Assessing New Educators Needs

I developed a ticket-out for our NESS support meetings.

• I first ask the NE to write and tell me one thing that is going well for them.
• Next I ask them to tell me what they need in order to best meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.
• Last, I ask them what would be a helpful topic for the next meeting, as well as providing a list of possible choices.

This ticket out serves as another way to prevent needs from falling through the cracks and empowers the NE.

Source: Melissa, Liberty Elementary

Guidelines for Learning Communities

With new guidelines for learning communities, one way to meet criteria is to have a "follow-up" time at each monthly meeting to chat about how suggestions from the prior meeting were implemented in the NE's classroom. Also, coaches can keep an informal log and follow up as well with how new ideas are being implemented in the NE's room. This also helps with aligning learning communities with the teacher real work in the classroom and it helps with accountability, encouraging regular on-going contact between coaches and new educators.
Source: Laura, Blanche Foreman Elementary

Site-Based Professional Development

Build on Strength
Your department/grade chairs and the most willing and able teachers should be trained first. Often they become co-trainers and coaches that help transfer the new learning to the classroom. In addition, their success and enthusiasm could encourage the more hesitant colleagues to say, "Well, if it can help them, I guess it can help me too." While well intentioned, the decision to train the most needy teachers first reduces faculty buy-in by stigmatizing training as remedial and not part of a natural career long professional development process.

Make Training Voluntary
Changing habits of teaching requires that teachers focus on new ways of doing things as they begin each day or class period. Teachers must want to change. Sharing data, encouraging professionalism, and showing respect is more effective in creating a critical mass of success than mandating that teachers participate. Once training becomes mandatory it is impossible to determine which teacher are really committed to improving their practice.

Diversify Training
One of the hardest things for an administrator to do once an excellent program demonstrates its merit is to slow down. "Let's train everyone on the faculty" can prevent the systematic process of training that permits a program to gain strength as people discover its value. Another challenge for administrators is developing a differentiated, systematic approach for training your faculty that will provide immediate results as well as long-term sustainability.

For more information on developing an effective site-based professional development system please contact Deborah Porter at 754-321-3521