Summer 2014

On the Path to Equity

By Dalia Zabala (Associate Director of Policy), Liam Goldrick (Director of Policy) and Ann Maddock (Senior Policy Advisor)

While teacher induction has been rightly

framed as an educator effectiveness

strategy, we must not lose sight of the research evidence that establishes induction as a teacher retention strategy as well. But while attending to the learning needs of new teachers, we also must ensure that we build the capacity of school principals to cultivate conditions in schools that enable all teachers to collaborate with colleagues and maximize their professional potential.

With these goals in mind, New Teacher Center (NTC) was pleased to continue our partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education this past month. On July 17, 2014, the Alliance released a new report, On The Path To Equity: Improving The Effectiveness of Beginning Teachers, highlighting our work.

High teacher attrition costs the nation as much as $2.2 billion per year, as estimated by Richard Ingersoll, professor of education and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Ingersoll estimates that teacher attrition costs ranged from $2 million in states like Delaware and Vermont, to $235 million in Texas.

This turnover is a growing concern considering the "greening" of the teaching profession. Ingersoll explains that in 1987-88, the most common level of teaching experience among teachers was 15 years; in 2008, the most typical teacher was in his or her first year of teaching. As stated in the report, this high turnover disproportionately impacts students of color and students in high-poverty schools. In fact, high-poverty schools suffer teacher turnover rates nearly 50 percent higher than in more affluent schools.

The Alliance worked with NTC and Dr. Ingersoll to highlight the issue of teacher attrition and present solutions. To address the issue, the report recommends comprehensive induction support comprised of: high-quality mentoring with rigorous mentor selection; common planning time for regular scheduled interaction with other teachers; participation in seminars and intense professional development; and ongoing communication and support from school leaders. Yet less than half of beginning teachers receive mentoring from an experienced teacher in their field or have planning time with other beginning teachers. Furthermore, teachers in poor and high-minority schools are less likely to receive induction support and those who have a mentor are less likely to focus on issues of classroom instruction. There is state-by-state variance in part due to differing and nonexistent policy requirements as documented in NTC's Review of State Policies on Teacher Induction (currently being updated based on legislative and policy changes through 2014).

The report highlights NTC's evidence-based induction model for beginning teachers that increases teacher retention, accelerates classroom effectiveness, and advances student learning. NTC's comprehensive teacher mentoring program includes: multi-year assistance for at least two years; carefully selected, well-prepared, and systematically supported mentors; ongoing formative assessment of teachers' practices to guide learning experiences and professional goal setting; sanctioned time for targeted professional development and to collaborate, observe practice, and analyze student data; engaged principals; shared program leadership; and strong alignment with other district goals that support teacher learning.

Supportive teaching and learning conditions are needed to promote the learning and ongoing development of teachers-and ultimately their effectiveness in the classroom. To this end, the report highlights NTC's Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning (TELL) Survey. NTC has worked with states and districts to survey more than 1.2 million teachers since 2007. The survey captures data regarding: time, facilities and resources, professional development, school leadership, teacher leadership, instructional practices and support, managing student conduct, community support and involvement, and new teacher support. States that have recently administered the survey statewide include: Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont. For each of these states, survey results are available online and broken down by district and school when response rates exceed 50 percent.

State policymakers in TELL states have used survey results to improve teaching and learning conditions in various ways including: the development and adoption of state teaching conditions standards; informing principal evaluation and principal professional learning; integrating survey data into the design and evaluation of school and district improvement plans; evaluating new teacher support; and developing assistance for persistently low-performing schools.

At the report release event in Washington DC, NTC CEO and Founder Ellen Moir suggested that states should:

Require comprehensive induction programs for new teachers following entry-level licensure, extending for a minimum of two years; and
Embed analysis and improvement of teaching and learning conditions in school improvement processes at the state, district, and school levels.

Moir also shared her perspective in a Huffington Post blog post, "Fixing The Leaky Bucket: Teacher Recruitment or Retention?"

The release event and the related webinar can both be viewed online.

Here is selected news coverage of the report as well:

Half Of Teachers Leave The Job After Five Years. Here's What To Do About It - Hechinger Report

Keeping teachers in the classroom - NPR, Marketplace

NTC News

Chicago NTC Featured in The Joyce Foundation's Annual Report

The Joyce Foundation has supported NTC's policy and program work in the Midwest since 2005. Its 2013 Annual Report includes a series of videos, one of which features Althea Hammond, a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) principal, who talks about teachers' need for professional development and practice in a safe place. As a principal, she strives to be an instructional leader working in partnership with mentors to support beginning teachers. The NTC has partnered with CPS on new teacher induction since 2006 and our work now is integrated into CPS's professional learning strategy, a comprehensive approach to developing and supporting educators.

Policy News

Recommended Improvements to Colorado Induction Policies

The Colorado Legislature may consider a major revision of the state's educator licensing law next year. In 2013 a stakeholder working group developed recommendations to inform an overhaul to the state's 1991 Educator Licensing Act, which includes requirements for new teacher support. NTC's report to the Colorado Department of Education informed the group's recommendations on teacher induction, including:

Updating current statewide standards for teacher induction based on components that is most effective and meaningful for educator improvement.
Establish dedicated state funding to elevate early career support quality and enhance mentor capacity.
Establish an online clearinghouse of early career support best practices across the state, with special attention paid to facilitating successful models for the state's rural districts and consortia programs.
Conduct a survey of first- and second-year teachers on the quality of support provided to them.

If you'd like to speak with the NTC policy team about your state's teaching policies, please call us at 831.600.2200 or email us at policy@newteachercenter.org.

Good Reads

Creating Cost-Effective PD

The District Management Council recently released Improving The Cost-Effectiveness of Professional Development: Reducing Expenses while Increasing Impact. The report argues that when education leaders are presented with how much is actually spent on teacher professional development, they become motivated to make better use of those resources. It outlines various things that must be considered to fully assess the true cost of professional development, including teacher time, external PD fees, travel, food, and lodging. The effectiveness of professional development, the report suggests, is determined by changing teacher behavior and student learning gains. The report provides recommendations for managing teacher learning more strategically and outlines lessons learned from the field including the use of coaching as a cost-effective alternative. It also recommends deeper investments in new teachers.

Fleeing the Profession

A recent blog item on the Education Writers Association website, highlights some of the reasons new teachers leave the profession and outlines the Phases of First-Year of Teaching (anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, and reflection) developed by NTC's Ellen Moir. Teachers leave the classroom, the blog explains, in part due to the lack of meaningful induction assistance. NTC knows that such support, particularly in the first years in the classroom, is crucial not only for teacher retention but also for helping beginning teachers to quickly master critical instructional strategies that will help all students learn.

International Perspective on Teaching and Learning

The OECD recently released the results of the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) that asks teachers and school leaders about the conditions that contribute to learning in their schools. Survey results revealed various noteworthy trends including the lack of meaningful feedback that positively influences teachers' instructional practices. The data also revealed that teacher participation in formal induction at the start of their teaching career predicts their participation in professional learning years later. Teachers who participated in formal induction are more likely to serve as mentors later in their careers. Yet, while most principals report that induction is available for all beginning teachers, less than half of teachers report having participated.

See other summaries and commentaries on the TALIS data here, here, and here.

Professional Needs of the Principal

In an article published by the Center for American Progress, Jenny DeMonte and Kaitlin Pennington discuss the changing role of the school principal from that of an administrator to that of an instructional leader. In a recent survey, they explain, 69 percent of principals reported that their responsibilities have changed in the past five years and 75 percent reported their job has become too complex. According the data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, most principals continue to obtain professional training through participation in workshops. Only 52 percent of principals report participating in job-embedded mentoring and coaching.

Also see the CAP report: The Changing Role of the Principal.

NTC Policy News is a monthly publication by the New Teacher Center. It is produced with funding support from the Joyce Foundation. Based in Chicago, Illinois, the Joyce Foundation invests in initiatives to improve public education and works to close the achievement gap by improving the quality of teachers in schools that serve low-income and minority children.