Transcript What MCPS Administrators Need to Know

New Teacher
Induction
What MCPS Administrators
Need to Know
What is Teacher Induction?
The purpose of a new teacher induction
program is to improve the capacity of
schools to attract, induct, and retain
talented, enthusiastic, and dedicated
teachers.
Why Do We Need Induction?
Teacher attrition is a problem with a number of
implications, not the least of which is the teacher
shortage.
Most of teacher attrition is a result of factors such as:
inadequate pay, lack of administrative support, poor
workplace conditions, student related issues, lack of
collegiality with peers, low morale, and amount of time
required for the paperwork involved (Bickmore, D. L.,
Bickmore, S. T., & Hart, L, 2005).
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Almost half of all new teachers leave the profession within
the first five years, creating a difficult model where more
teachers leave the teaching profession compared to teachers
entering the profession (Ingersoll & Smith, 2003).
Comprehensive Induction
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Comprehensive Induction in MCPS
program includes:
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New Educator Orientation
Mentor Program
Support teams (i.e. staff development teacher
and consulting teacher)
Courses and Workshops for beginning
educators
Courses and Workshops for mentors
Evaluation
What the Research Says
Comprehensive induction proves most effective at keeping good
teachers in the classroom. Studies demonstrate that new
teacher turnover rates can be cut in half through
comprehensive induction: a combination of high-quality
mentoring, professional development and support, scheduled
interaction with other teachers in the school and in the larger
community, and formal assessments for new teachers during
at least their first two years of teaching.
- T. Smith and R. Ingersoll.
(2004)
Impact of Sustainable Induction
Programs
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Improved teacher retention and successful
induction programs save districts money (cite
New Teacher Center, Villar, Measuring the
Benefits and Costs of Mentor-Based Induction.
Improved teacher retention and successful
induction programs ensure increased levels of
student achievement (Tapping the Potential,
2004).
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The individual achievement of children is
highly dependent on the effectiveness of
the teacher, and the impact of ineffective
or unqualified teachers across years
dooms children to instructional losses that
cannot be regained.
Administrator’s Role in Induction
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“Recruiting, hiring and supporting
teachers as they learn how to teach well
are at the heart of a principal’s job.
Nothing is more important.”
Lynn Stuart, Principal, Cambridgeport School, Cambridge, MA
Administrator’s Role in Induction
“The effectiveness and success of an induction
program has a great deal to do with the support,
nurturing, modeling, and enthusiasm of school
and district administrators. Administrators set the
standard for the level of commitment that is made
to ensuring that new teachers are successful and
that those who support new teachers are given
the time and resources that are needed.”
Beyond Mentoring, Jon Saphier
What COMAR Says
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The comprehensive induction program (law right
now says shall provide) annual training for
principals, assistant principals, and school-based
professional development staff to familiarize them
with the factors that contribute to teacher attrition
and retention, the learning activities and schedule
for induction program participants, the role of
mentors and expectations for supporting mentors'
work in schools, and the importance of schoollevel coordination of support for new teachers.
What Administrators Can Do at the
School Level to Support Induction
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Become knowledgeable about the induction program and to
factor the needs of the program into decisions made at the
school such as scheduling, class assignments, etc.
Select mentors for new teachers from a pool of veteran
teachers who have been trained as mentors
Make the matches between mentors and new teachers taking
into consideration grade level, subject matter, proximity, and
personal style
Respect the confidentiality of the mentor-new teacher
relationship
Provide and protect mentor-mentee time for planning,
observing, and conferencing
What Administrators Can Do at the
School Level to Support Induction
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Inform prospective teachers about the induction
program and its requirements
Coordinate an orientation program for new
teachers and other hospitality events for new
teachers
Build an active support team around each
beginning teacher
Model professionalism and support for the
program
Participate in all phases of an on-going
assessment of the induction program
Class Placement and Scheduling
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School leaders are encouraged to participate directly so
that new educators are assigned students and classes
that are appropriate to the beginner status. This
means, bluntly, administrators must make sure that
new teachers do not get:
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Stripped down classrooms
Large classes
Difficult students
Many preparations for the day
A heavy load of extracurricular assignments
Class Placement and Scheduling
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It also means that new teachers DO get
schedules that allow for:
Common planning time with their mentors for
conferencing and other meetings
 Opportunities to observe and be observed by
their mentors
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Providing and Protecting MentorTeacher Time Together
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Excuse beginning teachers from committee assignments to
the maximum degree possible so they can concentrate on
the all-important first year task of learning their curriculum
and how to teach
Limit the committee assignments of mentors so they can
focus on their mentee
Create a schedule that provides common planning time for
mentor and mentee
Provide mentors time at faculty meetings to report on their
involvement in the program and encourage other teachers to
network with their beginning teachers
Fostering Instructional Development
Through Formative Assessment
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Facilitate novices' participation in professional development
opportunities
Provide opportunities and incentives for all teachers to work
together
Provide opportunities for novices to gather and work together
Protect planning time for new teachers
Visit novices' classrooms and provide feedback; help novices
set reasonable goals
Review lesson plans; offer instruction in teaching strategies
Facilitate novices' observation of other teachers
Engage in ongoing professional dialogue with new teachers
Providing Formative and Summative
Evaluation
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Explain expectations and procedures at the beginning of the
year
Schedule observations in advance; provide new teachers
with copies of evaluation records
Use standards to guide your assessment
Be positive but honest in your feedback; recognize novices
as beginners
Help new teachers set reasonable goals for their learning and
development
Balance formal observations and conferences with informal
observations and feedback
Coordinate evaluation activities with induction and mentoring
program
Supervising and Evaluating New
Teachers
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Provide feedback that is selective and tackle
doable chunks
Avoid overkill in the early months of the beginning
teacher’s experience
Be sensitive to the developmental needs of
beginning teachers
Focus on behaviors that reflect the deepest
beliefs about the capacity of all students to learn
at high levels
Supervising and Evaluating New
Teachers
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Provide consistent and repeated messages that they should
expect good thinking and effective effort from all children
Ask open-ended questions that empowers the new teacher
and allows them to examine their own behavior:
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“What exactly would be the next level of progress for him?”
“What have you thought about doing differently?”
“Who might help you get some ideas?”
Send the key messages:
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This is important.
You can do it.
I won’t give up on you.
Effective effort leads to achievement.
Questions for Administrators to Think
About
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How do you help beginning teachers understand the culture
of the school?
How does an induction program fit into the culture of the
school?
How do you make yourself accessible when beginning
teachers need to talk to you?
What are some specific things you do to help your first year
teachers feel more at ease and more comfortable in their new
school environment?
Do you try to place new teachers in a grade level similar to
that of their student teaching experience?
Questions for Administrators to Think
About
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During the interview, do you mention anything about
induction or mentoring opportunities that the new teacher can
take part in?
Other than the formal observations throughout the year, do
you meet with your beginning teachers to discuss strengths
and weaknesses?
What do you believe are some of the unique needs of the first
year teachers in your building and how do you meet those
needs?
What do you view as the most important role of the principal
in new teacher induction?
Which of your actions do you believe are most effective for
your beginning teachers?
MCPS Programs That Support Induction:
New Educator Orientation (NEO)
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New educators complete a formal orientation
program facilitated by staff of MCPS
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Topics covered during NEO include:
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Curriculum trainings and modules, by grade level and/or subject,
that incorporate assessment practices, lesson planning design, and
classroom management strategies
Information regarding employee benefits
Workshop opportunities on classroom management, co-teaching,
cyberspace and online resource, stress and time management,
special education and working with paraeducators
Information regarding benefits and contractual segments from
MCEA
MCPS Programs That Support Induction:
Onboarding
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Onboarding is a business management
term used for the process of helping new
employees become productive members of
an organization. The concept behind
employee onboarding is best defined as a
systematic and comprehensive approach to
orienting a new employee to help them get
"on board."
MCPS Programs That Support Induction:
Onboarding
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Since 2010, new hires to MCPS participate in a
mandatory onboarding course to introduce them
to the culture of our system.
By the end of the session new employees are
able to:
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Explain the culture of MCPS,
Articulate the MCPS mission and vision,
Identify the values of MCPS, and
Describe the opportunities to grow in MCPS.
MCPS Programs That Support Induction:
Onboarding
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Specific topics explored in the onboarding course
include:
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Past and current demographics
Our Call to Action
The Compact for Culture of Respect
Red and green zone schools and support
7 Keys to College and Career Readiness
Embedded support
Professional Growth System (I really don’t think that any of the
things in red are covered)
Consulting Teachers
Mentors
Equity and Excellence
Strategies That Support Induction:
Orienting New Educators
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Just in Time Training
 “Just in time” information is meted out to teachers on a schedule that tracks their
need for the information.
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School Schedule
 Develop a school schedule and calendar that highlights the important dates for
which teachers need to be prepared.
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Policies
 Provide introductions to district policies and procedures at the building level, as
it is in the school that these policies and procedures are usually implemented.
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Tour of Community
 Organize a tour that points out the neighborhoods, the hangouts, parks, and
other features that can be resources for the classroom. It is also important to
point out banks, drugstores, markets, and other sites that can be time-savers for
busy new teachers.
Strategies That Support Induction:
Orienting New Teachers
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Map
 Provide a map of the school and give tours of the facilities. New teachers
appreciate being informed about the resources of the new building that they
may want to use during the year.
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Staff Social
 Have a staff social before school starts. Provide each beginning teacher with a
designated host who will introduce them to other staff. Highlight the beginning
teachers during the event.
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Nametags
 Have all faculty members wear nametags for the first two weeks of school to
help beginning and veteran teachers get to know who’s who, especially in big
schools.
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Bulletin Boards
 Put up bulletin boards with pictures of the new staff—or all staff.
Strategies That Support Induction:
Enlisting the Whole Staff
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“The success of the beginning teacher is
the responsibility of all staff in the
building. No one mentor should have the
responsibility of meeting all of the needs of
his/her protégé.”
Beyond Mentoring, Saphier
Strategies That Support Induction:
Enlisting the Whole Staff
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All staff in the building should understand that they play an
essential role in the success of the beginning teacher.
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In a comprehensive induction program, we might see:
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Teachers opening their classrooms for observations and their file drawers
for curriculum materials that will be helpful to the beginning teacher
Teachers conferring with the beginning teacher on strategies for meeting
the needs of specific students
Teachers sharing approaches to classroom management and discipline
Teachers sharing individual challenges with new teachers so they know
they aren’t alone
Teachers attending a workshop to learn about the induction program
Teachers providing information about formal and informal policies,
procedures and resources to beginning teachers
Structures, time, and leadership for these things to happen
Strategies That Support Induction:
Enlisting the Whole Staff
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Ask faculty members to write on a card something in their teaching that
they would be willing to share, demonstrate, teach to, or have a beginning
teacher observe. Post these cards in the teacher’s lounge in the fall on a
bulletin board.
Encourage everyone to offer to share a practice, strategy, or a piece of
curriculum. A few teachers may think they have nothing special to offer;
others may feel too busy. Poke your head in the door some afternoon of
those people who don’t reply the first time, “Hey, Jane, would be willing to
show one of our novices how you set up literature groups sometime next
fall?”
During pre-service in August, ask veteran teachers to share student work
samples with beginning teachers that show a before and after snapshot of
what students can be expected to produce at the beginning and end of the
year.
Ask the PTA to arrange for someone to deliver a flower or congratulatory
note to each beginning teacher at the end of the first day for having gotten
over the first big hurdle.
Strategies That Support Induction:
Enlisting the Whole Staff
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Before school or in the early weeks of school, arrange for a gathering, so
the beginning teachers can get to know community members and the
parents of their children. It is important to build bridges between beginning
teachers and the community and to educate the beginning teacher about
the community, its culture, where things are, the local history, and the
conditions in which their children live.
Ask each faculty member to write on a card the best teaching tip they ever
got. Ask them to sign the card. Collect the cards in a basket and leave the
basket in the lounge. Rule: anyone can look at the cards but you can’t take
the card away. If you read a card and it isn’t clear to you what the person
meant, ask them.
Ask each faculty member to write down seven things they wish they’d
known when they started teaching their first year. Have everyone say one
item out loud as they do around the room. Collect the lists and have them
typed up, eliminating duplicate items. Pass them out at the next faculty
meeting to kick off the continuing discussion of how everyone will take part
in supporting the new teachers.
Resources Available to Support
Administrators
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MCPS Resources
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PGS Reminders advertises mentor-mentee workshops
offered by the system
Websites
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http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/devel
opment/teams/programs/neo.shtm
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http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/devel
opment/teams/programs/new_teachers.shtm
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http://www.newteacher.com/pdf/CorwinGalley.pdf
Resources Available to Support
Administrators
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Websites
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http://www.newteacher.com/pdf/FourWaysToSupportNew
Teachers.pdf
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http://www.newteacher.com/pdf/Bulletin0304Wong.pdf
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http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104138/chapters/
The-Principal's-Role-in-New-Teacher-Induction.aspx
Resources Available to Support
Administrators
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Articles/Books
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Breaux, A., & Wong, H. (2003). New teacher induction: How to
train, support, and retain new teachers. Mountain View, CA:
Harry K. Wong.
Britton, E., Raizen, S., Paine, L., & Huntley, M. (2000). More
swimming, less sinking: Perspectives from abroad on U. S.
teacher induction. Paper presented at the National Commission
on Mathematics and Science Teaching in the 21st Century, San
Francisco.
Fulton, K., Yoon, I., and Lee, C. (2005). Induction Into Learning
Communities. Washington, DC: National Commission on
Teaching and America’s Future.
Saphier, J., Freedman, S., and Aschheim, B. (2001). Beyond
Mentoring: Comprehensive Induction Programs.
Massachusetts: TEACHERS21 (There is a much more recent
edition of this book)
Resources Available to Support
Administrators
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Articles/Books
 Smith and Richard Ingersoll, “What Are the Effects of Induction
and Mentoring on Beginning Teacher Turnover?” American
Educational Research Journal, 41, 2, Summer 2004).
 Wong, J. K. (2001). “Mentoring Can’t Do It All: New teachers
learn best from systematic induction programs.” Education
Week.
 Wong, H. (2003a). Induction programs that keep working. In M.
Scherer (Ed.), Keeping Good Teachers. Association of
Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). Available at
www.NewTeacher.com
 Wong, H. (2003b). Induction: How to train, support, and retain
new teachers. Paper presented at the National Staff
Development Council, December 10, 2003. Available at
www.NewTeacher.com