MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
How Principal Mentorship, School Needs, Teacher Turnover, and
Teacher Experience related to Student Achievement
Shakir Y. Lavergne
Dowling College, Oakdale, N.Y. USA
Syl1@dowling.edu
Erica Jessen
Dowling College, Oakdale, N.Y. USA
Elm4@dowling.edu
Dennis Sullivan
Dowling College, Oakdale, N.Y. USA
Dxs146@dowling.edu
Theodore Fulton
Dowling College, Adjunct Professor
fultont@dowling.edu
Elsa- Sofia Morote
Dowling College, NY, USA
morotee@dowling.edu
Albert Inserra
Dowling College, NY, USA
Inserraa@dowling.edu
1
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Bios
Shakir Y. Lavergne, Special Education Teacher in the New York
City Department of Education. Doctoral Student at Dowling
College in the Ed.D. Educational Administration program.
Advanced Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership SDL/SBL,
MS in Secondary Education, BA in Political Science.
Erica L. Jessen, Doctoral student at Dowling College in the
Ed.D. Educational Administration program, Post graduate
certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis (BCBA), Advanced
Graduate Certificates in Educational Leadership, SBL/SDL, MS in
Special Education, BA is psychology and sociology
Dennis D. Sullivan, Assistant Principal, John M. Marshall
Elementary School, East Hampton, New York. Doctoral student at
Dowling College in the Ed. D. Educational Administration
program, Advanced Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership
SDL/SBL certificate, MS in Elementary Education, BA in Social
Sciences.
Mentors:
Theodore Fulton, Ed. D., Principal of George W. Hewlett High
School in the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, Adjunct
Assistant Professor of Education Administration, Leadership, and
Technology, Dowling College.
Elsa- Sofia Morote, Professor, Department of Educational
Administration Leadership, and Technology, Dowling College,
international scholar, mentor, and researcher trained at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). More info
http://www.internationalprofessor.com
Albert Inserra, Ed.D President of Dowling College, former
Superintendent.Ed.D. Fordham University, advanced certificate in
Educational Administration Hofstra University, M.S. in Genetics
Seton Hall University, B.A. in Biology Seton hall
2
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
How Principal Mentorship, School Needs, Teacher Turnover, and
Teacher Experience relates to Student Achievement
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of teacher’s years of
experience and principal mentorship received by teachers, on
student achievement in schools with high and low economic needs.
One hundred seventy three teachers working in high (n=87) and
low (n=86) achieving schools with different economic needs
across New York State participated in this study.
A 2X2 analysis of variance was conducted. Results show that
teacher’s years of experience had a positive effect on student
achievement. However, no relationship was found between economic
need and teacher years of experience. The relationship of years
of experience and teacher attitudes towards principal-teacher
mentorship was also evaluated. Results indicated that teacher’s
views on mentorship vary with their years of experience.
Keywords: Teacher retention, teacher’s instructional practices,
teacher mentoring, student achievement, years of teaching
experience, economic need, teacher exchange.
3
4
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
How Principal Mentorship, School Needs, and Teacher Experience
relates to Student Achievement
Introduction
America is lagging behind its foreign counterparts in the
field of education.
This has caused a shift in the focus of the
U.S. Educational System aimed at developing ways to improve
student achievement in order to increase our global standing.
A
climate of political attention focused on accountability,
standardized assessment results and the question of student
achievement has increased public awareness and now centers on
teachers’, their classroom practices, and the district’s ability
to increase student achievement.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that a
teacher’s years of experience has on student achievement and to
determine if the economic need of the school affects the impact
that years of experience has on student achievement. We also
examined the effect of principal mentorship on teacher’s
experiences. This information will give school districts another
piece to the puzzle when identifying contributors that lead to
student achievement.
The questions examined in this study are:
1) Does the mean level of teacher experience differ among high
and low achieving schools as a function of economic need?
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
2) Is there a relationship between years of experience and
principal mentorship received by teachers?
Literature review
One third of “new teachers leave the profession within 5
years, and the turnover rate and is about 50% higher in highpoverty schools as compared to more affluent ones”(Ronfeldt,
Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013, p.5).
The turnover rate refers to the
teachers that leave the profession completely (Makela,
Hirvensalo, & Whipp, 2014).
The concern is that if teachers are
in the front lines of helping to increase student achievement
then the statistics on the turnover rates of new teachers is
alarming.
What is causing this high rate of teacher
turnover?
In the article Why do New Teachers Leave? How Could
They Stay? Simos and Fink(2013) stated, “the more invested in
achieving a school’s goals a new teacher feels, the more likely
she or he will return to further expand on that mission”
(p.104). This research suggests that it is important for a
teacher to feel they are personally connected to a student’s
achievement outcomes and they can make a difference. Guskey
(1981) reported that “those [teachers working] in more effective
schools had a stronger sense of efficacy and tended to feel more
responsible for the learning of their students than did those in
less effective schools”(p.2). Thus, research supports that the
5
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
longer a teacher is teaching and is able to see the effects of
their instruction of student learning, the more satisfied
teachers feel and the more students learn; there is a positive
correlation. Kutsyruba (2012) stated that it was important for
policy makers to know who was leaving the profession and/or more
at risk of leaving the profession in order to develop programs
that would help them to stay in the profession, and feel more
connected to student learning and achievement outcomes.
Moir (2009) concluded that “induction programs accelerate
the effectiveness of new teachers, fast-tracking their progress
to exemplary teachers with the ability to positively impact
student achievement” (Moir, 2009, p.16). A quantitative study
conducted in Israel found that when new teachers reached out to
senior mentors they were better able to cope with challenges
they faced as new teachers (Maskit, 2013). In another study
conducted, the school district was able to obtain an 85% teacher
retention rate after implementing a new teacher induction
program that largely included mentorship (Simos and Fink, 2013).
Research shows that when making the decision to remain an
educator, the first three to four years after receiving the
initial teacher training are essential to helping the educator
choose the teaching profession or not (Kutsyuruba 2012).
Since most educators agree that increased student
achievement should be the number one goal of an educational
6
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
institution, we must further examine the impact of teacher's
experience on student achievement. Despite many reform movement
efforts to improve equity and student achievement, Munoz,
Clavijo, and Koven (1999) found “that students’ socioeconomic
status [SES] was a more accurate predictor of educational
outcomes than level of spending”(p.29). In addition,
Konstantopolous and Chung (2011) stated that, “the study
provided some evidence that teacher effects may be more
pronounced in low-SES schools than in other schools”(p.77).
Rice (2010) conducted a study about student achievement
and found, “brand new teachers are less effective than those
with some experience under their belts” (p.1).
This study also
found that, “on average, teachers with more than 20 years of
experience are more effective than teachers with no experience,
but are not much more effective than those with 5 years of
experience” (p.2).
The results of this study suggest that if
educational systems were able to accelerate the skills of new
teachers to that of a teacher with 5 years or more of experience
they would have a positive impact on student achievement. When
implemented effectively induction programs can be the platform
that boost the confidence of novice teachers, help to increase
their confidence, and job satisfaction (Gilles, Carrillo, Wang,
Stegall, and Bumgarner, 2013).
7
8
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Some countries have concentrated on implementing teacher
exchange programs that are designed in different ways in order
to help increase new teachers skills.
Teacher exchange programs
have helped to increase a novice teacher’s understandings of
different types of teaching styles and focusing on the child.
In a study conducted by Maynes, Allison, and Julien (2012) they
surveyed teachers that participated in a teacher exchange
program in which pre-service teachers from Canada went to teach
in Kenya. The results from this study concluded that after
participating in the teacher exchange program the teachers
improved overall as professionals.
Methods
Participants
Fulton
(2009)
conducted
a
quantitative
study
using
a
validated survey called the Principal Instructional Management
Rating Scale” (PIMRS) developed by Philip Hallinger in 1987.
The
survey
was
mathematics,
distributed
science,
and
social
need/high-achieving,
high
achieving,
low
need/low
1200
surveys
(2009)
schools.
and
mailed
173
participants
to
three
studies
need/low
teachers
achieving,
achieving
to
hundred
high
teachers
responded.
104
low
English,
from
need/high
schools.
from
25
high-
Fulton
different
participants
from
schools were determined to be high need and 69 participants from
9
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
schools were considered to be low need according to the same
resource.
Of the 173 participants 86 of them were considered to
be from low achieving schools while 87 were determined to be
from high achieving schools.
We selected five items (reliability of 81.7%) that measured
Principal
survey.
Mentorship
which
were
selected
from
the
author’s
In this study principal mentorship is defined as a
relationship
between
support
teacher’s
the
a
principal
learning
and
and
teachers
development
that
as
a
aims
to
teacher
(Hobson and Malderez, 2013).
Methods
This
study
utilized
the
New
York
State’s
Need/Resource
Capacity categorization to identify the school’s level of need.
High and low achieving schools were determined based upon the
mastery percentages derived from three years of Math A scores.
A (2X2) Analysis of Variance Analysis (ANOVA) was conducted
to evaluate the effect of years of experience as a function of
achievement and high vs. low economic need in schools. The two
independent variables (factors) in this study are years of
teaching experience and economic need (high vs. low). The
dependent variable in this study is student achievement.
In addition we selected five items of principal mentorship
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
10
(see Table 4 for items description) based and correlated them
with years of experience. We used the Spearman Rho correlation.
Results
To answer research question one we performed 2X2 ANOVA that
simultaneously answered: Does the mean level of teacher
experience differ between high and low achievement schools? And
does the mean level of teacher experience differ between schools
of high and low economic need?
Table 1 (see appendix) presents the means and standard
deviations for high/low achievement as a function of years of
experience and economic need.
Table 2 shows that the results of the two-way ANOVA
indicated a significant effect of achievement, F(1, 169) = .948,
p=.006.
Meaning that teacher’s years of experience affect
students achievement. The main effect for need was not
significant F(1, 169) = 7.792, p=. 332. Meaning there are no
significant differences between a teacher’s years of experience
and a high versus low need school.
Additionally the results show a non-significant interaction
between need and achievement, F(1, 169) = .790, p= .375.
Approximately 4.4% (partial Eta squared = 0.44) of the total
variance of achievement was attributed to years of experience
which is a moderate effect.
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
11
To answer question two “Is there a relationship between
years of experience and principal mentorship received by
teachers?” A Spearman’s rho correlation analysis was conducted.
Results showed that in general, teachers with more years of
experience have more positive views of principal mentorship
(r=.25, p=.003). Table 4 presents the correlation between
teacher’s years of experience with the teacher’s attitudes
towards principal mentorship variable. The authors chose to use
item by item instead the entire variable.
The correlation analysis was conducted using a Spearman rho
coefficient. The results show that a teacher’s years of
experience significantly correlate with two of the five items,
pointing out specific weakness in teacher’s instructional
practices (r= -.228, p= .003) and leading or attending inservice activities concerned with instruction (r=.153, p= .046).
Note that pointing out weaknesses in teacher’s instructional
practices and teacher’s years of experience is an inverse
relationship, meaning that the more years of experience a
teacher has the less they feel that the principal points out
their weaknesses in post observations. There was no significant
correlation of years of experience with teacher’s perceptions of
principal behaviors including pointing out strengths in
teacher’s instructional practices, making clear whom is
12
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
responsible for coordinating the curriculum across grade levels,
informing teachers of school performance results in written
form, and leading or attending in-service activities concerned
with instruction.
Conclusions
Results show that there was a significant difference
between high and low achievement and teacher’s years of
experience, indicating that the more experienced teachers tend
to work in higher achieving schools.
These results are
supported by the research. A study conducted by Rice (2010)
showed that the more experience a teacher has, the higher the
levels of academic achievement students will attain.
Other
research indicates that in order to increase student
achievement, schools need to have teachers with more experience
(Moir 2009).
Experience is a variable that clearly has an
impact on student achievement.
The longer a teacher is teaching
and is able to see the effects of their instruction of student
learning, the more satisfied teachers feel and the more students
learn; there is a positive correlation, according to the
research.
Our study found that there was no significant difference
between the mean levels of teacher experience in schools of high
and low economic need.
These results indicate that the years of
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
13
teacher experience did not differ significantly based on the
economic need of the school.
Our study further indicated that there was no significant
interaction between high and low achieving and high and low need
schools in years of experience.
These results indicate that
high and low achieving and high and low need schools employed
teachers with similar years of teaching experience. However,
previous research conducted by Konstantopolous and Chung in 2011
suggested that a student’s socio-economic status (SES) effects a
student’s academic achievement. Further research studies showed
that a teacher’s impact on student’s educational outcomes was
greater for students in low SES districts.
Lastly, our results indicated a correlation between several
components of teacher’s attitudes towards principal mentorship
received by teachers and years of experience.
These results
indicate that teachers with more years of experience perceived
that they received more mentorship from their principal.
The fact that teachers with less experience report they do
not feel the impact of the principal’s mentorship attempts,
could be a serious problem. As previous research conducted by
Simos and Fink (2003), Moir (2009), and Maskit (2013) indicated
mentorship programs help to increase student achievement and
that they help to accelerate the skills of new teachers.
The results of the data from our research are in agreement
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
14
with the information on the teacher’s perceived view of
principal mentorship within their organization. Our research
showed that teacher’s with more experience perceived that
principals were providing positive mentorship opportunities,
especially in the area of leading or attending in-service
activities concerned with instruction.
These principal-teacher mentorship perceptions need to be
transferred to newer teachers (with less than 5 years of
experience) as well.
The research indicated that in terms of
professional development, the more connected the teacher feels
to the schools mission, and the more they feel that are
impacting student achievement the more likely they are to stay
in the field of education.
Recommendations:

Intensive support programs for new teachers need to be
implemented by district leaders to keep new teachers in the
field of education so they can have a greater impact on
further student achievement.

Policy makers can invest resources on initiatives that
target the teacher’s most at risk for quitting, such as
highly developed professional development programs.

Successful implementation of professional development
programs will get new teachers to stay in the profession,
research suggests, and student achievement will increase.
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

15
The principal needs to play an active role in developing a
professional learning environment where new teachers were
encouraged to build relationships with colleagues based on
trust in a non-evaluative environment.

Some schools found that participating in inter-continental
teacher exchange program (between teacher’s with 5 years of
experience) have helped to enhance their teaching skills,
practices, procedures, and reflections.
16
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
APPENDIX
Table 1
Dependent Variable: Years of experience
Need
Achievement
Mean
SD
N
______________________________________________________________________
1 Low Achieving
3.75
1.00
48
High Need
2 High Achieving
4.32
.92
56
Total
4.06
.99
104
1 Low Achieving
3.74
1.08
38
Low Need
2 High Achieving
4.03
1.02
31
Total
3.87
1.05
69
1 Low Achieving
3.74
1.03
86
Total
2 High Achieving
4.22
.96
87
Total
3.98
1.02
173
Table 2
Two-way Analysis of Variance for Years of Experience
df
Source
SS
MS
Need
Achievement
Need * Achievement
Within (Error)
Total
.94
7.72
.78
167.55
2923.00
1
1
1
169
173
.94
7.72
.78
.99
F
p
.94
7.79
.79
.33
.006*
.37
Partial Eta
.00
.04
.00
a. R Squared = .064 (Adjusted R Squared = .047)
Table 3
Post Hoc: Dependent variable: Student Achievement
(I) Low Achievement\
(J) Low Achievement\
High Achievement
High Achievement
1 Low Achieving
2 High Achieving
Mean
Difference
(I-J)
-.433*
Based on estimated marginal means
*. The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
b. Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Least Significant Difference (equivalent to no adjustments).
SD
.155
P
.006
17
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Table 4: Correlation Table: Dimensions of Mentorship
YRSEXP
S
W
R
PR
IS
S
W
R
PR
r
-.090
p
.239
N
173
r
-.228**
.752**
p
.003*
.000*
N
172
172
r
.091
.527**
.424**
p
.235
.000*
.000*
N
173
173
172
r
.097
.439**
.333**
.488**
p
.209
.000*
.000*
.000*
N
171
171
170
171
r
.153*
.437**
.300**
.409**
.434**
p
.046*
.000*
.000*
.000*
.000*
N
170
170
169
170
168
.
.
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Legend
YE= Years’ experience
S= Point out specific strengths in teacher's instructional practices in post-observation feedback
W= Point out specific weaknesses in teacher instructional practices in post observation feedback
R= Make clear who is responsible for coordinating the curriculum across grade levels
PR= Inform teachers of the school's performance results in written form
IS= Lead or attend teacher in-service activities concerned with instruction
.
.
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
18
References
Fulton , T. T. (2009). High school principal instructional
leadership behavior in high and low need and high and low
achievement schools. Dowling College, Proquest , 1-140.
Gilles, C., Carrillo, L. T., Wang , Y., Stegall, J., &
Bumgarner, B. (2013, Jan). Working with my mentor is like
have a second brain/hands/feet/eyes: Perceptions of novice
teachers. English Journal High school edition , 78-86.
Guskey, T.R. (1981, April). Differences in teachers' perceptions
of the causes of positive versus negative student
achievement outcomes. Paper presented at the Sixty Fifth
Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, Los Angeles, CA.
Hobson, A. J., & Malderez, A. (2013). Judgementoring and other
threats to realizing the potential of school-based
mentoring in teacher education. International journal of
mentoring and coaching in education , 2.2, 89-108.
Huang, F. L., & Moon, T. R. (2009). Is experience the best
teacher? a multilevel analysis of teacher characteristics
and student achievement in low performing schools.
Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability ,
21.3, 209-234.
Konstantopoulos, S., & Chung, V. (2011). Teacher effects on
minority and disadvantaged students' grade 4 achievement.
The Journal of Educational Research, 104, 73-86.
Kutsyuruba, B. (2012). Teacher induction and mentorship
policies: the pan-canadian overview. International journal
of mentoring and coaching in education , 1.3, 235-256.
Makela, K., Hirvensalo, M., & Whipp, P. (2014). Should I stay or
should I go? physical education teachers' career
intentions. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 85,
234-244
Maskit, D. (2013). First months in teaching- Novices relate to
their difficulties. Creative Education, suppl. Special
Issue on Global Interconnectedness and Education , 4.4A,
1-8.
Maynes, N., Allison, J., & Julien-Schultz, L. (2012).
International Practica Experiences as Events of Influcence
in a Teacher Candidates' Development. Mcgill Journal Of
Education, 47(1), 69-91
Moir, E. (2009). Accelerating teacher effectiveness: Lessons
learned from two decades of new teacher induction . Phi
Delta Kappan , 91.2, 14-19.
Munoz, M., Clavijo, K. G., & Koven, S. G. (1999 October).
Educational equity in a reform environment: the effect of
socio-economic status on student achievement. Paper
MENTORSHIP, NEED, TURNOVER, EXPERIENCE, AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Coucil
for Educational Administration, Minneapolis, MN.
Rapoport, A., (2007). International exchange programs for
educators: the role of participants' culture in the
interpretation of results. International Education.
Ronfeldt, M., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2013). How teacher
turnover harms student achievement. National Center for
Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research, 1-47
Rice , J. (2010). The impact of teacher experience: Examining
the evidence and policy implications. National center for
analysis of logitudinal data in education research (11),
1-8.
Simos, E., & Fink, L. (2013). Why do new teachers leave? How
could they stay? English Journal High chool edition ,
102.3, 100-105.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19