Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2020
Abstract
This action research study focused on first-year teachers who were assigned to teach in grades 6-12 at a suburban school district and were involved in a mandated new teacher mentor program. The researcher evaluated participants’ self-efficacy using the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) and a series of qualitative questions to determine if a first-year teacher’s self-efficacy changes during the first semester of their mentorship experiences and if each domain of a first-year teacher’s self-efficacy (student engagement, instructional strategies, or classroom management) changes during the first semester of their mentorship experience. The results provide promising, albeit not conclusive, findings in support of mentorship mitigating the decline of first-year teachers’ self-efficacy, and the researcher was able to identify targeted areas of support for the participants within the three domains of self-efficacy. Therefore, the study affirms the need for continued research analyzing correlations between new teacher self-efficacy and mentorship.