The Toolkit
contains standards, guidelines, tools, and resources to help
districts implement and/or develop a district
Induction-with-Mentoring program designed to provide support
services to new teachers. Ideally, support services would be
provided to all educators (not just teachers) who are new to
the profession, district, building, or grade level and be provided
to educators during the first three years in which they are transitioning
into the profession. In addition, it is recommended that such
services be coordinated at the district level. However, we realize
that districts just beginning a program may have to work toward
these goals. Furthermore, because most research and resources
focus on teacher induction and mentoring, this Toolkit’s
primary focus is on teachers.
It is important to note that the Toolkit is not
a program but a resource for districts to use when designing
a new program or developing a program that is currently in existence
in a school or district. Finally, this Toolkit is a work-in-progress,
and we will continue to update it as more resources become available
and as we gain feedback from districts on its usefulness, so
watch for future revisions, noted by the date on the header and
footer of each Toolkit section. |
This Toolkit
grew out of a New Hampshire Symposium on Attracting and Retaining
Quality Educators, initiated in October 2000 (Read the symposium
report Part
1 and Part
2.) The Symposium identified several priorities to be addressed
by the State Board of Education (Read the Action
Plan). One of these priorities was to investigate and make
recommendations regarding mentoring for beginning educators.
Accordingly, the State Board authorized
the New Hampshire Department of Education to create a Mentoring
Task Force, whose charge was two-fold: (1) Develop recommendations
to the State Board on how the State could best support the development
of induction-with-mentoring services in New Hampshire schools;
and (2) Develop standards and guidelines for induction-with-mentoring.
The Task Force worked for six months and presented its recommendations
and a beginning draft of the Toolkit to a group of reviewers
and finally to the State Board in August 2002 (Read a copy
of the Report).
Developing a final draft of the Toolkit proved
to be more than a volunteer task force could accomplish in a
short time period. However, some members of the Task Force expressed
an interest in continuing the work, which was supported by a
Best Schools grant for another year. Even after the Best Schools
funding ended, the team was intent on finishing the Toolkit,
which speaks to the unwavering commitment of its members to develop
a tool designed to help districts support new educators. |
As part
of the federally funded Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant recently
awarded to the New Hampshire Department of Education, the four
Local Education Support Centers have been invited to submit
proposals to work with a district or consortia of districts serviced by
the center to help establish and/or develop an induction-with-mentoring
program. The primary purpose of these projects is to develop
and implement a consistent system of quality Induction-with-Mentoring
and ongoing professional development that will support new teacher’s
practice and improve teacher longevity in the profession.
Districts that may participate are those considered
high need, which means the district did not make Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP), according to the New Hampshire definition of
AYP for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and they contain a school
with at least 16% of its students eligible for free and reduced
priced meals, as defined by the USDA School Lunch Program. Interested
districts should contact their Local Educational Support Center
via email (links below) or phone for more information:
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