This webinar, presented in partnership with Results for America and Grant Wood Area Education Agency (GWAEA), highlights how to build effective, sustained, and well-supported induction programs. As part of GWAEA’s induction programming, new teachers in participating school districts receive two years of job-embedded professional development. At the core of these supports are induction coaches, who guide beginning teachers in improving their practice. These coaches, who are identified through a rigorous selection process, receive intensive training and coaching to ensure they can effectively support new teachers. Presenters make a case for what drives induction programming success, the critical importance of diverse stakeholder collaboration for buy-in and efficacy, and how to design program evaluation that yields evidence that supports continuous improvement while demonstrating the program’s credibility.

Key takeaways included:

Induction supports multiple benefits, some less visible.

• Supporting new teachers in evidence-based practices that build optimal learning environments is crucial for enhancing student outcomes and experiences.
• Nurturing teachers’ sense of success and belonging through job-embedded coaching and collaboration accelerates development, fosters persistence, and creates meaning…all key indicators that lead to improved teacher retention.
• Targeted professional development for beginning teachers is a strong recruitment strategy. It supports higher-quality talent pipelines while creating a supportive instructional culture.

Stakeholder engagement is imperative for long-term success.

• Treating school principals as true partners by involving them in joint program design efforts and aligning induction programs with school goals enhances support for new teachers and promotes program sustainability.
• Understanding district priorities and challenges while providing regular data updates, relevant learning, and voiceovers of program impact ensures district-level buy-in and sustainability.
• Establishing a multi-stakeholder steering committee with diverse representation fosters collective decision-making and ensures program alignment.

Collaboration is a cornerstone of setting instructional culture for new teachers.

• Intentional communication structures, such as triad conversations between principals, instructional coaches, induction coaches, and new teachers, do more than get everyone on the same page and demonstrate the level of investment in new teachers. These interactions facilitate alignment, continuous improvement, and support rooted in concrete growth and development goals.
• Bringing together the valued perspectives of new teachers and students (alongside other stakeholders) creates a collaborative mindset around how an engaged community is self-assessing and self-shaping program improvements.

Evidence is a foundational lever to collect support.

• A multi-pronged approach to program evaluation blends together multiple data points. Reach and implementation data (quantitative data, such as the number of teachers, coaching time, observations, etc.) helps assess program fidelity and implementation. Impact Data — the “so what” data — combines qualitative and quantitative measures to showcase the program’s influence on mentor/coach and new teacher practices, enabling ongoing reflection and adjustment of program actions. Student outcomes data draws direct lines between program impact and improved student outcomes, telling the complete story of student learning experiences in real-time alongside teacher development.
• Be practical in establishing an evaluation plan, first by clarifying program outcomes and intentions to determine what implementation, impact, and tangible non-survey data will provide readily actionable insights.

Speakers:

• Kimberly Owen, Regional Administrator, Grant Woods Area Education Agency
• Anna Selk, Associate Superintendent, Benton Community School District
• Ellen Hur, Vice President of Solutions, Results for America
• Ross Tilchen, Director of Economic Mobility, Results for America
• Ann Wenzel, Vice President of Program & Partnerships, New Teacher Center
• Jennifer Iacovino, Director of Program and Partnerships, New Teacher Center

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