30 NASSP Bulletin ■ Vol. 89 No. 644 September 2005 Dana L. Bickmore is a recent doctoral graduate in middle school education, Steven T. Bickmore is a recent doctoral graduate in language education, and Laurie E. Hart is a professor, all in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Correspondence concerning this article may be sent to dana.bickmore@jordan.k12.ut.us. Interdisciplinary Teaming as an Induction Practice Dana L. Bickmore, Steven T. Bickmore, and Laurie E. Hart The role of interdisciplinary teaming in the induction of new teachers was examined at two middle level schools through the perceptions of three par- ticipant groups: new teachers, mentors, and principals. Data collected through a mixed-method design indicated that participants perceived inter- disciplinary teams as an integral part of the induction process of new teach- ers that supported their personal and professional needs. Teaming was most helpful in meeting new teachers’ professional needs chiefly through sup- porting the management practices of new teachers. Bell County school system had a personnel problem, according to Dr. Sampson, the assistant superintendent of human resources. This his- torically rural school district situated between two metropolitan areas was experiencing high rates of growth as suburbia flowed into the county. Bell County’s salary structure, which paid $2,000 to $5,000 less than neighboring districts, compounded the increasing need for new teachers. Recruiting and retaining teachers was a problem. Bell County was considering adopting a districtwide induction model developed by one of the three middle level schools in the county to encourage new teachers to stay in the system. An effective induction program, Dr. Sampson believed, would result in positive working conditions. Positive experiences would lead to retaining teachers and, in addition, be an informal and formal advertisement for recruiting new teachers. The districtwide induction model, however, was costly, requir- ing additional district personnel. For the 2002–03 school year, the district encouraged local schools to develop individual induction programs to reduce the attrition rate of new teachers in the Bell County school system. In this study, two of these locally and independently developed induc- tion programs were examined. The research team, composed of a veteran school administrator, an educator, and a teacher educator, chose these two programs for three reasons. First, middle level schools have traditionally had higher rates of attrition than either elementary or high schools (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004; Weiss, 1999). In a national study of teacher attrition, Smith and Ingersoll (2004) reported that new middle level teachers were twice as likely to leave teaching after the first year as elementary teachers, and they