What makes a good induction supporter?

The Teacher Induction Scheme, introduced in 2002, marked the first major change to new teacher induction in Scotland in 37 years. This paper gives an outline of these changes set against developments in mentoring theory in the wider context. It argues that the personal qualities of the induction supporter are crucial to developing an effective mentoring relationship. The views of student teachers are used to describe preferred characteristics of effective mentors and effective induction provision. A person specification is created by the comments of the "Class of 2002" — the first probationer teachers to have taken part in the Scheme

The effects on teachers of participation in an interactive research and development project

Traditional educational research generally has not resulted in the effective use of research findings by classroom practitioners. Among the reasons for this nonuse of research by classroom practitioners are that teachers generally do not feel ownership of the research since they were in no way involved in the research, nor do they have skills to use effectively research findings and practices. Interactive research and development (IR&D) is a strategy that brings together classroom teachers, university researchers, and staff development personnel to research a question of concern to the teachers on the team and to plan collaboratively a means of disseminating their research findings. The IR&D strategy was developed and field tested by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development in San Francisco. This study, which was an investigation of some of the changes teachers made as a result of participating in an IR&D project, employed a pretest-posttest control group design. The study was conducted during a 13-week period in the fall of 1980. The sample in the study consisted of 13 teachers in the treatment group and 18 teachers in the control group. Subjects in the treatment group were participants in an IR&D project sponsored by the local Teacher Corps project. Participants were provided with approximately 10 hours of initial training in general research practices and procedures and in the essential features of IR&D. The teachers were then divided into six teams based on their research interests and team member preferences. Each team consisted of one to three teachers, one university professor who served as the researcher, and one Teacher Corps staff member who served as the staff developer. Members on each team were charged with the responsibility of identifying a research question, conducting a research project using appropriate methodology and design, and collaboratively planning a means to disseminate their research findings. An analysis of covariance was performed on the data gathered through three questionnaires: the Stages of Concern About the Innovation Questionnaire, the Research-Teaching-Development Skills Questionnaire, and the Professional Development Questionnaire. In addition, open-ended statements of concern were analyzed using criteria outlined in A Manual for Assessing Open-Ended Statements of Concern About the Innovation; and informal interviews were conducted for the purpose of identifying teachers' attitudes about the use of research findings and practices in teaching. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn: 1. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate significantly greater changes in concerns about the use of research, findings and practices in teaching than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. 2. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate significantly higher research-teaching-development skills than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. 3. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did not demonstrate significantly higher interest in professional development than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. 4. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate a positive attitude about the use of research findings and practices in teaching

Public Health Nurse Tailored Home Visiting and Parenting Behavior for Families at Risk for Referral to Child Welfare Services, Colorado: 2018–2019

Objectives. To examine public health nurse (PHN) intervention tailoring through the Colorado Nurse Support Program (NSP). Our 2 specific aims were to describe the NSP program and its outcomes and to determine the effects of modifying interventions on short- and long-term outcomes among NSP clients. Methods. In our retrospective causal investigation of 150 families in Colorado in 2018–2019, intervention effects were modeled via longitudinal modified treatment policy analyses. Results. Families served by PHNs improved in terms of knowledge, behavior, and status outcomes after receiving multidimensional, tailored home visiting interventions. Case management interventions provided in the first month of PHN home visits had lasting effects on behavior outcomes, and 2 additional case management interventions in the first month were estimated to have even more of an impact. Conclusions. Modern causal inference methods and real-world PHN data revealed a nuanced, fine-grained understanding of the real impact of tailored PHN interventions. Public Health Implications PHN programs such as the NSP and use of the Omaha System should be supported and extended to advance evaluations of intervention effectiveness and knowledge discovery and improve population health. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(S3):S306–S313. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306792 ) </jats:p