?

   • Is there an even focus on subject knowledge and on child development or is one more heavily emphasize than the other?

2. What is the status of the teaching profession in general and how are teachers accorded respect (through tangible factors such as salary and intangible factors such as prestige)? How does the status of teaching compare to that of other professions?

3. What, if any, are the formal and informal relationships and interactions between faculties of universities or other teacher preparation institutions and classroom teachers at the primary and secondary levels? How have these relationships changed over time?

4. Have there been recent changes in who enters the teaching profession? If so, are these changes due to:
   • economic changes?

   • social changes?

   • changes within the student population, thus changing the pool of applicants to teacher education programs?

II. Prominent features of successful models of induction across APEC members

1. What are the formal structures currently in place which support the learning of beginning teachers (for example, mentoring programs where a new teacher studies with a master teacher or mentor; in-service training meant to give new teachers specific suggestions on both content and methodologies which they can utilize in their own classrooms; model classrooms where new teachers can observe master teachers at work; team teaching where teachers, both new and master, teaching at the same subject at the same level work together to design lesson plans, teach different segments to all students, and create quizzes and tests, etc.)?
   • What is the purpose of these different models?

   • What are the practices (one model, multiple models)?

   • What is the content of these different models?

   • Who participates in the induction programs (inductees, experienced teachers, administrators)? How are participants selected? What are the criteria for selection? What are their roles?

   • How is time structured for induction? Do induction activities occur during the regular school hours, after school, on weekends, during the vacation time, or some combination of these times?

   • What is the average length of induction experience for teachers?

   • Where do these activities take place? If they take place in schools, what space is used?

   • What is the rationale for using the particular physical and time structures described in the answers to the previous two questions?

   • How much time was needed to plan and implement this program at the site where the case study is being conducted?

   • How long has this program been in operation and what motivated its adoption?

2. Who was responsible for designing the induction models (e.g., government authorities, universities)?

3. Who administers the program?

4. What is the cost per beginning teacher of running the induction program (in local currency and percentage of educational expenditures)? (Please break down the costs by additional salaries and stipends paid, materials, overhead, and any other substantial costs.) (If available, please breakdown costs by model.) Who pays?

5. What are the connections between induction programs (support programs for beginning teachers) and preservice training (the formal training which led to the granting of a teaching credential)? Are there any incentives, either financial or otherwise, which encourage these connections?

6. What are the connections, either formal or informal, between the primary and secondary schools and the universities or other schools of teacher preparation and certification which link theory to practice? Are there any incentives, either financial or otherwise, which encourage these connections?

7. How does the school system organize recruitment and initial placement of beginning teachers?

8. What are the criteria and methods of assessing the effectiveness of an induction program? Do the criteria for assessment match the stated objectives of the program?
   • What methods are used to assess the performance of beginning teachers?

   • How are the results of assessment used to help teachers improve their performance? What are the rewards/incentives for good teaching? What are the consequences of poor teaching?

   • Are the methods which the induction models employ perceived as useful by beginning teachers? By veteran teachers? By school administrators?

Procedures

Exploratory Study

Case Studies

Assuming candidate sites and selection criteria have been identified during the exploratory survey study, representatives from several APEC members may serve as advisors during the selection process. Given the limited number of case studies, specifying some commonalities in advance will facilitate comparative analyses after the data are collected (e.g., it may be decided to focus on models in urban or rural areas, or on models at the primary or lower secondary level).¹ Models studied must be in operation long enough to be viewed as successful.

After the sites are selected, approval to conduct a case study visit in a given member will be obtained from the appropriate authorities. Also, advice will be sought on the appropriate practices/protocols for gaining full access to the sites. It is expected that the visits will last approximately one week.

The research questions for the case studies require that information be drawn from a variety of sources. These sources include teachers, school administrators, local or regional administrators, people who work at the Ministry of Education or Department of Education, those responsible for implementing the induction program, and any others who may be knowledgeable about schools and teacher education in the APEC members. This range of interviewees will serve to give the audience a full understanding of the strengths as well as the possible areas for improvement or concerns for each of the induction models. The following matrix illustrates the data elements needed to answer the research questions and the sources from which the information may be drawn. Data sources will vary depending on the site. (See matrix.)

Analysis of the Data

• Are there common factors across all models and members? If so, what are they?

• Are there unique models or parts of models? If so, what are they?

• If unique models are identified, what can other APEC members learn from them? Do they depend on particular contextual factors for their success?

1. a stand-alone volume of case studies;

2. cross-site analyses;

3. a report on lessons learned; or

4. a stand-alone volume of exploratory studies.

Suggested Timeframe for APEC Study on Teacher Induction

Data Elements and Corresponding Sources

[Chapter 6: Lessons Learned, Challenges Remaining]

[Appendix B]