| Teacher attrition occurs as educators retire or move into administrative positions, but also when teachers leave the profession after their first years in the classroom. A suburban school district which hires approximately 600 teachers yearly collected data from teachers who were teaching for the first time in the district in order to identify their needs and areas for assistance. This cross-sectional, descriptive study utilized the district's archival data to address three research questions: What are the prioritized perceived needs and areas for assistance of teachers during the early stages of their first year of employment in a school district? Are there differences in these priorities for the three years, and are these differences based on level of experience?;Participants completed a survey with both a quantitative and qualitative section. It included Likert-scaled items based on Veenman's (1984) and Gordon's (1991) research of beginning teachers' most frequently cited problems, and also three open-ended questions addressing teachers' problems, successes, and suggestions for information or assistance that would have been helpful.;Findings for all three years were similar. Teachers were most in need of observing other teachers, stress management, streamlining their workload, and feedback on their teaching skills. Low priority items included peer support, policies and procedures, use of audiovisual equipment, and campus administrative support.;Multivariate tests with between-subjects factors for Years II and III and for experience level, revealed no significant differences overall with alpha set at p < .05 and using Wilks' Lambda as the multivariate criterion. Follow-up univariate analysis identified one significant difference for Years II and III teachers. In regard to the district's policies and procedures, the Year III mean (3.9195) was higher than that of Year II (3.6275). For experience level, a follow-up univariate analysis found that the first-year teachers were significantly different (.009) in regard to instructional information.;Most frequently mentioned problems in the qualitative responses included policies and procedures, streamlining the workload, and obtaining adequate materials and resources. Teachers felt that they would have benefited from more help with policies and procedures, instructional information, and peer support. |
