Tapping the Potential - Alliance for Excellent Education

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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 SMentors also praised induction as a way to improve their own teaching skills. Onementor explained that, “Being a mentor has kept me in touch with what’s new in thefield and has kept me fresh and motivated. I have been able to help the teachers that Iwork with, but they have also benefited me.” Sentiments like these are echoed throughoutteacher evaluations of the Tangipahoa FIRST program.SummarySome potential problems with induction exist in Louisiana. Parishes using onlyLaTAAP may have gaps in their activities, such as limited or no preservice training, littleor no ongoing professional development, or limited contact between novice andmentors, who may be too busy with their own responsibilities. Poor local leadershipcan mean that some teachers receive less support than others. And, while LaFIRSTgrants help start the funding and training of district staff—as they have inTangipahoa—the program does not provide funding commensurate with the costs ofinduction, and its principals do not receive training to lead the program.Overall, however, induction in Louisiana is quite strong. LaTAAP serves every newteacher, is linked to high-quality teaching standards, and supports teachers with welltrainedmentors. Tangipahoa FIRST provides new teachers with full-time mentors andcomprehensive preservice and ongoing training tailored to their needs, and modelseffective classroom teaching that they can then apply in theirFor more informationKaren EllisTangipahoa FIRST Program AdministratorC. M. Fagan Service Center4739 North Oak StreetHammond, LA 70401Phone: (985) 345-1584Mary Ann HarmonLouisiana Department of EducationPO Box 94064Baton Rouge, LA 70804Phone: (877) 453-272147
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 NToledo Public School District and the Toledo Federation of TeachersThe Toledo PlanAmy BachOverview and History of ProgramAdopted by the Toledo public school district in 1981 during contract negotiationswith the Toledo Federation of Teachers (TFT) union, the Toledo Plan is a cooperativeunion/management induction program focused on teacher mentoring and evaluation.Designed to improve teacher performance by outlining a set of four performancestandards (detailed below) to which all teachers are held, the Toledo Plan alsoestablishes a support system for teachers in order to ensure that they achieve thosestandards. The Toledo Plan focuses on improving teacher performance by pairingteachers with more experienced peers/mentors.Dal Lawrence, the president of the TFT union at the time the Toledo Plan wasadopted, developed the idea for a local induction program in 1969. The Toledo Planwas rooted in growing concern over the quality of teachers and the ability of teachertraining programs to adequately prepare students to become teachers. TFT membersoverwhelmingly voted in favor of the program. Many teachers believed this programwas a way to increased professionalism. By establishing and enforcing specific standards,teachers themselves—like other professionals—would ensure that all teachershave the skills necessary for quality teaching.However, the Toledo principals’ union rejected the Toledo Plan in contract negotiationsbecause principals were uncomfortable relinquishing the power to evaluatenew teachers. They also questioned the ability of teachers to evaluate other teachers.In the early 1980s, the principals’ union finally agreed to the program under one condition:that struggling veteran teachers also receive guidance from a mentor. Withagreement in place, the Toledo Plan was adopted by the district in 1981, becomingthe nation’s first peer review program.Because the Toledo Plan is a district-wide program, all first-year teachers andteachers who are teaching their first year in the Toledo public schools are requiredto participate. This part of the Toledo Plan is referred to as the intern component,and new teachers are called interns. Interns receive guidance from mentors, calledintern consultants. Struggling veteran teachers who are recommended for mentoringby their principal or their union building committee member are required toparticipate in the intervention component of the Toledo Plan. Unlike the interncomponent, which lasts two semesters, the intervention component has no set endingperiod. As long as the veteran teacher is making progress in the areas identifiedby the intern consultant, veteran teachers are mentored until they are deemedready to continue teaching without support, or they are deemed ill-suited for teachingand released from their contracts.Substitute teachers placed in long-term substitute positions in the district are alsoinducted. Long-term substitutes are not considered interns, so they are not evaluated,48
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