New Teacher Induction Program

Scott Greiner
Overview of Needs - Every year, Regent Park goes through a good
sized turnover.

for Regent Park - The turnover has been getting better. (After the
2015-2016 year, the school was at a 75%
turnover rate. Compare this to the recent end of
the school year where only about 20% of the
staff left.)
- These numbers are still alarming, but it is also
alarming at how the new teachers are not being
brought in at a level that sets them up for
success.
- Total staff at Regent Park is roughly 65
members. (32 classroom teachers, 18
paras/team teachers/academic specialists, then
the rest fall into office staff, behavior specialists,
social work, special education services,
leadership)
Issues that need to - Every year, National Heritage Academies sends
out a survey to get input from employees on

be addressed with their overall satisfaction with the school,

company, support, etc.

new teachers - Top Needs are always the following:

- Behavior support
- More support with struggling learners
- Trust
- If we did more to address these things when
teachers are hired in, then it would help boost
these scores.
- As well, the more confident teachers are, the
more willing they are to perform at a higher level
and push themselves to a higher level of
teaching.
- A new teacher program at Regent Park should
include:
- Addressing challenging behaviors
- Developing rigorous lessons to reach all learners
- Cultural sensitivity
- Developing relationships
Timeline Overview ●
●
August: Orientation and create buy in
September: Assign mentor, monthly meeting
with new teachers
● October: monthly meeting, out of school
observations
● November: monthly meeting, in school
observations, work with data
● December: monthly meeting, survey do look at
needs and successes
● January: monthly meeting, first half of the year
reflection
● February: monthly meeting, Understanding the
community PD
● March: monthly meeting, small group
observations
● April: monthly meeting, spring reflection
● May: monthly meeting, end of year analysis
● June: Engagement activity to celebrate year’s
growth and successes
First Quarter In the first quarter, teachers will gain a lot of new
information, begin a new school year, and will be

Timeline (August required to observe teachers in the building and out of

the building. Monthly meetings will be held with new

through November) teachers to allow time to share out with each other
growth opportunities they have had. As well, the
meetings will allow for the leadership team to meet
with the teachers to set new goals for the upcoming
month. Having monthly goals would be a priority for
these meetings.

August: Two days on behavior training and how to

manage resources to cope with difficult students; one
day spent on developing community understanding
(cultural sensitivity), one day spent on developing
relationships in the classroom, school, and community.

September - November meeting topics will be based

around feedback in monthly meetings.
Second Quarter The second quarter will be spent using first quarter
information to begin implementing things from

Timeline observations, to feedback from meetings, to goals, to

evaluations. During the second quarter, new teachers

(November through will be asked to complete a survey about their overall

experiences so far at the school. In January, teachers
January) will be asked to reflect on their first half of the school
year.

There is a whole school PD in February in which the

topics will address understanding the community in
which staff will take part in hands on learning
experiences about what the community goes through
on a daily basis with issues that range from poverty, to
being homeless, to working multiple jobs and
balancing having kids, to not being able to read or do
basic skills.
Third Quarter In the third quarter, new teachers will continue their
monthly meetings. The topics for these meetings will

(January to March) still be check-in and reflections. As well, the topics will
be determined prior to the meetings based off of
feedback and observational notes from
leadership/mentors.

Third quarter is also time to show what the teachers

have gained from their meetings and throughout the
program. The teachers started off with observing, but
in third quarter, they will be the ones to be observed by
a group of mentors and/or other teachers. These
observations will not impact evaluations, rather they
will be used for growth opportunities going into the end
of the year.
Fourth Quarter End of the year time for new teachers will consist of
many reflections. The end of March through May will

(March through be time for teachers to engage their students with the
new learnings they have required. Monthly meetings

June) will be smaller but still important to have. During these

months, teachers are preparing for testing. It is
important that mentors are checking in consistently to
ensure teachers are ready for testing.

Reflections during this quarter will allow teachers to

reflect on where they were and where they are now. As
well, the reflections will allow for teachers to create
Action Plans for the coming year and where they want
to head next.

The final thing, in June, is an engagement event to

celebrate the new staff for making it through their first
year, but it is also an event to celebrate the growth and
successes. The recognition will create buy-in and prep
for the following year.
Research to back According to American Association of State Colleges
and Universities (2006) “Far too often, what have been

new program called “induction” programs have been limited to one-

on-one mentoring designed to help teachers “survive”
their first year” (p. 1).

This program I have created will not be a sink or swim.

It is going to be an opportunity for new staff to engage
with a mentor, leadership, students from other classes,
and other colleagues. The program is centered around
the needs of the group of new teachers coming into the
school.

We want teachers to thrive in their first year, not just

“survive”.
 The NASSP (2004) published the following data looking at how
induction programs changed student success.
Research Figure 1. Teacher induction as a factor in student achievement
(continued) 1991–1992 Before Induction 2001–2002 After Induction

40% Regents diploma rate • 70% Regents diploma rate

• 80 students enrolled in • 120 students enrolled in

Advanced Placement classes with Advanced Placement classes with

50% achieving 3 or higher 73% achieving 3 or higher

When looking at this table, student achievement grew

substantially when induction programs are established
in schools. By implementing the above induction
program, Regent Park would see student achievement
grow due to the program helping boost teacher’s levels
at which they are performing and teaching.
Research According to the Ministry of Education in Ontario
(2010):

(continued) The NTIP consists of the following induction elements:

● orientation for all new teachers to the school and school board
● mentoring for new teachers by experienced teachers
● professional development and training in areas such as:
○ Literacy and Numeracy strategies, Student Success,
Safe Schools, and Politique d'aménagement
linguistique in French-language boards
○ Classroom management, effective parent
communication skills, and instructional strategies that
address the learning and culture of students with
special needs and other diverse learners.

When looking at the program I have developed, these topics

are met and discussed. Strategies will be utilized in
observations and monthly meetings, orientation is provided
in the beginning, mentors are established, and student
success is what drives the program.
Conclusion Overall, this New Teacher Induction Program will set
teachers up for success at Regent Park. The program
addresses teacher needs to set students up for
success.

As well, teachers are set up for success in areas that

prove to be difficult for new teachers at Regent Park.
Teachers are paired with a mentor, have collaborative
meetings monthly to discuss successes and needs,
and they are given strategies to help set them up for
success in the classroom, school, and community.

Developing this program will allow our teachers to be at

their best levels while also driving student achievement
to a higher level that is necessary to ensure that
students are high school ready and college bound.
 References

AASCU. (2006). Teacher induction program: trends and opportunities. Policy Matters 10(3), 1-4. Retrieved from

http://www.aascu.org/uploadedFiles/AASCU/Content/Root/PolicyAndAdvocacy/PolicyPublications/Tea

cherInduction.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). The new teacher induction program. Retrieved from

http://edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/induction.html

Wong, H. (2004). Induction programs that keep new teachers teaching and innovative. NASSP Bulletin 638(88),

41-58. Retrieved from http://www.newteacher.com/pdf/Bulletin0304Wong.pdf