Mentoring and Teacher Career Longevity

Loren Brown’s Research Proposal

Apparent causal relationship in how mentoring affects teacher longevity.

Literature review points to success of new teachers during first five years and a mentoring program.

Gap in available literature leaves room for study.

Quantitative study will likely show benefits of successful mentoring program.

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine the extent a successful mentoring experience has on forecasting a teacher’s longevity.

The purpose of the study also seeks to determine what variables are associated with a successful mentoring experience.

Purpose of Research

To what extent does a successful mentoring experience forecast a teacher's longevity in their profession?

Does a successful mentoring experiences require that a mentor is familiar with a mentee's content area?

Does a teacher's ability to choose their mentor rather than he/she being chosen for them contribute to a successful mentoring experience?

Research Questions

Hypothesis to be tested: When mentoring is present new teachers will stay teaching beyond 5 years.

New teachers that are mentored by teachers with mentee’s content area will teach beyond 5 years.

When mentors are chosen by their mentees teachers will teach beyond 5 years.

Research Question (cont.)

Mentoring

◦ Independent variable in the study.

◦ Defined as a multidimensional process that is demarcated by a relationship between a mentor and a mentee (Ambrosettie and Dekkers, 2010).

◦ Further defined as a relationship that is contextual (focusing on cultural and situational features), relational (relationship between mentors and mentees), and developmental (how mentors and mentees develop personally and professionally while aiming toward particular goals (Ambrosettie and Dekkers, 2010, p. 2)

Definition of Variables and Key Terms

Independent variable as tested on the dependent variable

Mentor’s knowledge or lack of knowledge of mentee content area is tested on teacher longevity (dependent variable).

Teachers receive mentoring or do not receive mentoring as tested on the teacher longevity.

Definition of Variables and Key Terms (cont.)

Teacher Longevity

◦ Dependent variable

◦ Defined as length of time a new teacher stays in their teaching career once they begin their career.

◦ Operationally defined as a teacher who stays in the teaching field longer than 5 years.

Definition of Variables and Key Terms (cont.)

Beginning teachers

◦ Defined as “teachers who often leave the profession in the first five years because of a sink or swim attitude imposed on them by administrators” (Hudson, 2012, p. 2).

◦ Operationally defined as teachers who have newly begun teaching in the classroom.

◦ Distinguishable from pre-service teachers who have finished their academic studies, but have as of yet to begun actually teaching

Definition of Variables and Key Terms (cont.)

Mentors and Mentees Roles

◦ Study by Armbrosettie and Dekkers (2010) affirms the positive or beneficial nature of a mentoring relationship between the mentor and the mentee.

◦ Mentor provides support and gives feedback, encouragement, shares ideas, guidance, direction, and embraces the idea of modeling (p. 5).

Review of Literature

Mentee engages in professional conversations, performs tasks as required, works with mentor in developing skills and knowledge, sets personal goals, maintains an open line of communication with their mentor, and actively learns from the mentor.

Current studies shed little light on how mentor’s interaction with the mentee translates into career longevity.

Review of Literature (cont.)

Study shows relationship between a beginning teacher’s desire to stay in the teaching field and their participation in a successful mentoring experience (Dempsey, Arthur-Kelly, and Carty, 2009).

Study strong relationship between beginning teachers drop-out rates, and the level of guidance they received during their initial teaching experience (Whitaker, 2000)

Review of Literature (cont.)

Mentor expertise is a factor Study shows that “the effectiveness of mentoring is closely

allied to the expertise of the mentor as well as the quality and type of support provided to early career teachers” (Dempsey et al., 2009).

Mentor selection is significant Study shows the mentor who will assist in the mentoring

process should chosen fairly and that every precaution should be in place to ensure fairness (Futrell, 1988).

Review of Literature (cont.)

Databases for research◦ ERIC ◦ Academic One

Keywords for search◦ Teacher retention◦ Mentoring and beginning teachers◦ Modeling and teaching

Review of Literature (cont.)

Experimental

Threats to internal validity Differential selection History effect Statistical regression

Threats to external validity◦ Population validity

Research Design

Group studied will be 20 male/20 female, ages 20-40, random ethnic background

Pre-test/post-test

Sample must include active beginning teachers

Sampling Procedure

Teachers that were mentored when mentor is knowledgeable of mentee content area

Questionnaires and interviews Measurement will need to be developed

Teachers that were mentored when mentor was chosen by mentor peer or by mentee

Questionnaires and interviews Measurement will need to be developed

Data Collection Methods

Adjusting for bias in interviews Require more training for interviewer in order to ensure the

fullest possible response while adjusting for subjectivity Ensuring that audiotaping occurs so that important

information is not lost

Test validity Evidence from test content Evidence from internal structure

Data Collection Methods (cont.)

Descriptive statistics ◦ Measure of variability

Central tendency among sampled participants

◦ Looks for the mean score for favorable mentoring experiences among the 40 research subjects

◦ Accounts for variability in scoring between participants

Data Analysis and Procedures

Mean absolute deviation

◦ After viewing differences in scores from interviews and questionnaires, assign value to the differences to determine how the score deviates from the actual mean

This number will provide insight as to whether there are corollary or causal factors involved with mentoring and longevity

Data Analysis and Procedures (cont.)

Results of testing sample population is informed by inferential statistics.◦ P value is established to determine likelihood of

that the prediction about mentoring is true. The focus will be first to establish that the null hypothesis

or “the prediction that there is not difference between the tested population groups is true” (Gall, Gall, and Borg, 2010).

This experiment will need to prove a p-value of .05 or greater to reject the null hypothesis, which make the general hypothesis more probable

Data Analysis and Procedures (cont.)

T tests for independent means will be used to prove to establish whether the independent variable (mentoring with content subject matter expertise and mentee participation choosing a mentor) was correlated with effects on the dependent variable (a teaching career of more than 5 years).

Data Analysis and Procedures (cont.)

Risks involve the need for research participants to remain anonymous.

Lack of anonymity could inspire recourse for those who interviews reflect negatively on a previous employer.

Study will be conducted under the auspices of Liberty Universities’ Institutional Review Board to ensure that research participants are protected.

Ethics and Human Relations

In order to gain entry into the proposed research setting, I will make inquiry and appeal to the Institutional Review Board and their designees in order to gain access to a database of those who have graduated from Liberty University with a Master’s Degree in Education from 2006 to present.

Questionnaires can be emailed but interviews will be more difficult to conduct due to logistics.

Ethics and Human Relations (cont.)

Research questions and literature review◦ Complete

Interviews and Questionnaires◦ 3 months

Data Analysis◦ 2 months

Report of findings, discussion, and conclusions◦ 1 month

Time-Line

Ambrosetti, A., & Dekkers, J. (2010). The interconnectedness of the roles of mentors

and mentees in pre-service teacher education mentoring relationships.

Australian Journal Of Teacher Education, 35(6), 42-55.

Dempsey, I., Arthur-Kelly, M., & Carty, B. (2009). Mentoring early career special education teachers. Australian Journal

Of Education, 53(3), 294-305.

References

Futrell, M. (1988). Selecting and compensating mentor teachers: A win-win scenario. Theory Into Practice, 27(3), 223-25.

Gall, M. D., Gall, J. P., & Borg, W. R. (2010). Applying educational research (6th ed). Boston,

MA: Pearson Education.

Whitaker, S. D. (2000). Mentoring beginning special education teachers and the relationship to attrition. Exceptional Children, 66(4), 546- 66.

References (cont.)