Scope and Method of Study: The scope of this study included the 299 new CareerTech teachers, from 27 CareerTech Schools in Oklahoma, which participated in the Oklahoma CareerTech New Teacher Induction Process from 2000-2006. The methodology employed by this study was a mixed-methods approach. This included distributing individual data collection instruments to each of the 27 CareerTech schools requesting descriptive information on the teaching status of induction process participants and 12 in-depth qualitative interviews of participants who had left teaching.

Findings and Conclusions: The findings and conclusions for this study include the cumulative retention rate for the Oklahoma CareerTech New Teacher Induction Process from 2000-2006 is 70%. The overall one-year retention rate for the induction process is 86%. The 12 in-depth interviews of induction process participants who had left teaching uncovered seven inductive themes. Administrators and a perceived lack of support from administration was stated as a key factor. Eight of the 12 participants (66%) interviewed reported issues with administration as the key factor in their decision to leave teaching. The fact that most participants reported systemic issues as the source of decisions for leaving the profession may suggest that administrators can and, in fact, do have a greater influence on retention than previously thought. Administrators are, after all, in a position to have significant influence over many systemic issues. This study found the reasons given by these participants for departing the profession to be almost solely systemic in nature.