Perception of first-year teachers concerning the extent to which a mentoring program helps to establish efficacy with regards to organizational skills, effective classroom management skills, creative instructional strategies and strategies for retention intentions

摘要

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the impact of an effective mentoring program upon first-year teachers to acquire efficacy in the areas of organizational skills, effective classroom management skills, creative instructional strategies and strategies for retention intentions. A Mentor Teacher Survey Instrument was administered to new teachers in six middle schools and 27 respondents provided completed surveys. The data were computed using Cronbach coefficient alpha and correlations using version 16.0 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients computations for each subscale were as follows: .883, organizational skills subscale, .796, classroom management subscale, and .910 instructional strategies subscale. The one-sample t tests were performed to compare the mean responses of the non- demographic survey items with the neutral test value of 3.0. A bivariate correlation was used to determine the relationship between first-year teachers’ sense of efficacy for organizational skills, classroom management, instructional strategies and retention intentions. The statistical significance was established at the .05 level of probability. The SPSS 16.0 bivariate correlation procedure computed Pearson’s product-moment coefficient (r) and Spearman’s rho (p), to measure the strength of the correlation. A point biserial application of the Pearson correlation was used because one of the variables was dichotomous and the second variable was measured on an interval or ratio scale. An alpha level of .05 was set a priori was used to determine if significant differences! relationships existed between variables of interest. The SPS S data revealed a null hypothesis thus indicating that the respondents expressed a neutral attitude concerning their mentoring experience. The respondent’s responses revealed 314 negative responses out of a total of 460 positive responses. These 314 responses were computed as the lowest scores assigned by the Likert Scale. A comprehensive study was conducted in 2001 and the researcher made recommendations to the school district to revamp their induction/mentoring program and the system ignored the recommendation; therefore, this researcher supports the 2001 study and confirms that the local school district needs to make significant modification to their induction/mentoring program.