Beginning Teacher Concerns in an Accountability-Based Testing Environment.

Beginning Teacher Concerns in an Accountability-Based Testing Environment --Certo

Despite the steady preparation of teachers across the United States, retention of teachers in the field continues to be a constant issue for schools. Popular impressions of stressors that teachers face suggest that while classroom discipline, student motivation, and classroom organization continue to be factors, teachers also have growing concerns about accountability and assessment in classrooms.

The current study is an investigation of four pairs of teachers who were in their first year of teaching, and their school-assigned mentors. Interview data were collected in separate interviews of both the beginning teacher and mentor in September, December, and February. Five main questions served as the means for collecting information on the beginning teachers' concerns, the primary concern that the beginning teacher had, challenges in the classroom, struggles with that challenge, and the assistance provided by the mentor. Data from interviews and beginning teacher journals were coded through a micro-analysis strategy to develop initial codes (teacher journals were coded separately). Both sets of data codes were combined and reduced to a final set of 16 codes.

In September of the teachers' first year, concerns reported by the beginning teachers included assistance with school procedures, set-up of the classroom, obtaining resources and materials, and pacing of instruction. While many of the concerns were consistent with other research on beginning teacher concerns, pacing of instruction was not one that was present in previous literature. In December of the first year, the beginning teachers' focus shifted to the state standards and the district's pacing charts.

These concerns also were present in the data collected in February of the teachers' first year; however, the data suggested that the teachers were becoming more confident in their abilities to teach standards and assess those standards. The implications for teacher education suggest that teacher education programs might focus on assisting preservice teachers with pacing for instruction and strategies for soliciting assistance from more experienced teachers in the schools regarding such pacing.