A primary goal of teacher education programs is to equip teacher candidates with the necessary skills to navigate the social and cultural realities and complexities of the classroom while seamlessly integrating theory and practice. As our classrooms become more socially, economically, and culturally diverse it is important for teachers to evolve…

This report summarizes implementation of the goals and some of the programs managed by the Professional Learning (PL) Department in the 2020-2021 academic year. The PL Department offers a comprehensive and sustainable approach to improving staff's effectiveness by ensuring that a variety of continuous and innovative PL opportunities, aligned to…

This Special Issues Brief from the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) outlines the unique characteristics of high-need schools, supports state and district leaders as they consider their role in implementing initiatives with a focus on equity, and explores how programs can be customized to meet the unique circumstances of a…

Teach For America (TFA), founded in 1989, has grown to become one of the largest providers of educators in the country for high-needs, under-resourced schools. TFA recruits high-performing college graduates and professionals and prepares them for teaching during five to seven weeks of intensive pre-service training at one of its regional or…

Teacher retention is of critical concern in rural and high-poverty districts. This case study describes one school’s challenges following the district's budget cuts that eliminated funding for schools' mentor programs. The mentor coordinator at this elementary school faces several dilemmas as she attempts to maintain high-quality support for the…

Major education reforms are shifting teaching and learning in schools across the nation. As a result, educators' need for key supports is more important today than ever. This shift is the result of three significant and simultaneous reform efforts, all of which are scheduled to be operational in the near future: (1) More rigorous Common Core State…

New teachers are often required to go through an induction program in order to become fully certified. Induction programs are varied and the overall picture regarding their implementation is uneven. The present paper addresses the gap between program policy and implementation regarding various aspects of the Israeli teacher induction program. Data…

A well-known authority on teacher induction programs offers the most comprehensive, up-to-date review of all recent research on the effectiveness of mentoring and induction support for new teachers. Michael Strong provides a revealing analysis of teacher induction programs and their consequences for education, teacher quality, teacher…

Background/Context: Although the induction literature has traditionally recommended separating assistance and assessment, there has been growing recognition that assessment is integral to promoting and gauging teacher quality. This has led to increased interest in approaches to new teacher induction that meld support, development, assessment and…

This summative evaluation examines a pilot program supporting beginning science and mathematics teachers through mentoring. It includes mentors' and mentees' expectations of the outcomes of participation in the program and their perceptions of the success of their mentoring relationships across the latter part of the 2008 school year. As well,…

The Houston (Texas) Independent School District's teacher induction program utilizes the services of both mentors and teacher scholars. The mentors provide a variety of support services for the inductees at the building level, focusing on the pedagogical, emotional, and social adjustment needs of the inductees. The mentors receive a total of 12…

Following two years of pilot projects, the Beginning Teacher Induction Program (BTIP) was implemented in all twelve anglephone school districts in New Brunswick (Canada) during the 1995-96 school year. The program is sponsored by the Province Department of Education with the support of the New Brunswick Teachers Association and the University of…

The mentoring of new teachers has proven to be an effective strategy in helping novice teachers succeed. This essay provides an overview of mentorship and suggests concrete, research-based techniques for implementing a mentorship program.

This article describes the Kentucky Teacher Internship Program, a year long supervised internship that provides support and assistance to all of Kentucky's first-year interdisciplinary early childhood educators by a team of resource teachers, principals, and teacher educators. Implementation challenges are discussed, as well as suggestions for…

The Mentor Teacher Internship Program (MTIP), a program designed to pair experienced mentor teachers with newly hired uncertified teachers, was evaluated for 1993-94. The purpose of the program is to provide non-evaluative and confidential collegial support for the interns, enabling them to develop effective teaching methods and encouraging them…