Hired to Retired

Sharpening the purposes and processes of new teacher induction and orientation

Kildeer Countryside School District 96 in Illinois’ southern Lake County was a very good — some might say excellent — school district. In 2008-09, achievement levels in the 3,500-student K-8 school district were high, with 95 percent of the student body meeting or exceeding expectations on the 2008 Illinois State Achievement Test.

A shift to a professional learning community culture was at least partially responsible for the district’s steady improvement in student achievement during the previous six years. Since 2002, staff professional learning changed its focus from teaching to student learning, from teachers working in isolation to working on collaborative teams, and from teacher speculation about student performance to data analysis to find out for sure.

However, along with commendable student achievement, the 2008-09 school year also saw significant staff turnover. Due in large part to retirements (15 percent of the certified staff were retiring), as well as other reasons, 18 percent of the staff would be new to District 96 when school opened in the fall.

District leaders knew they had to find a way to orient the new teachers to the district’s professional learning communities and make the district a place where they might want to work for years to come.

Studies on mentoring and teacher support by researchers Thomas Smith and Richard Ingersoll found that new teacher turnover rates can be cut in half through comprehensive induction — a combination of high-quality mentoring, professional development and support, and scheduled interaction with other teachers in the school.

With this in mind, a team that included members of the curriculum, educational services and human resources offices set out to examine the district’s new teacher induction and orientation programs.

Identifying Purposes

As the members of the District 96 team began to discuss the new teacher induction program, they realized each person had a different understanding of its purpose. One team member said the primary purpose should be to ensure “staff know the logistics of working in the district, who to call when they need something.” Another suggested the goals ought to be “to retain good teachers and help them understand the complexities of being a teacher.”

To bring clarity, the team explored such questions as “How will we know that new teacher induction was successful?” and “What do new teachers need to know and be able to do to thrive in District 96?” As they answered these questions and studied the research, the team was able to develop explicit primary and secondary purposes of the teacher induction program.

The primary purposes define the overarching objectives of the induction program:

»to improve the capacity of the district to attract, induct and retain talented, enthusiastic and dedicated teachers; and

» to ensure all new staff are fully qualified, prepared and satisfied in their jobs so that all students can learn at optimum levels.

The secondary purposes inform the components of the program to ensure that the primary purposes are met:

» to communicate the mission, vision and values of the district;

» to provide staff with the knowledge and skills they need to fulfill the role of their job effectively;

» to build and foster relationships, community and trust; and

» to familiarize staff with the policies, procedures and expectations.

These secondary purposes guided the team in developing the new teacher orientation program to serve as new employees’ introduction to the district.

Orienting Newcomers

Most school districts run an orientation that typically brings new teachers together in a conference room for a day or two to learn about district policies and procedures.

Before the remodel, the district’s orientation had included three days of in-service activities focused on becoming a District 96 employee. Most of the time was spent discussing how to navigate health insurance and access e-mail, along with a lengthy bus tour of the 20-square-mile district. Although some instructional programs were referenced, little differentiation in the training was offered based on the role of the employee.

To more fully align with the specific purposes of the induction program, the school district modified the new teacher orientation in several ways. Notably, the program was extended to five days from three.

Each day includes a morning of instruction followed by afternoons enabling teachers to work with mentors and principals, plan lessons and prepare their classrooms. The week-long orientation includes:
» A daily focus on the district mission, vision, values, goals and professional learning community culture.

» Differentiated opportunities for staff to learn curriculum and program expectations related to their specific role. These include sessions for all teachers on instructional strategies to increase student engagement; opportunities for educational services staff (special education) to explore positive mindset and high expectations for all students; sessions on the instructional standards for math teachers; and writing strategies for all elementary teachers and for middle school language arts, science and social studies teachers.

» Opportunities for district administrators, building principals, board of education members and mentors to interact with new teachers during breakfast and lunch.

» One-on-one guidance from mentors regarding policies, procedures and expectations — a topic that in the past dominated new teacher orientation.

The new staff members are immersed in the PLC culture as administrators who lead the sessions model the use of clear learning targets to communicate what new staff are expected to know and be able to do. They use formative assessment to verify understanding of the concepts presented.

Once the school year begins, the program shifts from orientation to induction. New teachers attend monthly after-school meetings, frequently accompanied by their mentors. The topics range from direct instruction about curriculum to preparing for parent-teacher conferences. The monthly meetings also feature differentiated topics to meet the needs of each individual teacher.

At mid-year, the district administers a needs assessment to guide next steps in providing instruction for new staff.

Positive Outcomes

Continued high levels of student growth and achievement, as well as positive feedback from new staff, indicate that the district is fulfilling the purposes of its new teacher induction program. With the transition to the Common Core Standards and to the Partnership for Assessment Readiness for College and Careers assessment, student achievement re-mains high, with between 70 to 80 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations.

Consistently, the feedback from staff regarding new teacher orientation demonstrates they understand and can articulate the district culture. One new teacher shared how she felt after participating in this summer’s orientation: “Walking into new teacher orientation can make anyone nervous. The administration and mentors made us feel welcomed and a part of the District 96 family. Everyone made sure we understood what it meant to work in a PLC, and they even demonstrated PLC practices each day.”

The time the district spent clarifying and refining the purposes of new teacher induction and aligning the new teacher orientation program to those purposes has strengthened teacher practice and benefits the learning of all students in the district.