Liam Goldrick, Director of Policy  

 

 

With regard to beginning educators, NTC's preliminary findings suggest that more work must be done to ensure that new teachers receive the support and assistance they require. As the Colorado Department of Education's (CDE) own press release states: "Similar to 2011, it appears that the state's newest teachers are not necessarily receiving strong mentoring support that will help them get better, faster. About one-quarter (23 percent) of the 3,853 teachers in their first three years were not assigned a mentor in 2013." And that is despite a state law that requires that every beginning teacher be assigned a mentor. Even new teachers who were assigned one did not necessarily meet and work collaboratively to improve instructional practices. About three out of 10 new teachers assigned a mentor never worked with them to analyze student work (30 percent), review results of student assessments (28 percent), develop lesson plans (27 percent) or aligned those lessons with state or local curriculum (29 percent).

 

TELL Colorado, led by NTC, features an anonymous statewide survey of educators to assess teaching conditions at the school, district and state levels. The survey results are intended to support school and district improvement planning and to inform policy decisions. The results of the 2013 TELL Colorado survey were released on April 30th by the CDE. (Read the coverage in the Denver Post and EdNews Colorado.)

 

Our findings build on the conclusions of a comprehensive assessment of Colorado's induction policies, also conducted by NTC, that included an audit of existing district induction program plans, interviews with induction program leaders and educators, identification of research-based characteristics of a quality induction program and recommendations to improve state induction policies and strengthen program impact on teaching and learning. Our complete analysis and recommendations are described in our final report. 

 

To increase the effectiveness of Colorado induction programs and enhance the likelihood that such programs will accelerate the effectiveness of beginning educators, NTC recommends that Colorado take six actions:

1. Develop Statewide Induction Program Standards
2. Provide More Regular and Intensive Induction Program Oversight
3. Assess The Effectiveness and Impact of Induction Programs
4. Strengthen Requirements for Educator Induction Programs (including program duration, mentor quality and frequency of mentoring)
5. Provide Dedicated State Funding to Elevate Induction Program Quality and Enhance Mentor Capacity
6. Establish an Online Clearinghouse of Induction Best Practices and Key Program Tools

Colorado deserves tremendous credit for consistently collecting data on its teacher induction programs and for inviting critical analysis that exposes flaws in its state policy design and application. A disconnect between written policy and its implementation is not unique. Unlike Colorado, too few states are willing to look at such data and make informed changes in their policies as a result.

 

State policy has a critical role to play to ensure that new educators are assisted from the first day they walk into their school and classroom in a way that will bolster their morale, keep them in the profession, strengthen their teaching and leadership abilities, and accelerate their impact on student learning. The analysis we conducted for Colorado is rooted in our expertise in policy analysis and our organizational knowledge about high-impact induction and mentoring. Other states interested in improving supports for new educators as a critical component of an overall talent development strategy should email us at policy@newteachercenter.org.

NewSchools Venture Fund (NSVF) named NTC Organization of the Year at its 2013 Summit. NSVF provides this and other awards to recognize social innovators who are making a difference in the lives of students in underserved communities and changing the national conversation about the prospects of public education.

 

"The nation's newest educators are too often placed in the toughest classrooms that serve some of the most disadvantaged students, " explained Ellen Moir, NTC Founder and CEO. This award, she said, "represents further recognition of the importance of providing intensive support to the growing needs of new teachers in the U.S."

A vast majority of Tennessee teachers reported that they are happy with their job.  On April 30th, Governor Bill Haslam, Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman and other state leaders revealed the results of the second biannual Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Tennessee survey, administered by NTC. The results reflect the views of more then 61,000 educators across the state on working conditions in their schools, professional development and school culture. Of the educators surveyed, 68 percent reported they have enough time to meet the needs of all students, 83 percent agree they are supported by school leadership, and 84 percent said they want to continue teaching at their current school. Improvements have been made in most areas of the survey since its initial administration in 2011. State leaders want districts and schools to continue to use the data to improve teaching and learning conditions. All survey results, various tools to guide the use of the data, and media stories are available on the TELL Tennessee website.

For National Teacher Appreciation Day, Sam Holloway, a middle/senior high school biology teacher in Colorado, wrote an op-ed voicing his plea for time and support particularly for new teachers. Holloway, who is in his third year of teaching, explains that novice teachers need time and support to participate in professional development opportunities in order to improve and master the craft of teaching.   

A new study by Stanford University and World Bank researchers chronicles a pattern of inequitable teacher distribution in Miami-Dade County Public Schools - not just between schools, but within schools. In elementary, middle and high schools, less experienced teachers were assigned lower-achieving students. Researchers are concerned about the repercussions of this practice across the nation, including increased turnover of new teachers and larger within-school achievement gaps.

NTC Associate Director of Policy Dalia Zabala and NTC's New York City Director Thandi Center celebrated the recognition of Washington State science teacher Jeff Charbonneau as 2013 National Teacher of the Year at the White House on April 23, 2013.

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