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Effective Teaching...
by Harry and Rosemary Wong
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This article was printed from Teachers.Net Gazette,
located at http://teachers.net.
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February
2003
How to Retain
New Teachers
New teachers come into the profession having invested years of their lives
and tens of thousands of dollars with the vision of making a difference in the
lives of young people. It is a crime when they are just thrown into a classroom
with no training or support.
If what teachers know about teaching is
learned on the job,
then why not systematically teach
new teachers on the job
with a sustained induction program?
Effective induction programs not only retain highly qualified new teachers,
they also ensure that these teachers are teaching effectively from the very
first day of school.
The most compelling and successful way to keep good teachers is with a
structured and sustained induction program that typically lasts three years.
Induction is the process of preparing, supporting, and retaining new teachers.
It includes all of the things done to support new teachers and to acculturate
them to teaching, insuring their success from their very first day of teaching,
and introducing them to the responsibilities, missions, and philosophies of
their schools and districts.
People crave connection. New teachers want more than a job. They want
hope. They want to contribute to a group. They want to make a difference.
Induction programs provide that connection because they are structured around
a learning community where new and veteran teachers treat each other with respect
and all contributions are valued.
Mentoring Is Not Induction
The terms "induction" and "mentoring" are often used
interchangeably to describe what happens to a new teacher. It must be clarified
that induction and mentoring are not the same. Induction is an organized,
sustained, multiyear program structured by a school or district, of which mentoring
may be an integral component. Induction is a group process, one that organizes
the expertise of educators within the shared values of a culture. Mentoring
is a one-on-one process, concerned with simply supporting individual teachers.
We must stop trying to portray mentoring as the effective stand-alone method
for supporting and retaining teachers. In far too many instances, a mentor is
simply a veteran teacher who has been haphazardly selected by the principal
and assigned to a new teacher, resulting in a "blind date," as Jon
Saphier (2001) calls it in his book, Beyond Mentoring. Sharon
Feiman-Nemser (1996), in her ERIC Digest article writes that after 20
years of experimenting with mentoring as a process for helping new teachers,
few comprehensive studies exist to validate its effectiveness.
Mentors can offer valuable support during a new teacher's initial year, but
mentoring is not a sustained process. Mentors are important, but they are an
isolated episode for one year in a new teacher's life. To be effective, mentors
need to be a component of the induction process.
Induction is a comprehensive, structured, and sustained group process that
fosters a true learning community by continuing to provide support and training
to new teachers into their tenure. Induction is a lifelong experience, a
process that teaches the social and cultural practices that center around learning---what
it means to be a learner and what it means to help others learn.
Elements of a Successful Induction Program
- Begin with an initial four or five days of training (in classroom management
and effective teaching techniques) before school begins.
- Offer a continuum of professional development through systematic training
over a period of two or three years.
- Provide study groups where new teachers can network and build support, commitment,
and leadership in a learning community.
- Incorporate a strong sense of administrative support.
- Integrate a mentoring component into the induction process.
- Present a structure for modeling effective teaching during in-services and
mentoring.
- Provide opportunities for inductees to visit demonstration classrooms.
Joan Hearne of the Wichita, Kansas, public schools says, "As a central
office staff developer, I truly believe in the induction process. If you do
not transmit the district's culture, mission, and beliefs as employees join
the family, then when do you?"
The Why and Who of Induction
- Purpose of Induction
Induction provides 1) easier transition into teaching, 2) training for
classroom effectiveness, and 3) the retention of highly qualified teachers.
- Who Provides Induction?
Induction is provided by the district and is typically organized by a
group of administrators, staff developers, and mentor teachers. If you are
a new teacher looking for a teaching job, you need to ask if the district
has an induction program. These districts care that you succeed. You need
to care that you succeed.
Not to provide induction is like
asking a pilot to learn how to fly
while taking a plane load of passengers
up for the first time.
Three Successful Induction Programs
The following three school districts have highly successful new teacher induction
programs. Their results speak volumes! Of the new teachers hired in the 2001-2002
school year, they
retained 143 out of 148 in the Newport-Mesa School District, California,
retained 45 out of 46 in the Lafourche Parish Schools, Louisiana, and
retained 65 out of 68 in the Islip Public Schools, New York.
Newport-Mesa Schools. Christina Jurenko, director of the induction
program at this school district in California, reports that the retention rate
of new teachers was 85 percent in 1997. When they installed a two-year induction
program, patterned after California's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment
model, their retention rate increased and is now at 97 percent. They foster
an atmosphere where teachers want to learn and continue to grow as professionals.
They sponsor teachers who want to learn at conferences. New teachers, veteran
teachers, and administrators must attend in groups, because the district's focus
is on teamwork with lots of study groups. With such a high retention rate, where
143 stayed out of the last 148 hired, the benefit is obvious--teachers stay
with a district that values their contributions.
Lafourche Schools. Elmo Broussard, superintendent of this Louisiana
school system says, "Our new teachers became highly successful and all
were coming back the following year. This had never happened until we implemented
an induction program."
Meetings are frequent with the new teachers: 4 days in early August, 1 day
in late August, each month onsite with their facilitators, each month at the
district level for support group, weekly meetings with new teachers and mentors,
ongoing observations all year, two more days in January to prepare them for
State Assessment, and another full day in April for an induction review. The
focus is on classroom management, instructional strategies, the Louisiana Components
of Effective Teaching, and addressing the new teachers' individual needs. Veteran
teachers serve as their mentors, as curriculum facilitators, as teachers of
demonstration classrooms, and, of course, are always onsite to help whenever
necessary.
All of these activities benefit new teachers by training them to handle the
challenges of the classroom and ensuring that they are meeting Louisiana's standards
so as to pass the State's Assessment. Over 99 percent of the new teachers who
have participated in its induction program have successfully completed the performance-based
Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program required for teacher certification
in the state. Lafourche is training and keeping its good teachers.
The Lafourche induction program is so successful that the Louisiana Department
of Education has adopted it as the model for the entire state. Information on
Louisiana's induction program is available on the Internet at www.doe.state.la.us/DOE/OQE/
certification/LaFirst_rl.pdf.
Islip Public Schools. Linda Lippman is the director of human resources
and the director of the new teacher induction program for this New York school
district. She has the dual responsibility of training the teachers she hires
and her efforts have paid off. In the 1998-1999 school year before a formal
induction program was installed, Islip retained 29 of the 46 new teachers hired.
In the subsequent three school years from 1999 to 2002 when the formal, three-year
new teacher induction program was in place, they retained 65 teachers out of
68 hired.
As part of their contract, inductees meet monthly for 90 minutes after school.
The teachers are divided into groups by tenure in the district and by grade
level, elementary (K-5) or secondary (6-12), yielding six groups. Study group
activities, lead by veteran teachers and district curriculum leaders, focus
on skill-building strategies such as hosting parent-teacher night, conducting
conferences, implementing classroom management, crafting lesson plans, and using
cooperative discipline. They constantly work on team building and problem solving
techniques with model lessons and sharing sessions where they "steal"
from each other, networking, and building respect with each other---veteran
teachers and the administration.
The skill-building activities are aligned to the standards required by the
district. The benefits to the teachers are evident, because the Islip schools
have seen a concomitant improvement in student achievement, which the central
office views as resulting from improved teacher performance. The difference
in student achievement is shown below.
1990-1991
Before Induction |
|
2001-2002
After Induction |
40% Regents
diploma rate |
|
70% Regents
diploma rate |
80 students enrolled
in Advanced Placement
classes with 50%
achieving 3 or higher |
|
120 students enrolled
in Advanced Placement
classes with 73%
achieving 3 or higher |
Because new teachers want to be part of a team and part of a culture,
the focus of induction is on training. The major role of the trainers is
to immerse new teachers in the district's culture and to unite them with everyone
in the district as a cohesive, supportive instructional team. New teachers quickly
become a part of the district's "family."
What keeps good teachers are structured, sustained, intensive professional
development programs that allow new teachers to observe others, to be observed
by others, and to be part of networks or study groups where all teachers share
together, grow together, and learn to respect each other's work.
Resources
"Assessing and Supporting New Teachers." (2002). Southeast Center
for Teaching Quality. Available at www.teachingquality.org.
Breaux, Annette and Harry Wong. (2003). New Teacher Induction: How to
Train, Support, and Retain New Teachers. Available at www.effectiveteaching.com.
"New Teacher Excellence: Retaining Our Best." (2002). Alliance for
Excellent Education. Available at www.all4ed.org.
"Supporting New Teachers" and other articles and links. Available
at www.NewTeacher.com.
The Project on the Next Generation of Teachers at the Harvard Graduate School
of Education. Available at www.gse.harvard.edu.
The True Benefit of Induction
It's simple yet so profound---it is the teacher who holds the key to student
achievement. Induction is a mechanism for improving the quality of teachers.
The process must become a priority---for the sake our students. They deserve
no less than the very best.
Editor's note: For information about the just-released book, New Teacher
Induction: How to Train, Support, and Retain New Teachers by Annette
Breaux and Harry K. Wong see the Spotlight at www.teachers.net/wong/FEB03/spotlight.html
Harry & Rosemary Wong products: http://harrywong.com/product
This printable version is provided for the convenience of individuals.
