Creating Effective Teacher Growth Programs

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Creating Effective Teacher Growth Programs

• Individualizing Professional Improvement

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How experienced are our teachers?
0-3 years 18.2 4-9 years 30.5 10-19
years 33.1 20 years 18.2
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Who Teaches?
Full-time 89 Went to Catholic School
77 Female 80 Aged 45-60 40 Religious
7 Lay 93 White 92 Teach elem.
School 71 Catholic 96 BA only 67 MA and
above 30 Married 70
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Why they leave
Family/Personal public 34.7 private
47.3 Retired/Sabbatical public 27.9 private
10.1 Salary/benefits public 4.5 private
9.2 Other career public 3.4 private
12.5 RIF-ing public 5.8 private
7 Dissatisfied w/teaching public 8.9 private
6.7
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Life Factors

• Career at a dead end
• Meaning of life
• Home and family
• Physical, psychological health
• Caregiving

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Manifestations of burnout

• Fatigue
• Anger and anxiety
• Depression, irritability
• Lack of goals
• Changes in relationships
• Changes in appearance

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New Teachers

• Descriptors
• Goal control
• High stress
• Gaining acceptance
• Desirous of respect
• Confused re roles
• Ambivalent commitment

• Growth Needs
• Help w/tech skills
• Directive supervision
• Clear expectations
• Sensitivity re acceptance
• Exploration of personal aims
• Meaning of Catholic ID

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Understanding young workers

• Turn-ons
• Recognition and praise
• Time spent with supervisor
• Relating learning to action
• Opportunity to learn new things
• Fun
• Time to explore themselves

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Understanding young workers

• Turn-offs
• Hearing about the past-especially yours
• Inflexibility about time
• Workaholism
• Being watched/scrutinized
• Feeling pressure to be traditional
• Disparaging comments about youth
• Feeling disrespected

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What are your 20-something teachers telling you?
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The Middle Years

• Descriptors
• Building security
• New awareness
• Preoccupied w/cognitive
• Want to prepare students
• Deepened commitment

• Growth needs
• Understand theory
• Opportunity to innovate
• Collaborative supervision
• Professional development
• Support services

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What are your middle years teachers telling you?
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The veterans

• Descriptors
• Optimum career performance
• Mixed feelings
• Smooth functioning classroom
• Pride in the past
• Professional boredom
• Reliance on the tried and true

• Growth needs
• Less structured development
• Nondirective supervision
• Self-improvement
• Mentoring duties
• Call on expertise

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What are your veterans telling you?
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How do adults learn?

• Contextually
• New knowledge from old
• Fun/positive/rewarding/non-threatening
• Allow for practice
• Immediate application

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Critical Attributes of Effective Teacher
Development

• Collegiality and cooperation
• Experimentation and risk-taking
• Incorporation of available knowledge bases
• Time to work and assimilate
• Leadership and sustained support
• Appropriate incentives and awards
• Integration of school goals
• Formal placement of the program in the
  organizational structure