Alliance
Study Calls for New-Teacher Induction Programs
In September
2002, the Alliance
for Excellent Education, an advocacy
and policy group that works on behalf of at-risk students,
released a report,
Every Child a Graduate, with specific recommendations
for school improvement. One of the proposed new initiatives
dealt with teacher hiring and retention. The Alliance suggested
financial incentives, including a federal tax credit, programs
to forgive student loans, and scholarships for prospective teachers.
Now, with its New-Teacher
Excellence: Retaining Our Best report, the Alliance
"strongly
recommends" another initiative to "complement"
the financial one: new-teacher induction programs in schools
and districts. There is no set formula for such programs, but
they are based on support and mentoring for new teachers from
veteran teachers. New teachers who feel that they have support
in the classroom, not only from the district, but also from
their fellow teachers, tend to be more effective and to stay
longer than their counterparts who have not experienced teacher
induction programs. The Alliance says that these mentoring relationships
also help veteran teachers, many of whom are under considerable
pressure from the demands of school reforms and the No Child
Left Behind Act (for a summary and analysis of NCLB, see the
ACCESS NCLB pages)
feel useful and thus more content. At their best (and the report
cites programs in California, Texas and Ohio), these new-teacher
induction programs increase recruitment of "highly
qualified" teachers, their effectiveness in the classroom,
and the retention of both experienced and new teachers.
Prepared
December 23, 2002
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