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 on Teacher Induction in San Francisco.
Their deepened understanding of how to build a good induction program and its positive effect on student learning helped them sort through quantities of information, like lists of what they considered essential, the areas of greatest need, and their most important learning. They came up with conclusions; a new statement of purpose, mission and vision for DCNTP; and four goals with action steps based on NTC’s Induction Program Standards:
- Principal engagement
- Support of program leaders
- Mentoring for equity
- Refinement of annual DCNTP survey
Andrew Briddell and Aloy Pien, DCNTP members of the National Teacher Induction Network (or NTIN, an NTC working group that meets twice a year), provided invaluable assistance at the retreat. Their work with Tom Howe on the annual DCNTP induction survey provided insight into induction success and areas of improvement for the consortium as a whole, and especially individual districts.
Three guests invited for a panel discussion, representing groups outside DCNTP that are highly invested in beginning teacher success, provided input on strategy directions as well. They were Kim Young, a first year teacher, Melissa Braaten, UW-Madison pre-service program faculty, and Jonathan Dunn, Co-Director of the Southeast Wisconsin New Teacher Project.