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A study was conducted to examine the relationship between first-year teachers' self-efficacy and their participation in e-Coaching designed to positively influence development of mathematics content knowledge, development of pedagogical content knowledge, and teacher retention. Teachers who most frequently participated in e-Coaching, on average, reported lower levels of self-efficacy at the start of the school year and a greater annual gain in self-efficacy than teachers who participated in e-Coaching less frequently. Study findings suggest that with careful planning and collaboration, e-Coaching can be used as a virtual and distributed context for supporting beginning teachers' self-efficacy development.

With degree in hand, and ink nearly dry on their first contract, new teachers enter the educational field ready to change students' lives. Filled with hopes, ideas, and excitement, they file into classrooms and begin classroom preparations for their first year. More often than not, novice educators appear to be easily and quickly overwhelmed by the tasks of teaching and often frustrated by unsuccessful attempts to understand the workings of a school's formal and informal culture. And their attempts to build relationships with key school leaders are often thwarted (Angelle, 2006; Brock & Grady, 1998, 2007; McCann, Johannessen & Ricca, 2005; Melton, 2007). Recent scholarship has pinpointed the influence of school leaders' instructional supervision for beginning teachers' growth and development (Alexander, 2007; Jackson, 2008; Peltier-Glaze, 2005; Protheroe, 2006; Tillman, 2005; Wood, 2005). Without adequate professional support, many new teachers look to other P-12 schools or differing careers for employment at the end of their first year of teaching, thus leaving school systems with vacancies to fill (Cheng & Cheung, 2004; Fedricks, 2001; Johnson & Birkeland, 2003). The pace at which novice teachers adapt and develop and the choice either to stay or leave the profession appear to be related to a principal's involvement with beginning teachers (Colley, 2002; Peltier-Glaze, 2005). School leaders are the curators of education and the stewards of the learning environment. Principals are responsible for facilitating the transition of individuals from a university program or a business career into the educational setting. Throughout this process, principals are expected to identify novice teachers' strengths and areas for improvement and provide a plethora of support to address those needs (Melton, 2007; Peltier-Glaze, 2005; Protheroe, 2006). While simultaneously managing a school community and meeting the demands and concerns of novice teachers, principals are called to embody and exude the characteristics and attributes of effective leadership. What characteristics of a school leader define "quality" for a new teacher? What leadership knowledge and skills can most effectively facilitate beginning teachers' professional growth and development? The purpose of this study was to explore school leaders' interactions that were identified in the existing scholarship as influences for facilitating, or hindering, beginning teacher success. The research questions driving this study were, How do novice teachers experience interactions with principals? and How do these reported interactions appear to influence beginning teachers' success from the lived experience of the new teacher?

A study was conducted to examine the self-efficacy of first-year teachers trained in an alternative certification program. Teachers were provided access to professional development through blended learning, yet had varying levels of attendance in the online component (e-coaching). Teachers who attended six or more e-coaching sessions began the school year with lower levels of self-efficacy than those who attended five or fewer e-coaching sessions. Furthermore, teachers who attended six or more e-coaching sessions reported significant gains in self-efficacy over their first year of teaching, whereas teachers who attended five or fewer sessions did not report significant gain in self-efficacy. Findings suggest that programmatic efforts to use blended learning to support teacher professional development should be accompanied with policies and incentives that encourage use, along with scheduling adjustments that reserve time for teachers' frequent and meaningful use of the online component of blended learning.

Aviation meteorologist Horace Robert Byers passed away on May 22, 1998, in Santa Barbara, CA, at the age of 92. He was a geography undergraduate of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1929. His first exposure to meteorology came with his involvement as cooperative observer at the US Weather Bureau. He became acquainted with noted meteorologist Carl G. Rossby when he took the position of Rossby's assistant for a project sponsored by the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. His most valuable contribution to meteorology was his research on thunderstorms.

The Grand Blanc (Michigan) Community School District sets budget priorities by (1) surveying students, taxpayers, and teachers to learn their preferences for current programs and services; (2) determining the costs of state-mandated programs; (3) listing nonmandated programs and determining their costs; and (4) considering proposed new programs. (RW)