Supporting New Educators of Color
Dan Eckhardt | August 21, 2022
We welcome you! We’re glad you’re here! Partners for Racial Inclusion: Supporting New Educators Of Color 2021-22 Partners for Racial Inclusion, left to right: Jay Garvey Shah, Marisa Flowers, Sarada Weber, Antonio Hoye …..
Read moreJoin us for these upcoming Spring Workshops
Dan Eckhardt | February 14, 2022
Designing and Presenting Professional Learning May 5, 2022 8:00 am – 3:00 pm (Breakfast 7:30 am – 8:00 am) Location: LGA inside Heritage Elementary School, 501 South Street, Waunakee 53597 Cost: $50 for DCNTP Members and $75 for Non…..
Read moreJoin us for Designing and Presenting Virtual and Face-to-Face Professional Development
Dan Eckhardt | July 2, 2020
This workshop is useful to anyone who presents professional development, including teachers, instructional coaches, mentors, school and district leaders. Participants will explore the fundamental principles of adult learning theory and the strategies that support adult learners to grow in their…..
Read moreAll DCNTP Programming for the 2020-2021 School Year will be held Virtually
Dan Eckhardt | June 30, 2020
After careful consultation and deliberation, we have decided all programming will be virtual for the coming year. This change prioritizes safety and equitable access to high-quality professional learning during the uncertain days ahead. Please see the full printable calendar of events below……
Read moreAll DCNTP events will continue as originally planned but will be delivered in a Virtual Learning Environment.
Dan Eckhardt | March 17, 2020
Your critical work to support, coordinate, and serve your colleagues and communities is admirable, especially during this urgent time for which there is no precedent. As we all learn to maintain human contact while remaining physically distant, new teachers…..
Read moreUpcoming 2019-2020 Workshops
Dan Eckhardt | October 9, 2019
Mentors Year One PLS-3 Observing and Giving Feedback, Nov 12-13, 2019 PLS-4 Assessing Growth and Deepening Practice, Jan 28-29, 2020 Instructional Coaches Year One IC-3 Effective Instructional Coaching Cycles, Nov 19-20, 2019 IC-4 Supporting…..
Read moreRegister Now for Summer 2019 Workshops
Dan Eckhardt | June 4, 2019
School Leaders, Mentors, and Coaches: a partnership for school success, Intended for Principals and School Administrators Dates: July 29, 2019 PLS-5 Creating Conditions for Equitable Instruction For Coaches and Mentors Dates: July 31-Aug 1, 2019 Location: Monona Grove School District…..
Read moreInduction is Everyone’s Responsibility
Dan Eckhardt | April 10, 2019
New Teacher Center Teacher Induction Program Standards The first two to three years of a teacher’s career (induction) is an important and unique phase of teacher development An induction program should be part of a larger system of teacher…..
Read moreStudent learning increased by up to five months with NTC induction model
Shirley Smith | September 18, 2017
Released June, 2017 Students gain up to five months of additional learning when new teachers receive high-quality mentoring New Teacher Center’s Induction Model Proven to Increase Student Achievement, According to New U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) Results…..
Read moreKristin Murcott and the value of being mentored
Shirley Smith | May 16, 2017
You might think visiting the second-grade classroom of a second-year teacher in the middle of a science lesson—at the end of the day near the end of the school year, no less—would be a bit chaotic. But if you’re talking…..
Read moreMentoring transformed Marc Heuer’s teaching practice
Shirley Smith | May 2, 2017
“Do you like helping Mr. Heuer with things like greeting visitors?” I asked the student who met me at the office of McFarland’s Indian Mound Middle School. Smiling to herself, she leaped into one big skip. “I love Mr. Heuer,”…..
Read morePresentations from Symposium 2017 at District Council April 24
Shirley Smith | April 4, 2017
Come to District Council on April 24 and learn from colleagues who attended NTC’s Induction Symposium. They’ll present specific tools, protocols, ideas or processes, and we’ll reflect on their application in our districts. (2:00 – 4:00 pm, Monona Grove District Office, 5301…..
Read moreDescription of New Teacher Center PLS for Mentors and Instructional Coaches
Shirley Smith | January 3, 2017
The Professional Learning Series (PLS) for mentors and coaches differs in stance and language use, but content is nearly identical. PLS 1: Instructional Mentoring (Instructional Coaching 1: Formative Assessment). Employ the roles, language, and stances of effective instructional mentoring; build collaborative,…..
Read moreProfessional development makes a difference…if it’s good
Shirley Smith | November 18, 2016
One-off, disjointed professional development programs do very little to improve teaching practice. Teachers agree that a successful program means not only learning through seminars or one-on-one coaching, but also demonstrating these learnings to their coaches, practice, and receiving feedback with follow-up. This blog…..
Read moreScholarships available for Symposium 2017
Shirley Smith | October 5, 2016
Apply for a scholarship to the 2017 New Teach Center Induction Symposium, February 12-14, to be held in San Francisco. DCNTP is offering two scholarships, which include airfare, hotel, and the symposium fee. The deadline is November 1, and winners will…..
Read moreStudent Learning Improves with NTC Supported Teachers
Shirley Smith | August 18, 2016
New I-3 Research Shows Student Achievement Gains Continue with NTC Support Third party research results help the New Teacher Center understand what’s working — and what’s not — to improve student learning, teacher retention and teacher effectiveness.
Read moreA Madison Mentor’s Blog: Excellence with Equity
Shirley Smith | April 25, 2016
Nichole VonHaden, a full-release Madison Metropolitan School District mentor, writes a blog about supporting beginning teachers’ success with MMSD’s core value “excellence with equity.” Her blog appears on the website Teaching Tolerance: a Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Read morePresentations from Symposium 2016 at District Council on April 18
Shirley Smith | March 17, 2016
Bring a team of three to five people to District Council on April 18 to hear the latest thinking from national experts on induction-related topics like improving student achievement, empowering teachers, and shifting the focus of classroom management to ownership. Symposium attendees will…..
Read more2014-15 Annual Report
Shirley Smith | January 8, 2016
For a great overview of the Dane County New Teacher Project, read our Annual Report 2014-15. It’s organized around our purpose, and is a good resource for member districts to use when explaining what their induction programs require to be successful,…..
Read moreMentoring Toward Equity
Shirley Smith | October 21, 2015
A mentor writes about techniques to help new teachers see pathways of success for all of their students in this thoughtful blog post from the Teaching Tolerance website.
Read moreFirst Aid in Your First Month
Shirley Smith | October 6, 2015
Immediate help for beginning teachers to improve their teaching practice was the focus of the first of six seminars scheduled for this year, starting on October 1. Teachers from nine school districts sat at tables with colleagues in similar grade levels, taking turns with a partner to…..
Read moreScholarships available for Symposium 2016
Shirley Smith | September 28, 2015
Apply for a scholarship to the New Teach Center Induction Symposium, February 21-23, 2016, to be held in Bellevue, Washington. DCNTP is offering three scholarships, which include airfare, hotel, and the symposium fee. The deadline is November 1, and winners will…..
Read more“Everyone struggles; mentors can help”
Shirley Smith | July 1, 2015
Ingrid Rodenbeck is very good at her job as a program support teacher and mentor for special education at Thoreau and Falk elementary schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD). She knows there’s always more to learn, but says…..
Read moreResults of strategic planning meeting, May 28-29, 2015
Shirley Smith | June 17, 2015
DCNTP board members came especially prepared and willing to tackle making a plan for the next few years at the two-day strategic planning retreat in May (agenda here). That’s because all seven of them attended the 2015 New Teacher Center (NTC) Symposium…..
Read moreTen reasons to have a high-quality induction program
Shirley Smith | May 21, 2015
From the New Teacher Center during Teacher Appreciation Week: Ten reasons to have a high-quality induction program
Read morePresentation Skills Workshop
Shirley Smith | March 19, 2015
About 20 DCNTP mentors polished their presenting skills with the workshop “Designing and Presenting Professional Development for Beginning Teachers” on March 11 and 12, presented at the Wisconsin Center for Music Education in Waunakee. Tom Howe of the DCNTP and…..
Read moreA snowy night for PDP Part One
Shirley Smith | January 21, 2015
Despite the cold and snowy weather, nearly half of the 92 beginning teachers who registered for the January 8, 2015 seminar on the PDP (professional development plan) braved the miserable conditions to attend. Teresa Voss and Jen Murphy, both of Verona Area School District,…..
Read moreDistrict Council induction program success and tools at December 8, 2014 meeting
Shirley Smith | January 20, 2015
The room starts to hum at District Council when representatives from districts with similar mentor models meet in small group discussion. Madison staff, in their first year of a full release mentor program, were excited to hear about the advantages of using…..
Read moreNTC events build individual, district, and DCNTP success
Shirley Smith | January 16, 2015
“Between now and 2020, 1.5 million new teachers will be hired. In five years!”* Barb Sramek of Marshall shook her head at this statistic as she and other DCNTP board members began evaluating scholarship applications for the New Teacher Center Symposium…..
Read more“You are change agents for equity”
Shirley Smith | December 8, 2014
During Day 2 of “Using Data to Inform Instruction,” participants were reminded of a powerful aspect of their role: commitment to mentoring and coaching means becoming a change agent for equity. At the New Teacher Center workshop held December 2-3, Marc Heuer, Tom Howe,…..
Read moreSnapshots from “Assessing Student Learning,” November 6
Shirley Smith | November 13, 2014
How do you know if, and what, your students are learning? The beginning teacher seminar in Fitchburg on November 6 focused on techniques to assess student learning, including determining the difference between summative and formative assessment. 80 beginning teachers were present. …..
Read moreGroup smarts at the DCNTP Board meeting October 28
Shirley Smith | November 12, 2014
“Some groups are smarter than others,” “Selecting a smart team,” and “How do you raise a group’s IQ?” are a few topics the DCNTP Board explored when they met on October 28. It turns out that the key to all of the above is…..
Read moreApply for a Scholarship to the NTC Symposium in San Francisco
Shirley Smith | November 10, 2014
The DCNTP is offering two scholarships to the NTC National Symposium on Teacher Induction, February 22-24, in San Francisco. If you are a teacher leader, mentor, principal or district administrator, download the application and information sheet and apply by Friday,…..
Read moreAs a mentor, you’ve seen this…
Shirley Smith | November 4, 2014
Take a few minutes to click through the current issue of eReflections from the New Teacher Center. Whether you are or are not familiar with Ellen Moir’s article about the phases new teachers go through, reading it will affirm your work as a mentor……
Read moreGet more support for your induction program
Shirley Smith | October 29, 2014
At the District Council meeting on September 29, Tracy Deavers of the Edgerton School District said she had a wake-up call after shared discussion with other districts about where their program stood on the continuum of high quality mentoring and induction……
Read more2014 Evaluation Survey Results
Shirley Smith | October 28, 2014
Click here for complete data from the DCNTP spring 2014 member program evaluation survey
Read moreFixing the Leaky Bucket: Teacher Recruitment or Retention
Mitchell | October 2, 2012
August 1, 2014–Ellen Moir, founder and CEO of the New Teacher Center, in the Huffington Post / Fixing the Leaky Bucket: Teacher Recruitment or Retention?
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