PROGRAM OVERVIEW
As a beginning teacher in North Carolina, the ILT will participate in a three or four-year induction program designed by Elkin City Schools in compliance with North Carolina licensure guidelines. The program is designed to provide direction, support, and feedback during the first years in the classroom with a focus on the knowledge, skills, and dispositions associated with effective teaching. The program framework includes several initiatives:
Mentor Assignment: A mentor teacher will be assigned to each Initially Licensed Teacher in the summer or early in the school year. When possible, the mentor assignment will remain the same during the ILT experience. Lateral entry teachers may be given an additional year, at beginning of the Initial Licensure Program, with funding assumed by Elkin City Schools.
Orientation: The state provides funding for three additional workdays for a first year teacher’s orientation. The first year teacher’s mentor may work with the ILT to assist with learning the policies of the school, with setting up the classroom, and with preparing lesson plans during one of the orientation days. Part of one of the orientation days will be spent with the Initial Licensure Program Coordinator exploring the program and expectations for the first year. Lateral entry teachers will benefit from the three additional workdays each of the first two years.
Individualized Growth Plan (IGP): After assessing strengths and areas that need improvement, the beginning teacher, in collaboration with the mentor and the principal, or principal’s designee, will develop an Individualized Growth Plan. The plan must be focused on the INTASC Standards and include goals, strategies, and assessment of progress in improving professional skills.
Observations: The ILT will be observed at least three times by a qualified school administrator and at least once by a certified mentor teacher. Feedback will address components of the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) Standards and the Teacher Performance Appraisal Instrument – Revised. Positive feedback will recognize strengths, identify weaknesses, and recommend strategies for improvement.
Optimum Working Conditions: The State Board of Education has adopted the following guidelines for optimum working conditions for beginning teachers:
Assignment in the ILT licensure area
Limited number of preparations
Limited number of exceptional or difficult students
Initial Licensure Program Timetable
Pre-ILT- The Lateral Entry Teacher:
- is assigned a mentor
- is provided an orientation
- is introduced to the Initial Licensure Program
- gets familiar with the INTASC Standards and reflective practices
- develops an Individualized Growth Plan
- is observed at least four times culminating with a summative evaluation
- attends ILT/Mentor meetings
- completes the required coursework
- submits to required exams
retains a copy of the observation documentation, summative evaluation, IGP, professional development activities, and professional contribution activities
Year 1 – The Initially Licensed Teacher:
- is assigned a mentor
- is provided an orientation
- is introduced to the Initial Licensure Program
- gets familiar with the INTASC Standards and reflective practices
- develops an Individualized Growth Plan
- is observed at least four times culminating with a summative evaluation
- is informed about submitting the Interim Requirements
- attends ILT/Mentor meetings
- retains a copy of the observation documentation, summative evaluation, IGP, professional development activities, and professional contribution activities
Year 2 – The Initially Licensed Teacher:
- continues to have a mentor teacher
- continues to work with the INTASC Standards and reflective practices
- updates the Individualized Growth Plan
- is observed at least four times culminating with a summative evaluation
- attends ILT/Mentor meetings
- submits documentation for the Interim Requirements
- retains a copy of the observation documentation, summative evaluation, IGP, professional development activities, and professional contribution activities
Year 3 – The Initially Licensed Teacher:
- continues to have a mentor teacher
- continues to work with the INTASC Standards and reflective practices
- updates the Individualized Growth Plan
- is observed at least four times culminating with a summative evaluation attends ILT/Mentor meetings
PROGRAM MAINTENANCE
Education is one of the few professions where “the novice assumes the same job requirements that the 20-year veteran does, but on the first day of employment,” Huling, 1989). With this kind of career introduction, many new teachers feel isolated and unsupported. Current research data from North Carolina reflects that by the end of the fifth year, a third of beginning teachers have exited the profession (Konanc, 1996).
The rationale from The Excellent Schools Act (1997) behind this mandated support system is to provide beginning teachers a good foundation, consequently reducing the rate of teachers leaving the classroom. The mentor teacher is a key component in this support system needed to ease the transition of the new teacher from a survival (teacher-centered) focus to an instructional (student-centered) one.
Experienced teachers identified by the ILT Coordinator and principals are required to participate in Mentor Training in order to serve as a mentor. North Carolina funds a small stipend for mentors serving an ILT in year 1 and year 2 of the program. Elkin City Schools provides the funding necessary to extend the service an additional year for lateral entry teachers. Mentors serving an ILT in year 3 contribute to the profession without monetary compensation.