Tapping the Potential - Alliance for Excellent Education

A L L I A N C E F O R E X C E L L E N T E D U C AT I O NTangipahoa Parish, LouisianaTangipahoa Framework for Induction, Retaining, and SupportingTeachersJohn WeathersOverview and History of ProgramTwo statewide programs administered by the Louisiana Department of Educationprovide a systematic approach to supporting and developing new teachers: theLouisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LaTAAP), and the LouisianaFramework for Inducting, Retaining, and Supporting Teachers (LaFIRST). The componentsof LaTAAP are broad, and they provide much of the assistance new teachersneed. But LaTAAP does not provide everything they need. In an attempt to fill in someof the gaps, the state provides funding, training, and guidance through LaFIRST forlocal parishes (districts) to develop their own induction programs. One rural Louisianaparish, Tangipahoa, fills these gaps particularly well. Tangipahoa successfully combinesstate and local programs to retain new teachers and ensure their competence.From its inception in 1994, LaTAAP has required both mentor support and assessmentfor new teachers. In its current form, all new teachers must participate inLaTAAP. An experienced and state-trained mentor teacher from the same school, whoteaches in a similar subject area and grade level, provides two years of mentoring.Mentors facilitate observations and give critical feedback. They also help teachers createa professional development plan to improve their skills in order to meet stateteaching standards—the Components of Effective Teaching. In the second year ofLaTAAP, teachers undergo formal observations and submit portfolios of their work tobe assessed by their principal and an external assessor.LaFIRST began in 2001 and is derived from the highly praised LaFourche Parishinduction model. LaFIRST provides local parishes additional training, guidance, andfinancial support to assist in the development of new teachers. One of its primary toolshas been a summer institute to prepare volunteer teams of mentors and mentor trainersfrom all parishes in how to develop preservice induction training and provide follow-upsupport for new teachers. 108 Through a mini-grant program, LaFIRST has alsoprovided forty-two of sixty-six parishes with financial assistance to implement theinduction practices that the state outlines as best practice.LaFIRST activities are voluntary, and the mini-grants do not always cover the costs oflocal programs. This leaves individual parishes to develop and fund a more comprehensiveapproach to induction. LaFIRST trainings and seed money have helped toinspire a number of districts develop their own support and training for new teachers.Tangipahoa Parish is one school district that has successfully taken on this challenge,despite the typical barriers that come with being a low-income rural district.The new teacher support and development provided through Tangipahoa FIRSTaugments but does not replace LaTAAP. Building on the LaFIRST model, it includes:four highly structured days of induction during the summer, focused on the first days42