Helping New Teachers
Two articles crossed my desk this past week containing information that I find significant for middle level leaders. The first was a summary of Lessons Learned: New Teachers Talk About Their Jobs, Challenges and Long-Range Plans, released in October by Public Agenda and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (NCCTQ). It found that new high school and middle school teachers are more concerned about lack of administrative support, more frustrated by student motivation and behavior, less likely to see teaching as a lifelong career choice and less likely to believe that all students can achieve in school than new teachers in elementary schools. This level teacher was also more likely to question their preparation and felt their education had put too much emphasis on theory and not enough on the practicalities of teaching. The full report can be found at www.publicagenda.org.
A day or two later, an article by Stephen Sawchuk appeared in Ed Daily under the headline of “High Quality Induction Provides Bang for the Buck.” The article summarized a study done by the University of California, Santa Cruz that found teacher induction programs, regardless of the cost, paid off in the long run through more effective teaching, increased student achievement, and higher rates of teacher retention.
When I was a beginning teacher, I had the time and support to hone my craft over the first several years of my career. In today’s educational world of high accountability, teachers are placed under immediate pressure to help their students achieve; for first year teachers, this adds considerable stress to the already difficult task of being a beginner. As a former middle level principal, I felt the most important responsibility I held was that of hiring and supporting new teachers. I was also fortunate to have a staff that embraced new teachers and gave them needed support, both intellectually and emotionally.
As school leaders we have to be accountable for helping our beginning teachers succeed. More than simply pairing them up with an experienced teacher to “help them when they need it”, we must implement a well-planned and purposeful induction program to ensure they have the support they need to be successful. What are ways that this can happen?
• Schedule regular meetings with new teachers to touch base, let them know they are supported, and to listen to their concerns.
• Give “instruction” on school policies and procedures well in advance of the “event”. ie: process for progress reports or report cards, parent or student-led conferences, testing protocol, etc.
• Offer “mini-lessons” by experienced teachers to help them add to their instructional repertoire.
• Provide them opportunities to visit the classrooms of dynamic experienced teachers.
• Ensure mentor teachers understand the mentoring process and are capable of providing the needed support.
Other thoughts? Please comment on what worked when you were a new teacher or activities in place at your school.
A day or two later, an article by Stephen Sawchuk appeared in Ed Daily under the headline of “High Quality Induction Provides Bang for the Buck.” The article summarized a study done by the University of California, Santa Cruz that found teacher induction programs, regardless of the cost, paid off in the long run through more effective teaching, increased student achievement, and higher rates of teacher retention.
When I was a beginning teacher, I had the time and support to hone my craft over the first several years of my career. In today’s educational world of high accountability, teachers are placed under immediate pressure to help their students achieve; for first year teachers, this adds considerable stress to the already difficult task of being a beginner. As a former middle level principal, I felt the most important responsibility I held was that of hiring and supporting new teachers. I was also fortunate to have a staff that embraced new teachers and gave them needed support, both intellectually and emotionally.
As school leaders we have to be accountable for helping our beginning teachers succeed. More than simply pairing them up with an experienced teacher to “help them when they need it”, we must implement a well-planned and purposeful induction program to ensure they have the support they need to be successful. What are ways that this can happen?
• Schedule regular meetings with new teachers to touch base, let them know they are supported, and to listen to their concerns.
• Give “instruction” on school policies and procedures well in advance of the “event”. ie: process for progress reports or report cards, parent or student-led conferences, testing protocol, etc.
• Offer “mini-lessons” by experienced teachers to help them add to their instructional repertoire.
• Provide them opportunities to visit the classrooms of dynamic experienced teachers.
• Ensure mentor teachers understand the mentoring process and are capable of providing the needed support.
Other thoughts? Please comment on what worked when you were a new teacher or activities in place at your school.
Comments
I also think about how we structure the entry for our new teachers:
- Do we ensure that we don't "dump" on them with an overload of preps, struggling students and duties?
- Do we provide them with a little extra funding to organize their classrooms, replenish a classroom library, and perk up the room with some color, lighting and seating arrangements?
- Do we as leaders take the time to get to know them, their needs and provide them with job-embedded individualized support, like coaching? (something that doesn't necessarily take them out of the classroom which can be difficult for new teachers to handle)
Posted by: Diane Lauer | October 29, 2007 09:07 AM