Developing and retaining highly qualified teachers are central elements in efforts to improve teaching and learning in the United States (U.S. Department of Education, 2002). As part of these efforts, higher education institutions are beginning to design comprehensive induction programs for their graduates (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2004). One example: through the Teachers for a New Era initiative (Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2001), Michigan State University has embraced the challenge to design a seamless teacher preparation program that begins with planned learning experiences designed for entering freshmen, extends throughout a year-long internship and into the first two years in a beginning teacher's own classroom. This formal induction component is based on the belief that after completing the initial teacher preparation certification program, beginning teachers are merely at the beginning of the process of learning to teach. As a distinct phase in learning to teach (Feiman-Nemser, 2001), induction can "stand as a key juncture of learning, growth, and support" for those beginning their careers as teachers (Paine, Pimm, Britton, Raizen, & Wilson, 2003, p. 15). This key juncture provides a new opportunity for developing partnerships between K-12 schools and universities in ways that respect and value the uniqueness that each institution offers while together working toward the goal of developing high quality teachers for K-12 schools. A continuing challenge, however, is bringing the worlds of theory and practice together, a challenge made even more visible as university faculty and K-12 teachers work to collaboratively design, from the ground-up, an induction experience for beginning teachers.
