Problems of Beginning Secondary Teachers in Relation to School Location

Abstract

The intent of the study was to describe and compare the perceived problems of beginning secondary teachers grouped on the baas of school location (i.e., inner-city, outer-city, suburban, and rural). Beginning teachers (N = 159) indicated whether certain specific classroom problems occurred frequently and if such problems were bothersome. These responses were factor analyzed, producing six factors for both frequency and bothersomeness data. Factor scores associated with frequency factors and bothersomeness factors were each compared across the four location groups by multivariate and univariate methods. Inner-city teachers reported a significantly greater frequency of problems associated with factors labeled Remediation, Professional Autonomy, and Control. However, with respect to the extent to which problems were reported to be bothersome, significant differences among teacher-location groups were not observed.