Testing Programs and Liberal Studies

Abstract. Do sustained induction programs increase participants' teaching efficacy? Data from a qualitative case study of new college faculty involved in a learning community at a small liberal arts college were compared with data from a college-sponsored mentoring project involving first-year teachers from five suburban school districts. Regardless of whether participants taught K-12 or in collegiate classrooms, two dominant themes emerged from first-year narratives: students were likely to overtly challenge the authority of new teachers, and there was a profound difference between novices' own experiences as students and those of the students now in their classrooms.