She spoke about what makes a good teacher. She said that it is really demanding and spoke about all the things that teaching includes that make it a highly complex activity. She said new teachers need a lot of help, so they offer a New Teacher Induction program where beginning teachers learn about the profession of teaching.
In California, the NTI program is a formal program lasting two years, a requirement in the state since 1998. It helps to retain highly qualified teachers. The New Teacher’s Center, right here in Santa Cruz, goes about nationally and internationally to develop NTI programs.
In 2012 state funding was lost but was revamped in 2017 basing the new state model on us! Between Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley about 800 teachers are served.
The core values are equity, collaboration, positive presupposition, reflective dialogue, responsiveness, and inquiry stance. Good teachers are reflective, persistent and curious. The program includes mentoring (observing and feedback as well as advice for practice improvement) formative assessment process (the collaborative assessment log) and professional development (classroom management and observing other teachers).
The SC/SVNTP meet teachers wherever they are and provide more intensive services than many other new teacher programs with a ‘full release’ program. There is an upcoming teacher shortage in California so the state will need to prepare for this with an ongoing commitment to NTI.