The Role of School Administrators in Curbing Early-Career Teacher Attrition: A Pan-Canadian
Document Analysis Study
Context and Rationale: In light of demographic changes in teaching force as generations of veteran
teachers approach retirement age, development of novice teachers gained a more prominent role in
Canadian schools. Studies (CTF, 2003, 2004) revealed significant teacher turnover among beginning
teachers, with certain segments of the teaching profession (Karsenti, Collin, Villeneuve, Dumouchel, &
Roy, 2008) or certain jurisdictions (Clandinin et al., 2012; OCT, 2012) having disproportionately higher
early-career attrition rates. As education is a provincial/territorial responsibility in Canada, with
attendant variations in school systems and policies, responses to such concerns tend to be
compartmentalized and unavailable for other jurisdictions.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an exploratory, pan-Canadian document
analysis study that examined the mandated roles, duties, and responsibilities of school administrators in
teacher induction and mentorship programs in each jurisdiction.
Theoretical Framework: Researchers (Darling-Hammond, 2003; Huling-Austin & Murphy, 1987; Laitsch,
2005; Strong, 2005) claimed that induction programs with effective mentoring in the early teaching
years are capable of positively affecting beginning teacher retention and student achievement, and
reducing the waste of resources and human potential associated with early-career attrition. Research
has also established that administrators’ commitments to mentoring programs for new teachers either
supports and promotes the retention of novice teachers or undermines the success of induction and
results in teacher attrition (Jones, 2002; Wechsler, Caspary, & Humphrey, 2008).
Methodology: This exploratory research study used document analysis as a qualitative research
method of data collection and analysis (Berg, 2001; Bowen, 2009; Hodder, 2000; Prior, 2003). A rigorous
set of steps (domain definition, category construction, sampling, data collection, data analysis, and
interpretation) was developed for conducting analysis. Both publicly available policy documents as
external communication (government communiques, websites, program/policy memoranda,
newsletters) and the informal responses to formal policies by various stakeholders were analyzed in a
complementary fashion in this study (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010).
Findings and Conclusions: The administrators in various jurisdictions were found responsible for mentor
selection and mentor-protégé matching, for providing adequate professional development
opportunities and release time for beginning teachers, for overseeing the mentorship process, for
monitoring the progress of beginning teachers, and finally and most importantly, for being role models
of mentoring in their everyday activities in schools. In some provinces and territories, the role and
responsibility of the administrator in supporting beginning teachers and/or the implementation of
mentoring programs was very clearly defined, while in others administrator’s role was more implicit
within a larger context of new and beginning teacher support.
Significance to the Field: Research shows that leadership is second only to classroom teaching in its
influence on student achievement (Leithwood, Louis, Anderson, & Wahlstrom, 2004). However, tensions
often arise between the principal’s responsibility to foster growth-oriented professional development
for new teachers and the administrative or evaluative capacity (Cherubini, 2010). This paper offers initial
discussion of the mandated role of school administrators in teacher induction and mentorship programs
across Canada and posits that further examination of the role beyond the documents and policies is
needed.
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