An extensive body of knowledge is showing that the links between how teachers think and feel about themselves affects their performance. One coordinator of a new teacher program, comprised of teachers from preschool to high school, asks her new teachers to reflect by writing biography poetry. The coordinator used the poem framework at the…

The study described in this paper was conducted to examine mentoring from the mentor teachers' perspective and describe what it means to be a teacher leader in a profession long characterized as egalitarian. Three paths are followed in an effort to understand the mentor's perspective: (1) the current vacuum in instructional leadership; (2) the…

Intended to help beginning vocational teachers make a smooth transition into the field of teaching, this document contains five guides that give a complete set of instructions for implementing, operating, and evaluating a comprehensive Professional Development Program for Beginning Vocational Teachers. The guides follow an introduction and…

More Ph.D. mathematicians are going into teaching positions with relatively little training or experience in college teaching. This document reports on a project in which Ph.D. mathematicians were given teaching internships at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, in order to develop teaching skills, promote research activity, facilitate…

The Mentor Teacher Internship Program (M.T.I.P.) represents, a collaboration between the Board of Education of the City of New York and the United Federation of Teachers. The program establishes a relationship between an experienced mentor teacher and a newly hired uncertified teacher. This report evaluates the 1992-93 M.T.I.P., discusses the…

A study examined how novice instructors become professional writing teachers. Subjects, 7 men and 13 women each teaching 1 section of regular freshman composition and 1 developmental writing class, participated in a weekly seminar designed to provide a "comfort zone" to which they could bring their questions about teaching and discuss…

The purpose of this bill is to: (1) improve teacher recruitment by identifying, supporting, and recruiting prospective teachers from junior high school through graduate school with incentives and financial support aimed at attracting highly qualified individuals; (2) encourage access to the teaching profession for people currently in other…

The purpose of this handbook is to acquaint Indiana secondary vocational teachers with the Professional Development Plan (PDP), which is intended to assist in the development of individual teaching and technical skills and is a requirement for license renewal. It includes a discussion of the features of the occupational specialist certificate; an…

A needs-based developmental induction program for beginning teachers should concentrate not only on orientation and development of individual strengths, but also on the situational/contextual personal and professional concerns of first-year teachers. The successful program tries to identify and meet the instructional and noninstructional…

Much of education policy focuses on improving teacher quality, but most policies lack strong research support. We use student achievement gains to estimate teacher value-added, our measure of teacher quality. The analysis reveals substantial variation in the quality of instruction, most of which occurs within rather than between schools. Although…

In this comprehensive manual, author Peter Gow helps schools become communities where teachers are nurtured "from raw recruits into seasoned, effective, and even beloved professionals." Peter Gow, academic dean at Beaver Country Day School (MA), lays out a step-by-step approach to building and keeping a strong faculty, a school's greatest asset.…

Key findings from the first Interim Report are highlighted in this executive summary, evaluating the extent to which the Partnership Program has improved teacher quality. The ultimate goal of the program is to improve student achievement by increasing the quality of teachers. Data were collected during the years 2001-2003, addressing the first 2…

This mentor-mentee handbook is designed primarily for mentors working with faculty new to teaching in higher education. It describes mentoring as guiding someone through a developmental process. The author discusses the roles and functions of the mentor, pointing out that the mentor's goal should be to help the beginning faculty member develop and…

This paper describes a study of one middle school's experiences with a co-mentoring program for beginning teachers. The project involved teaming to develop a unit on tolerance in order to deal with racial tension among students. The team created a student learning week in which students would reflect upon their own cultural beliefs and views and…

State-level policy support for teacher induction programs can help teachers realize their full potential, keep them in the profession, promote greater student learning, and save money. Higher education institutions and school districts must work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs. This issue of "Policy Matters,"…