New Teacher Induction

1
New Teacher Induction

• What MCPS Administrators
• Need to Know

2
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.

3
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).

4

• 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).

5
Comprehensive Induction

• Comprehensive Induction in MCPS program includes
• 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

6
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)

7
Impact of Sustainable Induction Programs

• 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).

8

• 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.

9
Administrators Role in Induction

• Recruiting, hiring and supporting teachers as
  they learn how to teach well are at the heart of
  a principals job. Nothing is more important.
• Lynn Stuart, Principal, Cambridgeport School,
  Cambridge, MA

10
Administrators 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

11
What COMAR Says

• 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 school-level
  coordination of support for new teachers.

12
What Administrators Can Do at the School Level to
Support Induction

• 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

13
What Administrators Can Do at the School Level to
Support Induction

• 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

14
Class Placement and Scheduling

• 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
• Stripped down classrooms
• Large classes
• Difficult students
• Many preparations for the day
• A heavy load of extracurricular assignments

15
Class Placement and Scheduling

• 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

16
Providing and Protecting Mentor-Teacher Time
Together

• 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

17
Fostering Instructional Development Through
Formative Assessment

• 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

18
Providing Formative and Summative Evaluation

• 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

19
Supervising and Evaluating New Teachers

• Provide feedback that is selective and tackle
  doable chunks
• Avoid overkill in the early months of the
  beginning teachers 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

20
Supervising and Evaluating New Teachers

• 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
• 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
• This is important.
• You can do it.
• I wont give up on you.
• Effective effort leads to achievement.

21
Questions for Administrators to Think About

• 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?

22
Questions for Administrators to Think About

• 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?

23
MCPS Programs That Support InductionNew
Educator Orientation (NEO)

• New educators complete a formal orientation
  program facilitated by staff of MCPS
• Topics covered during NEO include
• 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

24
MCPS Programs That Support InductionOnboarding

• 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." 

25
MCPS Programs That Support InductionOnboarding

• 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
• Explain the culture of MCPS,
• Articulate the MCPS mission and vision,
• Identify the values of MCPS, and
• Describe the opportunities to grow in MCPS.

26
MCPS Programs That Support InductionOnboarding

• Specific topics explored in the onboarding course
  include
• 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 dont think
  that any of the things in red are covered)
• Consulting Teachers
• Mentors
• Equity and Excellence

27
Strategies That Support InductionOrienting New
Educators

• Just in Time Training
• Just in time information is meted out to
  teachers on a schedule that tracks their need for
  the information.
• School Schedule
• Develop a school schedule and calendar that
  highlights the important dates for which teachers
  need to be prepared.
• 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.
• 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.

28
Strategies That Support InductionOrienting New
Teachers

• 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.
• 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.
• Nametags
• Have all faculty members wear nametags for the
  first two weeks of school to help beginning and
  veteran teachers get to know whos who,
  especially in big schools.
• Bulletin Boards
• Put up bulletin boards with pictures of the new
  staffor all staff.

29
Strategies That Support InductionEnlisting the
Whole Staff

• 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

30
Strategies That Support InductionEnlisting the
Whole Staff

• All staff in the building should understand that
  they play an essential role in the success of the
  beginning teacher.
• In a comprehensive induction program, we might
  see
• 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 arent 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

31
Strategies That Support InductionEnlisting the
Whole Staff

• 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
  teachers 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
  dont 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.

32
Strategies That Support InductionEnlisting the
Whole Staff

• 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 cant take the card
  away. If you read a card and it isnt clear to
  you what the person meant, ask them.
• Ask each faculty member to write down seven
  things they wish theyd 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.

33
Resources Available to Support Administrators

• MCPS Resources
• PGS Reminders advertises mentor-mentee workshops
  offered by the system
• Websites
• http//www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/dev
  elopment/teams/programs/neo.shtm
• http//www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/dev
  elopment/teams/programs/new_teachers.shtm
• http//www.newteacher.com/pdf/CorwinGalley.pdf

34
Resources Available to Support Administrators

• Websites
• http//www.newteacher.com/pdf/FourWaysToSupportNew
  Teachers.pdf
• http//www.newteacher.com/pdf/Bulletin0304Wong.pdf
  
• http//www.ascd.org/publications/books/104138/chap
  ters/The-Principal's-Role-in-New-Teacher-Induction
  .aspx

35
Resources Available to Support Administrators

• Articles/Books
• 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
  Americas 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)

36
Resources Available to Support Administrators

• 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 Cant 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