District Administration - September 2007 - (Page 51)

ness. Further analysis of the students’ test scores showed that ﬁrst- and second-year teachers in the induction program were as eﬀective as fourth-year teachers who had not previously been in the program. Not only do students beneﬁt by having a more how to do it. If the mentors aren’t trained, the programs will be far less eﬀective, with the mentors trying to be buddies or simply leaving the new teachers ﬂoundering because they don’t know how to explain the components of eﬀective teaching. “The ultimate signal of success is that you make yourself obsolete.” —Fred Williams, executive director of recruitment and retention, Durham (N.C.) Public Schools eﬀective teacher, but the district receives the equivalent of a fourth-year teacher while paying a beginning teacher’s salary. New teacher induction programs beneﬁt experienced teachers as well, since mentors must participate in extensive training to learn how to meet the needs of adult learners, that is, the new teachers. Instructing and assessing new teachers is very diﬀerent from teaching 20 ﬁrst-graders, and teachers with 25 years of classroom experience don’t intuitively know “They love and are passionate about the position,” Williams says. “It has given remarkable teachers the opportunity to do something else—to share some of the insights that they have gained over time, to really engage in very serious and thoughtful professional development, to nurture their own abilities.” Building District Programs Despite their demonstrated beneﬁts, many districts resist implementing com- prehensive new teacher induction programs because it costs too much to fund all of the requisite components. After all, if a district is struggling to pay for enough teachers for every classroom, it will be tough to ﬁnd an additional $13,000 for a two-year induction program for each new teacher. When it adds the cost of extending the program to the recommended three years and including a modiﬁed version for experienced, but new to the district, teachers, the price tag goes from expensive to cost-prohibitive. To cut costs, some districts build their own teacher induction programs inhouse. Columbus Municipal School District, a 4,000-student district in Columbus, Miss., developed two years ago its new teacher induction program, Strategic Training for Academic Results (STAR), based on a similar program in Flowing Wells, Ariz. In the program, which is funded with federal and local monies, novice and experienced teachers attend summer and monthly professional development workshops and work with a of related Web sites and features books, Web seminars, staff development in-services, online mentoring and networking message boards. A New Teacher Guidebook hannahmeans.bizland.com This new teacher survival guide offers management and discipline tools, sites to visit and advice on how to organize. Teachers.Net www.teachers.net Using a peer-support model, this site features an extensive library of lesson plans and classroom projects, grade- and subject-speciﬁc listservs, and chat rooms for teachers and administrators alike. LEARN North Carolina www.learnnc.org A program of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education, this K12 resource includes online professional development courses and ideas, classroom materials and advice for new teachers. PBS TeacherLine Peer Connection www.pbs.org/teacherline Set to launch this month [September], this feebased service provides instructional coaches with a searchable database of resources, such as videos, articles and online interactives from PBS TeacherLine resources; embedded tutorials designed to help teachers shift from child-centered to adult-focused instruction; and an online discussion board. Although the pilot program set to launch this fall is customized for middle school math teachers and coaches, it will be expanded to include other content areas and grade levels, and it will eventually access the entire library of PBS online resources. Teachers Network www.teachnet.org With everything from Web-based mentors and professional development courses to streaming videos and podcasts demonstrating best practices, this site is a one-stop shop for new and experienced teachers alike. Mentoring in the 21st Century™ Resource Kit askeducation.com/Mentoring_Resource_Kit.htm This kit provides the tools schools and districts need to design and implement a comprehensive mentoring program. TeacherVision www.teachervision.com This K12 Web site includes over 12,000 pages of classroom-ready lesson plans and printable quizzes and worksheets as well as a wide variety of professional development resources that cover topics from survival tips for elementary school teachers to assessment strategies. The New Teacher Center www.newteachercenter.org Home of the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project, the New Teacher Center works with districts across the country to establish effective induction programs for the ﬁrst two years in practice, using a formative assessment model and providing professional development and support for new and mentor teachers. TeachersFirst www.teachersﬁrst.com Providing support to teachers of all experience levels, this Web site features podcasts of best practices, K12 lesson and unit plans, ideas for incorporating the latest technologies into the classroom, and links to other online resources. www.DistrictAdministration.com September 2007 51 http://hannahmeans.bizland.com http://www.teachers.net http://www.learnnc.org http://www.pbs.org/teacherline http://www.teachnet.org http://askeducation.com/Mentoring_Resource_Kit.htm http://www.teachervision.com http://www.newteachercenter.org http://www.teachersfirst.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of District Administration - September 2007

Cover Contents Editor’s Letter Letters News Update Curriculum Update Inside the Law District Profile Administrator Profile District Buying Power 2007 X-Factor Student Achievement Awards 2007 We've Got Mail Supporting New Teachers How Well Does This Web Site Work? New Products Problem Solution Computer Literature Research Corner Online Edge Supervisor’s Opinion Speaking Out Calendar of Events Understanding the Times

District Administration - September 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.