Beating the Odds: Discovering Why Novice Teachers Returned to the Campus after Year One
Jordan Simmons, EdD; Teresa Farler, EdD; Melissa Arrambide, EdD; Elsa Villarreal, PhD

Abstract
Teachers exiting the teaching profession within their first five years of teaching are a critical problem. Factors such as student outcomes, high stakes testing, mentoring support, monetary incentives, and administration are factors contributing to this problem. The present study used narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of novice teachers during their first year of teaching and what factors led to their decision to return for a second year. The findings demonstrated that campus principals were a critical factor influencing novice teachers to return, andnovice teachers did not have a paradigm with which to compare teaching outside of the influence of the pandemic. Additionally, some veteran teachers experienced greater difficulties coping with the pandemic than novice teachers. Nonetheless, novice teachers did experience stress which was mitigated by mentoring, support, and other experiences that have proven essential to the success of first year teachers.

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