General Items
Introduction
Intermediate Unit 1, as a provider of special services to the 25 districts of Fayette, Washington and Greene Counties, has a mission to recruit, hire and support a quality special education and support work force. To this end we have developed this comprehensive induction process for new teachers, psychologists, social workers, nurses, speech, vision, and hearing teachers, and nonpublic school counselors. Our emphasis will focus on providing data driven and support services to encourage the innovation and expertise necessary to grow and succeed in the classroom.
Overview
The best schools are staffed by educators who are offered expanded and enriched ongoing professional development experiences. In the next five years, educators in the western Pennsylvania area will be retiring in unprecedented numbers. If all educators who are eligible, choose to retire between 2000 and 2010, new hires will constitute nearly half of the teaching force. For this reason, it is essential for Intermediate Unit 1 to have a powerful induction program in place to support and assist the beginning educator.
Research shows that nearly 30% of teachers leave the profession in their first five years of teaching and the exodus is even greater in some school districts. Further research shows that the most talented new educators are often the most likely to leave.
Some of the reasons given are:
- Teaching is one of the few careers in which the least experienced members face the greatest challenges and are given the most responsibilities.
- Beginning educators often express concern that preservice programs do not adequately prepare them for actual teaching.
- New educators are confronted with complicated handbooks, policies, roles, formal and informal procedures, and customs.
- Unclear expectations add to their confusion.
- Beginners and veterans alike spend much of their day alone with children, isolated from contact with other adults. For beginning teachers struggling with classroom management and unsure of the adequacy of their teaching, the lack of adult contact is frightening and frustrating. Some new teachers even face social isolation.
- Vast teacher turnover threatens school reform because it hinders the continued professional growth of the entire staff. A successful beginning is critical to a teacher's career, as well as to the education of the students. When beginning teaches do no succeed, everyone loses. It is estimated that nearly two million new teachers will enter United States schools in the next decade, and the challenge of supporting them effectively is a critical issue.
A vital aspect of an induction program is the selection, training, and support of mentors. Mentoring is an enthusiastically embraced, yet poorly scrutinized component of the induction process. Mentoring holds a germinal seed that far exceeds survival; it must serve as the base for a vision of good teaching and be supported by a philosophy of professional culture that factors collaboration and inquiry. Education professionals support the concept that mentors have a positive effect on new educator satisfaction and retention. However, questions remain about the roles and responsibilities of mentors and what inductees should learn and be able to do as a result.
The Council for Exceptional Children believes that recruiting, preparing, and retaining good teachers is the central strategy for improving our schools. To address the issue of retention CEC has proposed guidelines for developing a mentorship program for beginning special education teachers, which was adopted by the CEC Professional Standards and Practices Standing Committee in April, 1997.
Rationale for Induction
Chapter 49, Section 16 of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Regulations requires that all school districts, intermediate units, and area vocational technical schools have a state approved induction plan by June 1, 1987. Induction plans are approved for six years.
All persons who receive their Instructional I certificate or Vocational Instructional I on or after June 1, 1987, must present evidence of having successfully completed an induction program in order to qualify for an instructional II or Vocational II program.
Induction plan standards include the following:
- The purpose of the plan and its relationship to the school entity's student learning outcomes as described
- The plan is based on an assessment of needs
- The plan complies with regulations
- All first, second, and third year educators participate in the IU program
- There is a mentor relationship between the inductee and the induction team
- The program includes a study of standards for professional practice
- Records of participation are mandated
- The design and content of the program are described
- Planning for the program is ongoing and includes evaluation and refinement of the program
Goal
The goal of this systemic three-year induction program is to assist new educators to Intermediate Unit 1 in understanding and fulfilling their personal and professional roles, which will result in improvement of student learning and performance.
Objectives
- To retain quality professionals
- To provide a transition from pre-service preparation through the first three years of employment
- To promote the personal and professional well being of beginning professionals
- To provide additional knowledge, skills, and attitudes
- To assist beginning professionals with individual needs and concerns
- To familiarize the inductee with IU/district/building/and community cultures, philosophies, policies, and procedures
- To build a foundation for continued professional growth through structured contact with mentors, administrators, supervisors, support teachers, and veteran professionals
- To help beginning professionals develop their own self image, positive attitude, and concern for students
- To improve professional performance
- To provide support to the beginning professional through the use of technology
- To enhance the professional competency of the mentors
Contact Information
| Aesop | http://www.aesoponline.com | Reporting off from Work |
| Sue Conrady | conradys@iu1.k12.pa.us | Adult, Nonpublic, and ESL |
| Susan Cromwell | cromwells@iu1.k12.pa.us | Data Processing Technician (Computer issues) |
| Dr. Jarol DeVoge | devogej@iu1.k12.pa.us | Program/attendance questions, assignments |
| Miranda Shimko | shimikom@iu1.k12.pa.us | Fayette Service Office |
| Dr. Jim Dowler | dowlerj@iu1.k12.pa.us | Curriculum Specialist, Standards, Anchors, Eligible Content |
| Noreen Fleming | flemingn@iu1.k12.pa.us | Progress Monitoring Math, Reading Apprenticeship |
| Keith Golebie | golebiek@iu1.k12.pa.us | Instructional Support Specialist, Cancellations, Assignments, Questions |
| Marla Harris | harrism@iu1.k12.pa.us | Payments for courses and workshops |
| Nadine Jeney | jeneyn@iu1.k12.pa.us | Secretary to Human Resource Director |
| Jennifer Judge | judgej@iu1.k12.pa.us | Human Resource Generalist |
| Stevie Kline | klines@iu1.k12.pa.us | Technology Integration/Teacher Trainer |
| Marlene Kubina | kubinam@iu1.k12.pa.us | Assistive Technology |
| Dr. Mara Linaberger | linabergerm@iu1.k12.pa.us | Curriculum Specialist, Online Educator, PDE Initiatives, Arts Grants |
| Lil Mickens | mickensl@iu1.k12.pa.us | Act 48 hours |
| Michele Gillott | gillotm@iu1.k12.pa.us | Co-Teaching, LRE, Differentiated Instruction |
| Frank Palo | palof@iu1.k12.pa.us | Adult and ESL |
| Thomas Tano | tanot@iu1.k12.pa.us | Director of Human Resources |
| Wendy Tiano | tianow@iu1.k12.pa.us | Progress Monitoring Reading, TEAL, Reading Apprenticeship |
| Su Verma | vermas@iu1.k12.pa.us | Curriculum Specialist, Online Education, ESL, Data Informed Decision Making |
| Anita Walters | waltersa@iu1.k12.pa.us | Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, Diagnosis and Medication, Family and Cultures |
| Kristen Salamone | salamonek@iu1.k12.pa.us | Effective Behavior Support and Non-Violent Crisis Intervention |
