Supporting Teaching through Innovative Research
Welcome to the Supporting Teaching through Innovative Research (STIR) Lab! We partner with teachers and educational leaders to understand and support the teaching contexts, preparation pathways, and professional development that best meet teachers and students’ needs.
Want to learn more about our work? Please reach out to any member of our team.
Our Research Team
Graduate Assistants at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Marah Lambert
- Jada Deiderich
- Onima Vadakke Thodiyil
Current Project
Mitigating Educator Workforce Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Through Coaching
Teachers with fewer than three years of teaching experience are considered Beginning Teachers in North Carolina, and they leave teaching at higher rates than those teachers who have more experience (2022-2023 State of the Teaching Profession in NC Report). Although support for Beginning Teachers is mandated by the state, 18% of Beginning Teachers indicated that they did not receive additional support in 2022 (2022 Teacher Working Conditions Survey).
The North Carolina New Teacher Support Program provides university-based induction support for teachers through coaching and professional development sessions. Experienced NC New Teacher Support Program coaches have provided individualized support to 9,300+ teachers since 2014.
Drs. Anne Cash (Reading and Elementary Education), Kyle Cox (Educational Leadership), and Jae Hoon Lim (Educational Leadership) have partnered with the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program to study coaching practices that support teacher retention. We incorporate teacher, coach, and school characteristics into our study to understand for whom these coaching practices are beneficial and in what educational settings.
Findings from this study may be used by the program and by the state to inform decisions around teacher coaching programs as a strategy for improving teacher retention.
Want more information or have a question? Please email Dr. Anne Cash, annehcash@charlotte.edu.
Collaborators at the NC New Teacher Support Program
Collaborators at the Friday Institute at North Carolina State University
This project is in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program. It is supported by the North Carolina Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with funding appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly via the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) (federal award identification number SLFRP0129).