Tapping the Potential - Alliance for Excellent Education

TA P P I N G T H E P O T E N T I A L : R E TA I N I N G A N D D E V E L O P I N G H I G H - Q U A L I T Y N E W T E A C H E R SRecommendationsTherefore, the Alliance for ExcellentEducation recommends that the U.S.Congress provide new funding to ensurethat every new teacher in our nation’shighest-need schools receives comprehensiveinduction. These teachers are most atrisk of leaving the profession, with a rate ofattrition almost 50 percent higher thanteachers in wealthier schools.Furthermore, the Alliance urgesCongress in its reauthorization of theHigher Education Act (HEA) to amendTitle II of the law to make comprehensiveinduction a required activity forpartnership grants.The Alliance also recommends thatstates and districts use funds from Title IIof the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act (ESEA), now the No ChildLeft Behind Act, to provide comprehensiveinduction to every beginning teacher duringat least their first two years of teaching.Educators and policymakers alike shoulduse this report’s quality criteria to defineand evaluate comprehensive induction.While federal legislators should notmandate the structure or program designof comprehensive induction, they can andshould require states and districts whoreceive Title II money to provide the qualitycomponents of induction. In addition,federal policymakers should require states,districts, and partnerships to evaluate theimpact of their induction programs.If America is to attract, retain, and fullydevelop our teaching force into high-qualityprofessionals who teach every child tohigh standards, then we must make comprehensiveinduction a priority for everyteacher in every school.If America is to attract,retain, and fully developour teaching force intohigh-quality professionalswho teach every child tohigh standards, then wemust make comprehensiveinduction a priority forevery teacher in everyschool.29