His characterizations of beginning teachers are drawn from the education literature in Great Britain, Australia, and the United States. Veenman provides extensive international references which describe attempts to assist beginning teachers through induction programs containing common objectives and procedures. A few states have gone so far as to specify program content and to design the delivery system. Most programs have been established so recently that effectiveness studies are not yet available. Inexperience accounts for most of a new teacher's problems.
School administrators are also intent upon recruiting and retaining high quality teachers.
Thus the induction period is used to assess new recruits' strengths and weaknesses and to bring their performances up to school standards. Many types of teacher orientation programs are listed in this report along with reasons for their establishment. Moreover, it is neither federally nor state funded. Since 1980 the state legislatures of Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Arizona, Oregon, and North Carolina have mandated the establishment of programs for beginning teachers. Professionals saw induction programs as a way to mature teachers faster, to retain teachers by acquainting them with the system, and to avoid the type of frustration which invites good teachers to give up teaching.